I saw the Star Trek movie this weekend and enjoyed the ensemble cast. I started thinking about how each character is his own person and they each work well together.
I know the characters of the USS Enterprise are stereotypes in some ways but they are a great cast in terms of different personalities working within a story to conquer the conflict and meet the goal. Kirk is the macho, impassioned action guy. Spock is the quiet, logical, dissenting voice. Bones is the older but loyal friend to Kirk. Scotty is the tech geek.
When writing a fiction story, in the beginning, it is easy to imagine each character’s uniqueness. When the story evolves over time such as a series of books or movies, keeping the canon clear adds to the difficulty of building the characters in the story.
How do you manage your characters? How do you keep your canon?