My first short story had 15 characters and none of them had a single problem

I spent 3 months writing this sci-fi piece for a local contest in Portland. I was so proud of how many cool alien species I invented and all the tech descriptions. Then I gave it to my friend who edits for a small publishing house. She read 3 pages and asked me 'what does your main character actually want?' I had no answer. I realized every single character was just reacting to plot stuff happening around them. Nobody had a goal or a flaw or anything personal. It was like watching robots bump into each other for 40 pages. The moment it clicked was when she showed me how to give the protagonist a simple need, like finding his brother. Suddenly the whole story had energy. Has anyone else written a whole draft before figuring out your characters need actual desires?

2 comments

2 Comments

stella_foster4d ago

That really hit home for me. I used to think a cool setting and lots of action were enough to carry a story, but boy was I wrong. After my own writing group pointed out the same thing, I went back and gave my main character a simple fear of being alone, and it changed everything about how the scenes played out.

matthew7034d ago

Funny how a tiny change like that can flip the whole story, isn't it?