Read the classics.
Talk to the characters.

Nick, Gatsby, Daisy, Tom & Jordan

Romeo, Juliet, Mercutio, Nurse & Friar Lawrence

Hamlet, Horatio, Ophelia, The Ghost & Claudius

Brutus, Mark Antony, Cassius, Julius Caesar & Portia

Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde, Mr. Utterson & Dr. Lanyon

Elizabeth Bennet, Mr. Darcy, Jane Bennet, Mrs. Bennet & Mr. Bingley

Pip, Miss Havisham, Estella, Magwitch & Herbert Pocket

Scrooge, Jacob Marley, Bob Cratchit, Ghost of Christmas Present & Tiny Tim

Huck, Jim, Tom Sawyer, The Duke & Aunt Sally

Buck, François, Spitz, Hal & John Thornton

Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth & Pearl

Victor Frankenstein, The Creature, Robert Walton & Elizabeth Lavenza

Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Banquo & The Witches

Odysseus, Penelope, Telemachus, Athena, Polyphemus & Circe

Henry Fleming, Jim Conklin, Wilson & The Tattered Soldier