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Couple short comments...one, I like the "ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances" thing. A mistake some people make (like Mr. Blade-copyist in another thread) is to think they have to make their character so completely off-the-wall that it's not even remotely similar to anyone else's.
Another thing- I believe in giving characters quirks. I also believe (as I think someone discussed in detail) that an excellent path for character development is to focus not necessarily on filling the character's life full of bizarre events, but focusing more on how they interact with people and what their attitudes are toward things. Telling the character's life story is a step in character development, but you can't tell the story and think that the events in his life say all there is to know about the character.
A final caution- I disagree with the 'defying the status quo' method of development mentioned in the first reply. This idea is so done-to-death that it is now common (even excessively so) for person to attempt to instantly make their character unique by giving them some 'anti-status quo' trait or history rather than taking the time to carefully develop their personality. Some of these "unique" traits are now so common due to this technique that they are laughable. A clean shaven dwarf is a little off the beaten path so this technique *might* be okay if you are careful to go with a stereotype that really isn't used much for this purpose, but I still generally advise against it.
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