How many of you have read Bleak House by Charles Dickens or watched the movie? Do you remember Esther? She is good. And kind. She has a dogged optimism to look for the good in everything, no matter how hard her situation. She is a hard worker, someone that you WANT to come help you because you know she will make everything better. I love her character. Not everybody does. She’s been accused of being a “flat” and “passive” character. She’s not. I’ll defend my Bleak House Esther. But let me first talk about another character…one of my own, who really was a weak, flat, passive character. I liked her when I first created her. She was sweet and lovely. I thought it wasn’t her fault that she was swept along by forces more powerful than she was. I didn’t even realize how passive she was until a judge pointed it out to me. Now I see how cringe-worthy she was — she was pretty worthless (no offense) except to inspire other characters to take action, and even then, their action on her behalf st