Writing Tip Tuesday

Speaking of action.....

.....here's some food for thought with regard to your story:

Is the character a critical element in the ACTION of the story?

Is she instrumental in driving the story forward?

Does she MAKE the story happen?

OR........

Is the story simply happening to her or around her?

Here's the million dollar question:

If you took your main character out of the story, would the story/action/event still happen?

IMHO, it's not enough to have a character simply experiencing the story, relating the story, observing the story, etc. It's not even enough for the character to just participate in the story.

The character needs to MAKE THE DANG STORY HAPPEN IN THE FIRST PLACE.

And that means....the character needs to DO something - not just see something, feel something, tell us something, experience something, etc.