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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/42335
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Understanding your characters is definitely important. I know that there are some authors who take specific events from main characters' lives -the types of events that shape who they are as people- and write a short blurb of that event. This not only helps them find the characters' voice, but it also allows them to become better acquainted with who the character is.

Once you write these blurbs, when you are thinking about your story while standing in line or driving you can use the knowledge you gained from the blurbs to walk the characters through the plot as you currently understand it. If you hit on something that the character just wouldn't do, you are more likely to notice it. That is the benefit of knowing someone so well. You know if it would take a very specific set of events to get them to do what you think is necessary, or it could force you to use your resourceful skill to find another way.

Like most things in life there is still a small possibility that your flow will be broken by something else, but knowing your story elements intimately will help greatly.

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