What makes a character vivid?

[Game]

I've read some good books, and I've read some amazing books. The thing that made the really good, the amazing, and the mind-blowing books so good was usually one and the same: vivid, well-developed characters. At times, I can pick up a book and immediately hear a certain character talk. I listen to it and figure out roughly what type of person it is, and as the story develops, I get attached to said person. I see myself in his shoes, even though we're talking about a few passages of text.

How does that happen? How does a writer get a character from "Dan, the *******" to "Dan, the guy who's a jackass to everyone, but deep down you know he's a good person"?

The depth is definitely communicated in well-written characters, and my question is: how?

[osho]

If you ask me it is always evocations of emotional surges and intellectual heights characters can scale in literary landscapes. Have you gone through any works of Ayn Rand? She first weaves characters and stories follow then after. I have read both her the Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and I was startled to see the proficiency of the writer to knit the complex characters

[Calidore]

First, to write good people you have to understand them. The late Elmore Leonard said he learned characterization and dialogue from studying people and listening to them talk, which is probably what it comes down to for everyone.

As far as writing the characters, that would be similar--study good characters on the page. Go back to the books you talked about above and read from a critical distance, observing how the authors do it. Then, of course, practice endlessly.

[cacian]

vivid is imagination a character however is presentation to me.
a character presence is outstanding when the imagination he or she displays is vivid. by vivid one means exuberant funny and detached from etiquettes and habits. a character that is adaptable changeable and above all charismatic is presence to a story that exuberates energy and practical synergy.

[AuntShecky]

A character is "vivid" when so much life sparkles within him or her that the person that the person comes across as an actual living, breathing human being. A way to achieve such an effect in one's writing is scrupulous study of people, strangers as well as those with whom the writer has close relationships. Observing their mannerisms, their speech patterns, the ways in which they react to certain situations, both negatively and positively. What you want to avoid is approaching the character with a list of traits or characteristics of a certain "type" of character, and then attempt to paint by numbers, so to speak. Let the character evolve. The idea is to create someone unique, rather than a stock figure. As Henry Miller said, "Keep your eyes and ears open."

[Game]

I found most of the comments here helpful, I guess it's something that comes with age as well as practice. A thank you to everyone who replied, your perspectives advanced me a step forward into figuring this out. :thumbs_up

[Game]

If you ask me it is always evocations of emotional surges and intellectual heights characters can scale in literary landscapes. Have you gone through any works of Ayn Rand? She first weaves characters and stories follow then after. I have read both her the Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and I was startled to see the proficiency of the writer to knit the complex characters
I haven't, but I have heard about her in the context of philosophy. Could you elaborate though? What do you mean by evocations of emotional surges?

[Steven Hunley]

What makes a character vivid isn't the degree of complexity, not in character or description. It's what makes them memorable, in any way whatsoever. If they are memorable in any or all of these ways they stand out. Take Stevenson's Long John Silver. He's got one leg, a parrot on his shoulder, his dialogue is classically outrageous and his actions, and changing alliances, show him to be as two-faced as they come. He's as memorable and vivid as Technicolor.

Complex is good but simple can be vivid too. (not to say that Long John isn't complex)

[Vitioneste]

A vivid character comes from the writer's viewpoint. He combines the features from real life and writer's imigination. So in order to create a more vivid character in a story, the writer must have a catching eye, looking through every corner of lives and make it as real as possible from bottom of character's thinking. It's hard but it's worth exploring as many types of characters as possible. To me, Scarllet O'Hara is a stunning character of all times