Sacrificing Character to Story
Browsing Clarion blogs, I came across this:
Leslie pointed out that I often have these big, deep subjects, but sort of pussyfoot around them or draw away.
I have always referred to this as being willing to take my characters up to the edge of a cliff, but being unwilling to push them off. For years, it was one of my biggest problems, I think, in making the leap from almost published to published (well, that and not finishing stuff). This particular weakness has resulted in lots of stories that I've either never finished or that had endings that left readers feeling flat and probably sort of cheated.
The solution, for me, has been to love my characters less. And to love the story more. If it's all about the story and less about the characters--on the writing side, not necessarily in how the reader sees it--then I am suddenly much more willing to try stuff on my characters to see if it flies:
What if I take their family away from them?
What if I kill their dog?
What if he really doesn't love her?
What if it does kill half the human race?
They have to be interesting, my characters, but I can't love them. Because sooner or later they're going to have to go over the cliff.