A major part of Live to Tell is Stephen's marriage to Grace. We're introduced to Stephen when they're on the verge of separation, Grace indignant about his long absences on his book tour, and Stephen full of animosity for her threatening to walk. They've clearly forgotten what they love about each other, and Jacinta coming into their lives is the biggest test of their resolve.
Stephen is very much a creature of habit, who has become too self-involved with his work. Grace has been left with Chloe, their six-year-old daughter, who's already precocious and bratty, and Grace's patience is almost spent. Grace is sassy and clever, but too tough to be pushed around or shortchanged by Stephen's selfishness.
Neither of them is perfect, and their marriage is hardly solid. I prefer to write imperfect characters, I won't give you a hero that's without fault, and I don't believe in Mary Sue types a reader can imprint themselves on to. They might be an idealised version of me or a flawed version of me. Some people I know might be loosely woven into my characters, or the character is based on no one at all. One of my favourite screenwriters, Dan Harmon, made a very attractive version of himself in the character Jeff Winger in Community. Dan is famous for being self-effacing but egotistical, as I've learnt by listening to his podcast over the years. Community was very much his vehicle for working through his own flaws and how he approached others. If you know a writer on a personal level, it's hard to remove them from their work, but in some literary debate, the writer and the text (book, film etc.) should always remain apart.
The best part of character development is fleshing out each individual player and creating a persona that you can play with. Provided their motivations make sense to the reader, even if they are terrible decisions, or maligned ones, the reader will find this believable. Then you know you've made a strong charter.
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