by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
Critical question: Does your protagonist have a real character arc?
Yes. The issue is one of redemption. My heroine not only feels betrayed, but she has a craving for redemption in the eyes of a very specific, small community. As such, she changes as she struggles to achieve that goal of redemption.
Critical question: Do the events of your plot have a strong causal relationship?
This has been a really rough thing to address as I’ve been working on this novel over the years. But the issue of “but, therefore” has become a little easier for me to use organically in the novel’s plot as things have progressed.
Critical questions: Does your protagonist have a higher-order goal in your novel? Does what they’re doing make sense, in terms of trying to achieve that goal? And is the way the world responds to those efforts convincing?
Yes. Her struggle — the reason why everything happens — is she wants redemption. She feel betrayed by events out of her control and as the story progresses, she addresses the issues associated with her existential need for that redemption.
