How to Write Excuses

The reasons that we like them. That's the first thing you need to tell us about a character because then once we like them, everything else is going to fall into place. For me, the beginning is why am I interested in having this character in the story? And sometimes the answer to that is because I need somebody to do X. Now there needs to be more than that. Once I start building out from that, sometimes I'll go all the way back and flesh out for myself the character's backstory. Sometimes all I need is I need them to do this and they want this and they are emotionally connected to it because of this. And that's what the reader needs.