Don't Create a Protagonist Who is Happy

I'm aware that for a starving writer, a happy man is neither the best nor the most lucrative theme. Most readers do not know that happy people are the worst subjects to write about. They are dull because nothing exciting happens around them. Writers thrive on unhappiness and crime. The well-known slogan that crime doesn't pay is true for general consumption, but not for writers.

Lajos Egri, The Art of Creative Writing, 1990