A fan once took me aback by assuming that, because I gave my characters so many political problems to wrestle with, I must be wildly interested in politics.
Actually, I hate politics, especially contemporary—although this year I expect I have a lot of company. What’s really going on here, I have decided, thinking about this misperception, is an application of my worst-possible-thing guideline—you know, my now-too-often-quoted stick for stirring up plots that goes, think of the worst possible thing you can do to this character, and then do it. Note the emphasis on the this, because it changes with each character. To my tastes, the worst possible thing I could do to any character is to force them to deal with politics.
Reminds me of something Lois Bujold once said:
This may also serve to partially answer Vaniver’s very perceptive complaints as well.
Thank you for that link, by the way: it’s a fascinating read, and expertly handles many of the points I was fumbling around.