I read this short article—“A reader’s advice to writers”—a while back and thought it was an interesting twist: a reader advises writers of fiction on what makes a good book.

Here one I like a lot:

2. Make your main character do something. For the reasons stated above, many writers gravitate toward characters to whom things happen, as opposed to characters who cause things to happen. It’s not impossible to write a compelling novel or story in which the main character is entirely the victim of circumstances and events, but it’s really, really hard, and chances are that readers will still find the character irritatingly passive. When you hear someone complain that “nothing happens” in a work of fiction, it’s often because the central character doesn’t drive the action.

That last point struck a nerve: I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had to remind an author that his declared protagonist was not driving the action. Yes, but … isn’t the right answer to that critique, either. 🙂

Every writer wants readers—right? So give this short read some serious thought. It may reorder your writing priorities.

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