About 20 years ago, I inherited an antique piece of furniture when my grandmother passed away. None of my relatives wanted that old piece of junk. Surprisingly, I could see past the glossy white paint that obscured a valuable armoire/dresser combination in a turn of the century waterfall pattern.

After two weeks of paint remover, scrapers, steel wool and sandpaper, I finally had revived the white mountain ash armoire. I had stripped off a layer of thick enamel white paint, a layer of gooey mint green paint and then thick oily varnish that concealed a dark stain of lampblack.

After I had worked hard to remove all those layers of paint using lots of elbow grease, a quite different piece of furniture emerged. Now this antique treasure has become a family heirloom. However, it does have its flaws. The door is water stained and slightly warped after it was left out in the rain during the stripping procedure. There are also a few nicks and dents, but they seem to add to the beauty of it rather than detract from it. Its inner qualities and character were restored. It has a captivating alluring quality that had lain hidden for decades.

Creating a captivating character is much like the process of stripping that piece of furniture. At first glance, a character may be all glossed over in shiny white external enamel, disguising every distinguishable feature. Characters, like my armoire, become transformed with more clarity when you scratch beneath the surface. Sometimes through the process of that transformation, the character faces intense struggle and conflict that results in something extraordinary: life is given to the character. The illusions fade as the mystery of the character unfolds.

The reader identifies with feelings and characteristics that come from the heart. There is an unwritten contract established between the novelist and the reader. When the reader initially picks up the book, interest is created from reading the flyleaf or from articles and any reviews the reader may have read about the book. Impressions are formed and the reader has a sense of anticipation and enthusiasm about what happens to those characters. Their curiosity will lead to an adventure that will be either rewarding - as their insatiable appetite for the story grows and the reader becomes consumed by it - or, alternatively, they may find the story unsatisfying, boring and lose interest, finding the plot and characters distasteful and unpalatable.

A fiction novelist has the privilege of creating and portraying a cast of engaging, provocative, intriguing, and complex characters, bringing them to life and evoking a host of emotions for the reader. It is no small achievement. This can be a daunting task, which is accomplished one small step at a time. It is understood that some characters will require a lot of scratching below the surface while others may only require a little buffing to make them shine.

No human experience is mundane or uninteresting - if presented well. Most readers want to be taken on a journey of discovery. Revelations about the internal motivation and emotions of the character can light the spark of passion in the reader. The beginning facets of the character begin to chip away to reveal the dazzling, brilliant and alluring character that lies beneath.

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