This is by no means an exhaustive list but signs your character isn't strong enough include the following.

1.  Forgetting their name!  It can happen. It's bad enough when a reader does it but if the writer does so, then the character is in real trouble.  If they're not memorable enough to you, they certainly won't be to anyone else.

2.  Running out of things for them to do.  Yet the plot is strong, the other characters are ticking along very nicely with plenty of dialogue, action etc.  You need to ask yourself whether you really need this character in the story after all.  If you feel you do, look at why.  Could this character be combined with another in the tale to make one really strong creation that keeps the reader's (and writer's) interest?  You need to keep in anything and anyone that moves your story onwards.  You also need to ruthlessly cut what you really don't need.

3.  Their dialogue isn't distinctive enough.  Your reader should be able to tell who is speaking in a story by the style of the language used by the characters.  Character A talks in clipped tones, Character B tends to laugh a lot after talking, Character C has a lisp, Character D has a strong northern accent (as someone once said, everywhere  has a north!).  If you can't tell your characters apart by how they speak, they're not distinctive enough and again I would look at whether you really need them in the story.

I like to look for a major trait in a character and use that to help "round them out".  For example, if I decide a character is a coward, I dig deeper and look for what has led to the character being like that.  I can also look at whether they're ashamed of this or not.  Not everything I outline here will make it into my story but I know that if I know what the answers are here, I will write my character with more confidence (and therefore conviction as well) and I believe THAT comes through to the reader.

So useful character traits to consider then could include:-

1. Cowardice/Heroism;
   
2. Being a Liar/Being Honest (the latter could cause as much trouble as the former and the potential for comedy is here too);
   
3. Stubbornness/Being Flexible;
   
4. Being Unfriendly/Being Sociable;
   
5. Being Prejudiced/Being Open.
   

There are of course many more traits than these and practically every trait has its opposite flaw/virtue which could also be used.

Questions to ask yourself when using these:-

1. How did the character develop this flaw/virtue?
   
2. Do they see it as a flaw or virtue?  Are they right about this?
   
3. How do others around the character react to them and their flaw/virtue?
   
4. What are their society's expectations?
   
5. Does the character change - for better or worse?
   

Have fun!

 What matters most to your characters and why?  Get your characters to face losing what matters to them most and that will increase the tensions in your story considerably.

The nice things with this is whatever it is that matters most can vary considerably.  For one character, it could be a life or death situation.  Another character could be terribly worked up because they're late back with their library book.  The potential for  humour is here too. 

The one proviso is that your characters have to have very good reasons for why these things matter.  A life or death scenario has an obvious "why it matters" inherent in it.  In the case of the library book scenario, could it be that your character has never been late in their life for anything and fears losing control over their neat little life if they ARE late at all?  Maybe they worry about what the librarian will think - other people's opinions matter to this character.  You get the idea.

Have fun and play with this.  Work out what could make your character lose what matters most.  For someone with a controlled life, what on earth has happened to make the possibility of being late back with their library book happen at all?  Something catastrophic (to them) must have occurred.  Hopefully it will be very entertaining for a reader!

The theme of the right ingredients ties up with my Chandler's Ford Today post this week about Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, my review of the Chameleon Theatre Group's recent panto production.  Why?  Because I talk about what ingredients are needed for a successful pantomime and I'm glad to say this show had them all and in great quantities!

What are the right ingredients for a fairytale?

1. There must be a magical element.
   
2. There must be a wrong to put right.  (See Cinderella/Snow White etc for the way they're treated initially and how their stories end).
   
3. There must be plenty of drama.  (You know from the outset that Cinderella is never going to keep to the midnight deadline set by her fairy godmother.  The drama here is in finding out what will happen when the girl is inevitably late!).
   
4. The ending must be appropriate for the story.  That doesn't necessarily mean a happy one - see The Little Mermaid as Hans Christen Andersen wrote it!  Also while Snow White had a happy ending, her stepmother rightly didn't!  (Perspective is important too).
   

What are the right ingredients for a writer?

1. A willingness to put in the work - to write, rewrite, rewrite again etc until the story is right.
   
2. Accepting the fact rejections happen and trying to learn from them and then move on.
   
3. Always seeking to improve what you do.
   
4. Reading widely and across genres to feed your own imagination.  It does need feeding.  Often and lots!