I started out writing satire, a la Andy Borowitz, as a hobby a few years back. More as a release of tension than anything else. Over the last few years, ya know, since the world has gone totally bonkers, it's been harder to write satire because I can't compete with reality. I mean, when I can't think of anything more outrageous, unbelievable or sickening than what's on the news, time to change my focus.

So, I moved to fiction to scratch my itch. But with short satire stories, I didn't have to worry too much about the "show me, don't tell me" rules that govern the quality of fiction writing. That's because short news-style satire doesn't have to deal with character development.

And, as I'm finding out, character development is hard...but also fun, once you can get your mind into it. As I was reading your post, I was thinking of the things I do that help me "show" my characters (the notebook thing is something I don't do, but will).

One thing that I've noticed, something I don't do on purpose, is I make faces as I write. "I'm trying to figure out the expressions of my characters.", he typed, furrowing his brow and biting his bottom lip as he contemplated the proper expression to apply.

I can't imagine what I must look like to others as I write. Hopefully, Facebook hasn't turned on my vidcam to surreptitiously record me, hoping to blackmail me someday...ya know, after winning the Nobel in literature.