On the verge of destroying his career and his marriage, a washed up writer imprisons himself in his office where his characters begin to appear in the flesh, but when they are murdered one by one, he must come to terms with the dark secrets of his childhood before he loses his livelihood, his family and his sanity.

Why are the stakes lower for the writer, the protagonist, than for his characters? They get killed off, but he only has to worry about his "liveliehood, family and sanity."

Why are the stakes lower for the writer than for his characters? They get killed off -- he only has to worry about his "liveliehood, family and sanity."

His characters get murdered but he only has to worry about his "liveliehood, family and sanity" ? Seems to me, he's getting off too easily. The stakes should be no less for him than for his characters: to wit, his own life.

Cheers :-)

Great re-write! Good luck with this.

Great feedback and excellent pun !! Based on your comments, how about this :

When a washed up writer starts living in his office his characters begin appearing in the flesh, but as they are murdered one by one, he must face his dark childhood secrets or risk losing his livelihood, family and sanity.

(40 words)