• Write engaging characters
• Have those characters do interesting things
• Force those characters to confront their faults and grow
• Make that character growth important on a personal level for the character, and on a higher level for the plot as well.

The way we are perceived is usually a direct result of the way we act. That being the case, it is important that the way we act is always in line with the way we want to be perceived. It’s a simple enough thing to say (or type, in this case) but usually much harder to actually do. Still, even given the difficulty (and perhaps impossibility) of actually doing so, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be trying.

Still though, it is something that bothers me enough that I did want to take at least a few minutes to write out. Perhaps it is due to my time spent voluntarily offering help to others at sites like phpBBHacks and elsewhere around the web, but I’ve always had a big problem with the seeming obsession some people have about money and making sure they get paid.

To clarify that slightly here at the beginning, I have no problem with people making money or being paid for services, in fact, I rather enjoy getting a paycheck each week for the work I perform, so who am I to argue against others getting the same. My problem lies with people who seem to think they are so valuable they can’t even be bothered to share knowledge they’ve obtained without demanding payment. Again, I understand how that may sound, and it is a fine line to walk between “you should be paid for that” and “why not just help someone out, you jerk” but I think that a line does in fact exist there.

Perhaps this comes from the fact that my early exposure was to a site where I volunteered my time to help others, simply because I enjoyed it. I still do the same thing today, with whatever communities I may be actively involved with. For me, I see no reason not to help out when I have knowledge that enables me to do so. That’s why it bothers me so much when I see what I feel is someone taking advantage of a person who simply hasn’t acquired the knowledge they have yet. I used to be that person who didn’t know anything, and in most areas of life, I still am. But, when someone has a question on a topic I can answer, I don’t tell them that I can do whatever it is for “X” amount of money, I just tell them how they can do it themselves.

All the people who have helped me over the years gave away the knowledge they’d acquired without asking anything back. In doing so, they didn’t become any less valuable, and the time they spent in acquiring that knowledge didn’t suddenly become useless. As it turns out, quite the opposite tends to happen. In sharing that knowledge, it doesn’t shrink away into uselessness, it grows, and builds on itself into something different and soon enough, the person who shared in the beginning is in fact growing in his own knowledge.

My point being, at the end of all this, is actually very simple; if it is within your ability to help someone, don’t worry about what you’ll get out of it, just do it. You’ll be better off in the long run.