Top 5 Developmental Issues by Naomi Hughes

I haven’t done a writing-advice thread in a while because I was so busy working on my WIP, but now that I’m done, how about a chat on the top 5 developmental issues I see as an editor?

One of the most common issues I see in manuscripts I edit is that the conflict isn’t personal enough to the main character. They’re doing their own thing, trouble ~happens~, then they have to avoid, fix, or triumph over the (impersonal) trouble. The problem there is that the story could be happening to literally anyone. Some stories can make this sort of impersonal plot work, but most of the time, the more personal you can make the conflict the better. Questions to keep in mind to make the conflict/story more personal: how could this trouble affect the MC in a unique way? What does the conflict mean to them that it wouldn’t mean to anyone else? Can you make the stakes more personal–what happens to them if they fail?

Problem number 2 that I frequently see in developmental editing: shallow (or no) character arcs. Usually if your story doesn’t change the character, it won’t change us. A great growth arc can take a story from “a nice read” to “happy sigh/ugly crying/throwing book at wall.” There are a few types of character arcs. Most common = positive arc: they start out with a flaw or problematic worldview, then the conflict forces them to acknowledge, face, & eventually overcome it (which then allows them to triumph in the external conflict too). A negative character arc is common with villains and sometimes antihero/antiheroine main characters. Think Anakin Skywalker: the MC starts out “good” but with a weakness or flawed belief, then follows it further and further into darkness until they eventually give in completely. There’s also the flat character arc where the MC themselves don’t change or grow, but instead force the world around them to do so. This can be hard to pull off and it needs a powerful story and a powerful MC to anchor it.

Third most common problem I see in manuscripts: a flat villain. I see a lot of “pure evil” varieties where the bad guy/girl likes doing evil just because they’re bad. This can very rarely be pulled off well, but more commonly makes a shallow & stereotypical character. Side note: PLEASE do not use “they’re crazy” as a motivation for your bad guy/girl to do evil. That’s lazy writing, and advances stereotypes that are harmful for real-world people who have real mental illnesses (which look nothing like the “crazy” that you’re writing).

Problem number 4: impersonal stakes. Common writing advice says to make the stakes high, but that doesn’t mean your plot should necessarily be “they have to do xyz or the world will blow up!” Those stakes are high but impersonal, which means readers won’t connect. To make your stakes personal, go back to some of what I was talking about with the impersonal-conflict problem; how can these stakes matter to this person *specifically*? How would they affect them in a way they wouldn’t affect anyone else? Example of how to make impersonal stakes more personal: your “high” stakes might be “a bad prince will inherit the kingdom.” More personal stakes (w/ a deadline!) might be “if I don’t kill the prince before coronation day, he’ll have my royal advisor father hung as a traitor.”

Bonus advice! Here are some ways to escalate your stakes: