So yes, I do think creating interesting characters can be hard, but if you let them hop around in your head a bit -- even run along with the story -- I think developing good ones shouldn't be too hard. I know that my characters are a lot more solid to me by, say, the fifth chapter than they were when I started planning the story.
I think that's true however much thought a writer puts into a character before they start. I know it's true for me <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
I tend to write test scenes for important characters - just to get the hang of them, before I write my actual stories - for this very reason. Helps run them in a bit <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
And you're right - no formula for character creation is perfect, nor will it work for every writer and every character. But it MIGHT give a starting point, which, I hope, is not unuseful <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
