Activity

How does one create believable personality in characters?

I’m one of those types of people (as I am sure many of you are as well) that study people. You know, observe everything about them and can come to a pretty good conclusion of their basic personality within a few minutes. Through the past years that I have studied people, I’ve come across some interesting, curious and humorous personalities that I would like to somehow capture and create a character of my own with a similar personality. The thing is, I am really having a hard time taking what I see and feel and then writing it down in a way that matches accurately. I can see something or recall something for memory but when I write it down and read it, it isn’t the same as I imagined or just doesn’t feel believable.

Does that make sense? So, how can I create believable and real personalities in my characters and make them come alive?