h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I can almost forgive a story anything if it has characters to fall in love with. Characters have to be whole people with all the weakness and strengths you would find in a real flesh and blood personality.

With a well blooded character you can argue with them when they do some thing stupid (I must say I did this with Lestat in 'The tale of the body thief' by Ann Rice) you rejoice with them (when Gryffindor win the house cup) and cry as well (Heathcliff and his struggle to be seen as acceptable).

John Marsden, an Australian childrens/youth writer draws his stories from his character's voice, how they speak (accents, pauses) and how they use language (slang, different uses for common words). Writing this way sets the character firmly in a genuine landscape and add more validity to the whole story.

I personally believe that's why Harry, Ron and Hermione's stories are so well loved....we've fallen in love with them. No matter now ridiculous the story gets, we'll follow doggedly behind our friends, listening in as they make decisions from the trivial ('would Harry like cockroach clusters?') to the serious ('do we really have to go down to the Chamber of Secrets?').

And if you think this is all poppycock...check out the Star Trek shows...there's a classic example of how the power of character's can drive a story.