What are ways to make the protagonist's relationships with other people seem realistic?
For example, I am writing about my protagonist and her long time best friend. How could I convey closeness between the two characters in a way that feels like it could be a real relationship?
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This is a pretty broad question and therefore this is a pretty broad answer. It all comes down to what is called the "telling detail". The word "telling" emphasises two things here. First it means "important", a detail that matters. Second it means a detail that gives information.
A warrior walks into camp. What are the telling details that let us know who he is and what his arrival means? It depends on the circumstances, of course. If he is limping, bandaged, and carrying a bloody sword in his hand, we know at once that he has come from battle and had been wounded in the fight. The limp, the bandage, and the bloody sword are the telling details that paint this picture for us. Much of the rest of his appearance we can fill in for ourselves, and if one reader imagines his tunic red and another imagines it brown, it does not make any difference to the story.
A man walks through a pair of swinging doors wearing a ten gallon hat, a six shooter, and a star on his chest. Fill in the rest of the details for yourself...
A gloved hand lifts a fine china tea cup with two dainty fingers. Zoom out. What do you see ...
A paddle glides through brown water glistening with sunlight while a harsh guttural squark breaks the deep silence. Zoom out...
If you see two best friends together, what are the telling details, the details that say instantly that they are best friends? Is it that they dress alike, or that they are constantly whispering, or that they bicker constantly but never seem to be apart? The details will be different for different friendships, but if you can find the two or three telling details (three is often the magic number in these kinds of things) that shout out to the world that these two are best friends, and a particular kind of best friends, then you have your answer.
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