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This is an excellent place to start - concentrating on the various personality quirks that will begin to define your character. Characters with reasons behind these personality traits are infinitely more interesting than those with just the traits themselves.
Consider, for example, the character of Hamlet. You could certainly start by brainstorming a list of personality traits: eccentric, drowning in melancholy, suicidal, unable to form true bonds of intimacy. But when you begin to add the motivations - the experiences and life events that have shaped these traits - immediately the character takes on an extra dimension and gains a prop of personal history to use in present and future roleplaying scenarios.
No. These cliched archetypes are simply an exaggerated example of characters built on expressed traits rather than internal motivations.
A reference that may be of help is acting trainer Constantine Stanislavski's book An Actor Prepares. I've included a link to amazon.com's description and ordering information for those who are interested.
Best,
Edward Falconer
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