Let us see your characters and plot progression

I love Doctor Who, but is has been boring lately (Except for last night's episode, which I loved!!!) and lately I've been thinking about why. The answer comes down to two things:

1. A lack of character development.
2. A lack of plot progression.

Let's take an in depth look at those shall we (And if you're not a whovian, stick around! This applies to everyone!)

• A lack of character development.

 If we aren't given a reason to care, then guess what? People won't care! In my current book, I have a bit of an antagonist in that I've put her there solely to cause problems for the MC. BUT I want people to feel for her, so I've given her motivations deep down, that once the reader sees them will make them hopefully feel... Something for her. Hopefully pity. If, however, I keep her forever in a state of "OMG, this character is so mean, I hate her." Then I'll never get to challenge how the reader feels about her, which is what I want.

• A lack of progression in the plot.

If your story doesn't move forward, people will get bored. I mean, how long do you stick with a book if you get bored? For me, less than twenty pages. That means you have better keep the plot moving, and FAST. If you slow it down, you had better have a good reason. Like character development for example. :)

I mean, in the case of Doctor Who, I get the feeling they're slowing down character/plot progression so they can withhold the good stuff for the series/season finale and/or the 50th anniversary. 

But they're only limiting themselves as writers. What they SHOULD  be doing is revealing the good stuff now and giving us MORE good stuff... See Downton Abbey for an example of this. 

Have a great day guys. 

Trunking Ensnare

AKA the book I've been writing for eighteen months. It was not an easy moment. I'm sure I'll still have desperate moments when I still think "I can still revise this!" But I've tried seven times. That's enough.

Here is a fake cover I made back when I was thinking about pen names earlier this year. And no, I don't plan on publishing under "Leah Pointer." You can laugh at the cheesiness. This is why I want to be traditionally published.

Basically, the main reason I decided to truck was because the whole time I tried to make this book into something... There was never a story arc. It was never build to anything. It was just "Scenario happens, crap ensues!"

But there needs to be something deeper at work in a book, at least to me. You need to know what you are building towards and I never did. So unless I can find a way to do that, it's staying shelved. 

But what do I mean by, building towards? Here is what I mean:

I should have an idea of where this book is going if I want it to be salvageable .. It's like SPOILERS from Doctor Who and Harry Potter, one of which I'm hoping you're watched/read: (highlight to read)

• From Doctor Who: In the first season of Doctor Who, the Doctor and Rose keeping seeing the words "Bad Wolf" everywhere. At the end of the season, Rose realizes that "Bad Wolf" was a message she left for herself in order to save the Doctor, it was a paradox, which she fulfills to save the Doctor. 
• From Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Harry goes to a vault with Hagrid to collect a tiny little package, that eventually ends up being the Sorcerer's Stone, that Harry has to stop Voldemort from stealing. 

Get what I mean? I didn't have a story or anything to foreshadow towards. Do I regret this book I spend so much work on? No! Because I feel like I learned so so so much from it.