I’ve said before that the second act, or the meaty middle of a story is the part in which the writer tortures his or her characters, throwing rocks at them to chase them up a tree and then throwing more rocks at them to drive them ever higher into the precarious limbs that will no longer support their weight. If you doubt me, you can find the link to that post HERE.

This morning, io9 posted a similar story. Since I like to have what I say validated, I’m kindly sharing the link for your consideration. Thanks to the folks at the io9 web site. If you don’t follow them, I highly recommend.
http://io9.com/10-cant-miss-surefire-secrets-of-torturing-fictional-1557648931