When we remember out favorite movies it’s usually the characters we remember first.  Think Gone With The Wind and you think of Scarlett O’Hara, Star Wars and you think Darth Vader. Think Silence of the Lambs and you think Hannibal Lecter.  Pirates of the Caribbean is Jack Sparrow.  Wizard of Oz and you think Dorothy… [...]

In creating a fast-paced adventure, we often have little time to flesh out our characters, let alone take the time to sculpt out a love relationship that is supposed to profoundly affect the protagonists. I remember, as a little kid, squirming in movies when the hero and his love interest go through their bonding process. That icky moon-eyed slow stuff. Concession time!

Some playwrights believe in coming up with elaborate histories for their characters, exhuming every tiny detail of their lives, before they write a word.