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“Meeting new characters in a novel is a little like meeting people for the first time when you’ve moved to a new town,” says editor Helga Schier. Because everyone is new, every first impression is vitally important. But, writers need to be careful with how and when they introduce their characters. Writers ought to trust their readers, says Schier. Readers are intuitive so writers don’t need to dump a whole backstory for a reader to understand who a character is. In this clip, Schier teaches how to create and develop compelling book characters in six steps. These steps include creating simple first impressions, writing thoughtful and natural dialogue, giving your characters idiosyncrasies, sharing relationship dynamics, revealing character motivations, and showing change or growth.