Some stories are cut-and-dried, meaning that most of what you read has very few shades of gray. Good Guys fight the Bad Guys. Good Guys "win" because they are just so very...
Yeah, right. Those darned hero-types have all the luck, don't they? What happens when that hero you worked so hard to create has a lot of choices to make--and--several problems to solve?
That's just how it is for the beleaguered hero/heroine, they've got a lot on their plate and not much time in which to deal with it. You know how it is, life sometimes sneaks up on your. Suddenly,
there are a series of problems that seem to come from out of nowhere. If that's not enough, there are
so many choices to make--now!
These are pivotal moments in the life of any fictional character. What they do "here and now" decides how they live or die. Will they be happy, or down in the dumps because there was not such thing as a good alternative? The terrible truth is that this kind of multi-layered misery can befall epic characters just as much as they plague reluctant protagonists. That's the reason why character development is so important.
Each and every fictional person in your imagined world has a past, sometimes known as a backstory. Villains often have more than one axe to grind, though most authors stick to just one "issue." Doing the same thing for any hero or heroine is efficient and to the point. That's going to mean quite a few minor characters don't spend a lot of time arguing with them, or getting in the way. I like a good plot twist just as much as the next guy--but--too many of them makes the hero/heroine suffer as much as your story...when things bog down.
Anyone who has read my stuff can tell you that Bibix is almost neurotic, he's got enough "issues" to keep any human or alien psychiatrist busy for a year. Even so, he does find time for a love life while he is saving the world. He's not the only beleaguered hero I have written, though he is the most anxious and insecure of all my suffering constructs. To tell you the truth, a lot of material had to be cut when that book was finished, just to tune it down to a more manageable size.
Those edits were possible because all I really did was peel off the tangents, going straight to the heart of what bothered him. Without giving anything away, I can see that he had three major problems to face and just one choice to make (on a personal level). Yeah, sure. He got the girl in the end--but--solving his problems changed his outlook on life. Was it worth the effort? He thought so.
I was able to muddle my way through because I knew his backstory. The opponents he battled were not so conflicted, nor did they have so much to be afraid of. Knowing what his worst fears were made it easier to portray his courage and the reasons for the difficult decisions he made. Anyone can put their characters through Hell without ever knowing "why." Answer that question, and you're one step closer to describing a beleaguered hero/heroine that is enjoyable to read.