The Writer's Life Forum A question of character

I came up with an idea for a screenplay. I got the outline finished and really liked what it looked like it could become. Then came time to make the characters. I happily went about my business, figuring out who they were, what their flaws were, why they were in the situation they were in and how they would eventually get out of it.

There in lies the problem. I came up with two great (to me at least) characters and niether of them is cooporating with me! I can't get them to behave and go into the story I created for them! Aside from that, the main character, a woman, is a bit of a cold-hearted b***h. I don't like her at all. I know she can be redeemed, but as I said before. She refuses to take part in the story the way I wanted the story to go, so how could I ever hope she'd be redeemed in the end?

So now I'm wondering. Would it be easier to scrap these two or set them aside until I find something they will fit into nicely and just write out the story, letting the people in the story grow on their own without prior plotting?

I will tell you like you once told me. You have to let the story channel itself through you. If you force it to go in a way that it doesnt want to you will ruin it.

I think that advice also applies to characters. Though we may love them if we force them to do things we know they wouldnt simply because we want them in a story they dont belong in, then we make them something that they arent and ruin the character.

I think that maybe you should set these charaters aside and develop some that would fit more freely into your story line. If the characters themselves are as great as you consider them, they will probably inspire you into creating another story just for them.