your main characters "

That advice seemed very helpful.

Back in the day when I was a beginner at novel writing, I diligently wrote a profile for my two main characters, mentioning all the items suggested in the advice.

pet hates, favourite activities, any strengths, flaws, relationship with family, and so on - and on.

Well, that novel was written long ago but although it earned praise from editors and critiquers, it was never accepted for publication. Other stories fared better but one day I came back to this tale, my first and most precious to me.

Now a seasoned writer and editor myself, it was easy to see ways to improve and polish the story.

I dug out the folder of notes and information for the tale. And in amongst all the plans, pictures, buildings etc, were the notes for the main characters.

The heroine's notes ran to eighteen A4 pages, all handwritten. It was almost a mini-novel in itself. And like all research, very little of that went into the actual novel.

The hero had sixteen pages of notes about his life, etc.

Maybe I know more about these two than about members of my own family.

Now I smile at my earnest innocence. But it brought them to life for me, and their hair-raising adventures make a thrilling read, even if the story remains unpublished.