the stories were always flat and sort of pointless

That's not my experience. But then I know some real 'characters' ;) One in particular not only lit up the story, but when he read it himself he was happier than I have ever seen him IRL.

Every year that goes by I become more convinced that I understood nothing about people when I was twenty, and not very much when I was thirty. As for how I could explain why that is to someone younger, it seems to have defeated everyone else as well.