Crafting Character-Driven Plots

I have often been accused of writing stories that are plot-driven. And I plead guilty as charged!

Blame it on my training in screenwriting, a medium where action is more important than words. As a screenwriter you learn to steer clear of emotions that are not “actionable” or do not push the story forward. So much so that writing introspective points-of-view that require digging deep into character motivations makes me break in a cold sweat.

When I started writing my second book, Trouble has a...