I have just understood why you should listen to your characters when they talk. In the chapter of something I've been working on, I have tried so hard to put in a light-hearted romance scene, but I couldn't figure out how to do it, and I ended up sprinkling some drama in there. Since I couldn't find a way to get the romance I wanted, I just started leaning into the tensity of the drama. And I've already got a million better ideas for how the rest of the chapter will go. No mood in a work can be "ruined" only morphed into something more fitting.
