Characters have changed my mind about some very fundamental moral issues, and that's the real satisfaction in the way I write - the ultimate learning experience.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I like for there to be a moral, for the character to have gotten something out of the experience.
In some ways, what I learned is that you can take a character and breathe with them, and it's up to the audience to interpret rather than you putting moral stamp on the character.
I like characters who are changed, often for the better, by the dark nature of their experiences. I also can become engaged by a character for whom I wish to see justice done, one way or the other. In general, I require a book to have some sort of moral center.
I like playing complex, interesting characters. Sometimes I don't think there's much of a strong line between right and wrong for a character. Every character is somewhere on a moral spectrum.
It ended up being a very good thing, because they finally started writing for the character, and I realized that you have to go to work with a purpose. I learned from the experience and then moved on.
I always resented books that tried to teach a lesson, where the characters are too good: They don't swear, they tell their mothers everything.
Playing the misunderstood character has been really interesting to me. But I think after too long, that also becomes a little bit of a cliche. Or that's all you're expected to do. I didn't want that to be the totality of what my career was.
I like the idea of young readers using my stories as a sort of moral gym, where they can flex and develop their newly developed moral muscle.
I am a big proponent of character arcs that show us how people change over time.
I don't think of the characters as being good or bad because that doesn't help me as a writer.