Author Wally Lamb has a seemingly unique style to his writing, rather that developing a plot and creating the characters to fit into it, he develops a character in his mind, and allows them to live within his works. He has said that writing a character's story is "what keeps [him] going-. He likes to find out what is going to happen next. Lamb has proven that a character's development can be used successfully by an author to create a story, rather than the generic creating a plot and developing characters to fit it. Lamb does not try to write the story; he follows his characters around, taking note. "I start with a character's voice and that voice leads me into the story. I never know where I'm going and getting into the character leads me into realizing the story. I don't love writing. I feel compelled to write. It's the characters. I develop them "then comes the need to find out what is going to happen in their lives."" .
The story She's Come Undone is about Dolores Price, a girl whose life is filled with heartbreak and horror and in the form of an autobiography, she is revealed to readers. Lamb has created in Dolores, a character who is vulnerable, confused and depressed and learns to gain the strength to overcome her lifetime of letdowns. His development of her character is a source of great interest as he created traits for her to acquire in life, and then wrote a story that allowed her to develop them. .
As a child, Dolores lived with her father, who she discovers is weak and tempted easily. He is a whore and this creates tension in her parents' lives and marriage. When her mother undergoes a miscarriage her parents divorced, leaving her already depressed mother to become mentally insane and institutionalized. When her father runs off, Dolores is forced to live with her grandmother who she hates, and she slowly begins to despise her father for leaving her there. This creates tension in her life, and a presence of weakness from both of her parents.
