"When you're drowning, you don't say, 'I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to come and help me,' you just scream." -John Lennon
Deus ex machina is Latin for "god from the machine". It means that an unbeatable problem- person, item, or event- is suddenly fixed by a new character, event, or ability.
Examine your writing- how do they solve their ultimate problem? Is it something they can already do, something that they have to find within themselves and sacrifice for? Or is it deus ex machina? Does another character come from nowhere and rescue them?
I'm sure I used deus ex machina somewhere in my early stories. But I can't even remember how on earth my first story ended. I remember a long climax, fighting dragons and using magic, and then . . . they somehow got home. Does that count if I can't even remember exactly what happened?
Saving your characters can take away from the meaning of the story. Let them struggle, let them fight, and leave them the tools that allows them to fix their own problems in the end. Don't make it easy though. We authors are far too cruel to allow that.
Kirah
My favorite suffering character is Benjamin Hughes. He's 33 years old, single, and has loved the same girl since he was in high school. The only problem is that the girl is married now and has a teenage daughter and a baby. :) I hate hurting Ben, but he needs it to be his big problem. It shapes him.
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