Tag Archives: Protagonist

The Fix – The beginning

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One of the complaints I heard from my beta-readers was that the story took too long to begin. Specifically, the actual hook didn’t come until the sixth chapter. I had to ruminate on this for a long time. I couldn’t figure out how I was supposed to start the story without destroying the integrity of the whole. I needed to introduce my main characters and set up the story first, right?

I figured out that I needed to introduce my main character’s love interest sooner in the story, before she runs into her ex. It’s her ex’s obsession with her that jump starts the action. It’s the idea that my protagonist has found someone who she’s interested in that motivates her ex into stalking her.

It’ll mean more rewriting, but I’m going to get this blasted book finished! Sometimes I think I should just let it go and move onto something else, something that’ll take a little less work to whip into shape. To bad I’m stubborn and I don’t know who to let things go. I will get this done. I will, won’t I?

The fix

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I’ve been thinking about the problem that has had my stymied for the past several weeks. I just couldn’t find a way around this little stumbling block and I was at a stand-still. I’ll admit that even though my goal is to publish this year, I wanted to give up and move on to another project, one that I hope would be far easier to complete.

But I’m not one to give up so easily. While I waited patiently at work for customers to show up, and yes I worked on Mother’s Day, I pulled out a sheet of paper and started to jot down notes.

Who’s after Jasmine?

I began by writing down the names of my characters, the ones who are the most likely suspect to be terrorizing my main character, detailing their history and the reason why they may be stalking her. As I scribbled my notes, I had one of those moments of brilliance. I may have figured out how to save my story! I finally had my Eureka! moment.

And now the dread washes over me, hours after that brief elation. I realized that by figuring out how to fix what’s wrong with the story I would have to sit down and introduce a new character. Well, that not quite true. My savior is already in the book, but they haven’t been fleshed out thoroughly. My task is to beef up their part, including their motivation for seeking out Jasmine. Luckily, that all came to me while I jotted down my notes throughout the day.

I’m excited about this. The way the story ends has bothered me for some time. One of my beta-readers actually called me out on how I resolved the story. I made a liar out of my character. They are not duplicitous in any way. Awkward? Yes, but not malicious nor psychotic. Now, that character can be true to themselves while this new character gets to enjoy a promotion of a sort and fully embrace a role that I could never really develop.

It should only take a few minor rewrites to incorporate them into the narrative. I’ll have to tweak some dialogue and create a few key scenes along the way, but as I have already deleted some other scenes, I should do so seamlessly, or at least that’s my hope.

To think that I’ve been wracking my brains in search of an answer and all it took for me to find it was to write it down. It allowed me to focus on the problem while not confronting the issue. It worked itself out organically. I just hope I do it justice. Also, I hope I remember how to fix it.