I keep linking to or reposting this guy’s blog. Mostly because it is ten different types of awesome and I’m a huge sucker for lists. It appeals to my inner obsessive-compulsive. Neat boxes… neat boxes.
Anyway, read it. It’s fab. And also very funny.
4. Drop the character smack dab between two diametrically opposed choices. A character is torn between a love for her country and a love for her family. She’s torn between her obsessive devotion to science and her religious upbringing. She’s torn between saving the life of Orange Julius the genetically-modified super-orangutan or giving all the world’s children infinite ice cream. Okay, maybe not that last one. Point is, tie your character to two (or more!) difficult choices, and let those horses run like motherfuckers.
Bee Blog 