When my son was in grade school, and still listened to my advice :), he and I had an ongoing D&D game where his character was a paladin; the ultimate do-gooder knight. I thought it was a sneaky way to instill some moral values by forcing his character to abide by the lawful good limitations and reap the rewards. But one day he complained that all the good guys were boring and all the bad guys were cool. So I began to invent characters with dark powers who possessed good intentions. The result was that I came up with well rounded characters that inspired me to write again.
Looking back now I think my weekly challenge of creating a fresh campaign to excite the imagination of a seven year old boy gave birth to my most dramatic fictional characters and settings.

Recently I've been trying out role reversals for heroines. I'm trying to create heroines who fight the forces of evil without having to give up their femininity. Getting in touch with my feminine side - oh that tickles.