If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that one of the problems in my first drafts is that I raise the plot stakes for the characters too quickly, leaving little room for escalation.
I jokingly refer to this problem as the nuclear war problem, because the only option left for an exciting climax is to threaten global annihilation.
I realized recently that I did something similar with my protagonist’s character development. I gave them too many skills too quickly, when what I should have done was let them develop those skills gradually after a series of try-fail cycles.
I’m calling this impatient writing. I’m so impatient to get the protagonist to their fully-developed state so they can defeat the villain, that I’m not giving them a satisfying growth arc.
The great thing about first drafts, though, is that I have a chance to fix these issues before I show the work to anyone.
So I’m rolling up my sleeves and diving in. This protagonist is about to get the slow, thorough character arc they deserve!
