Each Character has a Job

It's a rough world out there right now, job-wise.

It's even rough for characters in manuscripts. I've found that if one of my characters isn't doing their job in telling the story, then it's time for them to get canned.

After all, we don't have all the time in the world to just let a story meander around. If I've written a character in, they need to perform. Some of them need to create conflict for my protagonist (like the interfering son who won't let my sleuth do her...