There's nothing for it. Close the library door, turn up Melody Gardot for the right atmosphere and grind grind grind.
I've done well on the plot-driven line. Now, without a net, I do the plot-driven and character immersion bit together. Nothing up my sleeve, nothing in my hand.
I will force my horrendously flawed protagonists (i.e. people) into the points of emotional risk. I will force them to confront or actively avoid those things that echo in the memory of a reader.
I will eschew cardboard and care about these characters. I will love them. I will empathize with them. I will torture them in a world that does not allow mere existence. Some will evolve into better images of well-formed humans. Some will become broken crumpled things.
They will however change in the face of risk and tumult. Therein lies a story and not merely a box score.
_The Shipping News_. Proulx is required reading here, folks. The Pulitzer does that.
The antagonists ? These guys are easy. I've known them all my life.
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