Just out of curiosity.
I just finished a sci-fi piece and am currently working on one that, i guess, would be classified as more mainstream fiction/drama.
The new story is very much character-driven, about a single father, who grew up with an abusive/alcoholic home life. He now has to come to terms with his wife's death and re-adjust to his new life of raising his young daughter alone, while trying to avoid repeating the mistakes of his father when depression threatens to lead him toward drinking problems of his own.
Yeah... I'm having to do a lot of research on this one, as I myself grew up very much removed from anything remotely abusive and have the best dad ever. Of course, given that, I think all of this necessary research and character exploration is a good thing.