I am working on creating characters for my next book. For me the best way to do this is to write a profile for each character, which includes name, physical characteristics, hobbies, occupation, personality, habits and mannerisms that set them apart from everyone else. The characters I am working on today are otherworldly beings, but I like to give them human qualities. For instance, one of my characters likes to hum to herself a lot. Sometimes assigning an astrological sun sign to a character helps mold his or her personality. I think character development is very important to writing a story because well-defined characters bring the story to life. Gotta go and work on this now.