Building Character

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Creating a character can be far more complex than people realize.  Even more complex than we as writers realize when we begin this journey.  For the next few posts, I am going to share some of the insight I have learned from conferences, friends and the intense editorial process with my publisher in regards to creating believable, multi dimensional characters.

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Today we'll hit on
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Using one character as a lens for another
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A very important concept, as it performs a double duty.  It offers dimension on BOTH characters...the one who is thinking/talking/reacting and the one who is causing that thought or reaction.
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It would be easy to have a character say something like...
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Mom put green beans on my plate.  I hate green beans.  They look like chopped up zombie fingers.

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not bad.

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but much stronger, and also a way to include variety in your writing, is to have another character say something like...
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Mom scooped a mound of green beans onto Frankie's plate.  As if Frankie ate green beans.  As if Frankie ate green anything. 

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This does two things:  it lets us know Frankie isn't much of a veggie eater.  It also lets us know this second character is a little sassy and thinks Frankie gets away with more than he should.  Hey!  I just thought of a third thing..it lets us know a little bit about mom, too. 

The trick with all these concepts is moderation, of course - but using one character as a way to see more about another character is a great writing method. 
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Tell Me:  Do you do this?  If you're a reader not a writer, do you notice this in books you enjoy?