do you write? Yes.
what genre do you work with? Fiction, specifically science and speculative fiction.
do you find any of these rules to be helpful or interesting or provocative? I like the fourth point a lot. It's been difficult for me to really create full characters, and when you're describing things you're often doing so from their perspective.
do you find this sort of thing to be useful in general? To a certain extent, I guess. I'm a truly atrocious writer, so I never turn down advice.
I strongly perfer
this article's points:
Get to know them as individuals, rather than types.
Try making your characters scientists.
Base them on people you know.
Give them a thought-out world.
Figure out what they love, and what they fear.
Don't aim for larger-than-life — and overshoot.
Don't obsess too much about setting and toys.
Find out who's hurting.
Keep your characters grounded.
The list is meant for science fiction stories, but a lot of the points apply to any fiction.