On Characters
Writers often focus first on character traits, motivations, quirks, and other externalized elements of their person. These interact directly with the plot; hence even "motivation" is external in that it drives the character to engage with and interact with plots. In generic fiction characters can often be boiled down into a lists of traits/motivations; real psychology, like you'd get in Virginia Woolf, is ignored in favour of those elements of characters that most readily contribute to the plot. This method of character writing lends itself to RPGs, where typical advice is to break an NPC down into motive/quirk. Too much, and a character becomes difficult to locate live on the table. Psychology is difficult: it takes works.
Ishiguro, rather than focusing on characters as individuals, always writes relationship first. Characters never develop on their own, but always as pairs, trios, members of communities or families, etc. This is probably more like how people really work—none of us are islands—and is also workable from the position of a gamesman. How do these characters relate to each other? You don't need to think about gameplay—the dynamics of social relationships are enough.
When I write, I focus on the bodies of characters. What direction does their blood flow, what is the shape of their tongue, what does it feel like when they scrape their fingernails on asphalt, what is the distance between waking and dreaming? These things also compose a human being, you've never been a mind alone, and can't be. Motivation, psychology, relationships are rationalizations for electric impulses. You are a divine animal, and it feels good to smoke a cigarette. When you write your next NPC, think about the texture of their hands.
Conflict is a collision of flesh, blood, spittle: the things that compose lives. It's good to think about that sometimes.