What Makes a Good Character?

I would be surprised if there is a forum or question/answer site frequented by writers that does not have some variation on the question: "What makes a good character?"

It is something that every writer wants to do, to create a good character. Not a morally good character, but a good character that the reader will think about long after they set a book down. A character that the reader will like enough to seek out more stories that focus on that character, or that at least have that character in the story.

It is an essential part of many successful television shows. We tune in each week because we like one or more of the characters in the show. The same is true of successful books. We buy the next book in a series because not only did the story captivate us, but we liked one or more of the characters.

So, how can a writer create characters that bring back readers?

One suggestion I see again and again is to create a character with depth. One that has a back story that the readers will want to know about. I rarely see any clear advice on how to accomplish that, but for me it goes hand in hand with another bit of advice I read years ago when I started wanting to be a writer.

Start writing your novel, then throw away the first three chapters.

Seems a little harsh, don't it? Actually, in my opinion, it is good advice and a great way to build a good character. Most story ideas start out slow. As writers we want to know about the character before we toss them into trouble, so we spend a bit of time getting to know them. Then we place them in a crisis where they need to make a choice. That crisis point is what should actually start the story, and all of the information before it then becomes our back-story for that character that we can use to give the character more depth. We can reveal bits of what we already know about the character as the story progresses.