creating characters is probably one of the most fun parts of writing a book, but sometimes it's a little hard to get them across the way you want to

personally, I use Evernote to create most of my characters. It's easy to just make a chart of all of the things I want people to know about them

for example, here is my character profile for Marietta Edgecombe in Harry Potter and the Rising Phoenix:

it's easy to input pictures, and I like to change the color of the text so I remember what house they're in

it's always nice to have a character profile, because when you're writing, you get to keep these little things in mind that might not come into play until later. you know all of the details of the character before you even write them in

now, when you're writing a character, usually, you should avoid info-dumps such as:

Standing 6'0, Clementine had fiery red hair and soft blue eyes. She was a little on the heavier side, and the bright clothes she usually wore were the first things people noticed about her. She had freckles dancing across her skin, glasses perpetually slipping down her nose, and always carried some sort of book with her.

I would suggest adding information with action. For example:

She scowled, pushing up her wire-framed glasses.

*

Her red hair gleamed in the sunlight as she spun around, laughter bubbling from her lips.

*

Blue eyes that usually were warm and soft flashed with anger.

*

She practically towered over her girlfriend. She must have been almost six feet tall, and he felt a bit intimidated.

*

However, info dumps can be used to provide a comparison, such as:

Clementine knew she and her girlfriend made an odd pair. Clementine's bright red hair must have clashed brilliantly with Madiha's black locks, and Clementine clearly towered over her 5'5 girlfriend. Pale skin and dark, freckles and unblemished skin, plus-sized and stick-thin, blue eyes and brown; they must have seemed like complete opposites.

It all depends on the situation. Most authors will swear off info-dumps completely, but when it's used to prove a point, it can often be more informative than boring.

Here are some more examples of how to incorporate info-dumping without it seeming like info-dumping.

Clementine was grateful for her blue eyes, because she loathed every other part of herself; from the tops of her fiery hair to the bottoms of her freckled feet, all five foot ten inches of her were a disaster, save for the bright blue of her irises. Unfortunately, even the part she liked most about herself was covered up by glasses, so she couldn't quite consider it a win.

*

"You know, I'm jealous of your hair," Madiha commented easily. 

"Why on Earth would you be jealous of my hair? It's a mess!"

"But red hair and blue eyes? You realize that's the rarest combination of genes, and you got lucky enough to have it."

*

Madiha scowled and tugged her hijab, a nervous habit Clementine had started noticing a year ago. Her brown eyes caught Clementine's before darting away.

"We don't have to go if you don't want to."

Madiha looked up, chin tilted high to meet Clementine's eyes. Brown met blue, and she sighed. "But you want to go. I can't take you away just because I'm nervous."

*

"Look." Madiha sat up, tracing her fingers lightly along Clementine's arm. Her darker skin contrasted Clementine's paleness beautifully. "These freckles right here look like the Sagittarius constellation."

"How do you even know what the Sagittarius constellation looks like?" Clementine laughed. "You're an Aries!"

"I know things," Madiha protested, sticking out her tongue, brown eyes dancing with mirth. "I have a few brain cells left."

"And you use them to memorize zodiac constellations?"

"I'll have you know I know other constellations too," Madiha replied, moving to straddle Clementine's lap. She was so light that Clementine barely felt her, and even sitting atop Clementine's lap, Madiha was easily still several inches shorter.

Dark fingers trailed the skin on Clementine's neck, brushing away a few stray red hairs. "This one looks like the Ara constellation."

*

Okay maybe now I ship two characters that I literally made up for these examples

But that's how you know you're writing good characters, and for that matter, a good pairing! (but the pairing chapter is next, so I wont go into that much)

Making your characters lovable is another thing in it's own right.

Sarcasm is usually a good way to go in a good character, as long as they're serious sometimes. It's also always fun to have one bubbly character who's almost always upbeat. it's so hard to hate a happy character.

when your character makes a mistake, make sure it's one they can come back from or can develop for them. don't make them make a mistake that will leave the audience hating them, it's extremely hard to come back from that. (unless that's what you want)

another thing about character development. having a character that stays exactly the same isn't a great idea, usually. some good ideas for character development include

- a character split between two sides eventually realizes that both sides are a part of them

- a family-oriented character realizes that maybe family isn't always the most important thing, especially when your family is abusive/terrible people/ the villain(s)

- a prostitute realizes they're asexual and that's why they hate it so much

- subtle hints that the person isn't straight or cis, until they realize oh shit

- a bright ball of sunshine character breaking down

- a character distancing slowly from a friend realizes what's happening and tries to get them back

- a character in an abusive relationship leaves

- an introverted character who finds out what they want in life as the story progresses, but doesn't become less of an introvert

- a character dealing with trauma, and slowly getting better

- a suicidal character who finds something to live for

- the dark, angry, misguided character becomes friends with the abovementioned ball of sunshine and slowly comes out of their shell

- someone who doesn't usually touch people hugging someone

- someone who is being bullied finds a way to stop it/ deal with it

these are, of course, just some ideas :)