This past week, I've spent a lot of time thinking about all the little things that go into crafting good compelling characters in the limited space of a short story. Since we're generally only getting a narrow picture of a character's life, it can be hard to make an impact.
One of the first tricks I've found works well is to use small specific details instead of broad generalizations.
Tighten in and show a feature of someone-- this is where you can do a lot with relatively few words. Instead of explaining in generalizations about someone, use a behavior quirk, prop, piece of clothing, or other detail and allow your reader to paint in the rest of the details around it. Is the information unusual or contradictory: say, an oncologist who smokes -- creating unusual contrasts gives a depth to a character without requiring you to do much legwork. That being said, if you're playing with contrasts, make sure to keep them believable and small enough for the size of the story you're telling.
Character interactions-- the way your characters talk to one another, to their bosses or subordinates, their loved ones-- use dialogue and body language as reader shorthand that will help give a stronger picture of the overall story. Even your word choices in the dialogue itself will help the reader to paint a more vivid picture of the character in their mind while they read.
Character emotions-- use your point of view characters' perspectives to give a tighter view purely by showing their emotional responses-- whether shown directly in narration or reflected as a thought the character has-- either of these work well to help the reader to get a broad view of the world you're painting in a few short strokes.
What are some of the tricks that you use when you're building your characters?