"Interesting stories are never about people who make the right decisions." Edda said that not a very long time ago.
I write about people who employ the weaker part of the blade – the part known as the foible. In my own conduct, it is the area I wield almost exclusively. I shouldn't mind being a better fencer; but at least this allows me to view my characters with pity and affection. I wouldn't call myself generous, but I avoid the temptation to write with a hard heart – an activity that leads to morality plays and straw men, and is best suited to the critic.
Pitilessness, anyway, is the manure from which sanctimony blooms. One wants to step in it not all that often.
