How do you add character to characters?
Quirks and tics, motivations and fears (can be said to) dictate a character's behaviour. But how often do you remind a reader of these personality traits? I'd argue it ought to be quality rather than quantity, and that referencing a tic or habit a number of times is painting-by-numbers if it doesn't seem natural. So less of the constant sighs of impatience of someone with a low attention span. (Of course, if it’s done successfully, you will fake the organic nature of a character trait.) The Skywalkers’ shared failing is impatience. Anakin’s too keen to become a Jedi Master, and Luke takes off to rescue Han and Leia before he’s completed his training, and what happens? He loses his hand, and loses his Han. Then, after being traumatised through his amputation and ungodly provenance, he has to build his own new lightsaber out of the cheque he received from his very bad Jedi healthcare plan. (Not really.) Impatience is a major failing of the Skywalkers that feeds into the plo...