Fiction allows us to observe human nature in all its complexity and multiplicity. It enables us to know people, to understand them, and to learn compassion for them.

We know fictional people better than real people because we observe them in situations that are always significant, we can view their inner life, we know exactly what is ging on in their minds and exactly what they feel.

Besides being told about a character, readers want to be shown a character: to see, hear, and understand.

Convincing characters observe three principles:
they are consistent, motivated, and plausible.

In a short story, if a character is dynamic, the character changes in a way that meets three conditions:
it is within the possiblilities of the character
it is sufficiently motivated by the circumstances
it is allowed sufficient time to be believable.