Response to readings for 2/4/2014

I write story's very rarely, but when I do, my characters are not likable, and my plot never ends happily ever after. However, after reading these, especially We Are Not Your Mother, I have kind of realized that my characters tend to suffer from some of these symptoms. Namely, my characters always reflect who I am, voicing my thoughts, but also the character never undergoes any real change. This is my main problem. I don't feel like the problem is that I can't write change in a character, but that I have trouble dedicating to a plot line. When I was younger (middle school) I wrote stories all the time, and they never were lacking in plot, now I've run into this wall where I write highly descriptive stories where the speaker gets his views and mindset across in the scenes he is describing instead of through his actions. Maybe if I forced myself to write a nice character, or forced myself to write a character who isn't so critical and douchey. With the story I'm writing now, I'm trying to write my character as still retaining his critical qualities but I'm trying not to let it form into a rant or just a long monologue of bitching about everything. I can't let him sound whiney like Samantha from We Are Not Your Mother or my main character from my story Civilization, which is posted below. No one wants to hear that, but it takes articles like these to open my eyes to the issue. So now I just need to focus on keeping my characters caustic, a little funny, and disillusioned without seeming like a bunch of babies.
I liked the story Off, honestly I know a girl that is very similar to the main character (hard to believe, I know). The character became interesting because she was so batty. And eventually, she even became sympathetic. She loved her dog, and she loves Adam, although she's too scared to admit it. I really just felt sorry for her the whole time, even though she was being a total bitch, which is a difficult thing to write in, I think.