Among the big mistakes novice writers make is they don’t allow their protagonist to solve the story’s central problem.
A story always is structured around the main character overcoming some conflict that sets the tale in motion; this is the central problem. The bulk of the story focuses on how our hero attempts to resolve that problem and set the world right again. In the climax, he should do just that.
But what if instead of stopping the alien invasion, our protagonist serves merely a sidekick to a junior officer whose leadership and strategy achieves victory? What if instead of capturing the bank robber, another crook who wants revenge kills him rather than our police detective or Old West marshal taking him into custody? What if our heroine doesn’t find a way to work out differences with her beloved but instead his best friend talks him into setting aside his views so the two can be together forever?
Such endings are highly dissatisfying. Your readers have invested themselves emotionally in your protagonist, but these stories offer no payoff. It’s akin to a father who puts together a model that his son had bought and was excited to build on his own.
Never allow another character to do your protagonist’s work in the story’s climax. Even if the scene is tense and tightly written, you’ll undercut your readers’ trust in you as a writer.
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My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past decade, I’ve helped more than 300 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the 7 Minutes a Day… writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.