"The hero has to confront fear." It's such an 'obvious' thing that 'everyone' should know, but, you don't really 'know' it until it triggers a thought in your mind about your own story and protagonist. At least for me, I always listen and learn to Scripts & Scribes, Scriptnotes, and obvi GITS, but it's not until you put into practice the priceless advice given, that you truly learn and acquire that piece of knowledge handed to you. I had a 'cute' line of dialogue from one of my duel protagonists that I realized was just fluff after reading this post, and changed the line to something that showcased the protag in their old way of being, to set up the arc in order for them to change to their new way of being, facing their fear into the second act. One line. It changes the whole course. And turns the moment from 'cute' to relative. And good writing. And good dialogue. So... thanks :) as always, Scott.

Glad to hear this resonated with you, rojomayne. The more I write, the more I learn how so much of the truth and authenticity of a story derives from how deeply we immerse ourselves into the lives of our characters. I really make it a point now before I write any scene, to stop everything, and sit with my characters, asking, Where are they emotionally... psychologically? What are their goals? Where are they in terms of their want and need? What would it mean to them if they failed in this scene... overall in the story? Even in this comedy I'm currently writing, each of the four lead characters has something they fear being if they don't achieve their wants, even if what they want is ultimately a fraud. But I believe this is the path for me to discover and reveal their humanity because I've got to get readers to connect with each of them for their journey to mean anything, even as antic and wild as it is. So yes, we should always check the pulse of our characters. The Call To Adventure is exciting, but it also can be scary as shit. Our characters will more than likely have that fear of change roiling around inside. We need to examine that when we write those scenes.