Characters, as with real people such as con men, shady businessmen, and seedy politicians, will often use statistics to paint a false, yet plausible, picture.

For example, one such character might state that 12% of all high-school dropouts were beaten by their parents. What he doesn’t say is that 12% of high school graduates were also beaten by their parents.

By not providing statistics for the whole group, there is no comparative, and a causal relationship between beatings and dropping out is inferred.

To build your characters, read the news, see these techniques used in life and then apply that in fiction to believably drive your story forward .

Melanie Anne Phillips – Storymind.com