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A Mistake Almost EVERY Writer Makes #writer #author #writingcommunity #authortube #publishing

10 Sept 2026 · 1 min

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Most writers make their protagonists too competent, solving every problem instantly and killing tension. Your character needs to struggle with challenges they can't fix right away, forcing real change. That's what keeps readers hooked.

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Here's a mistake almost every writer makes. You make your protagonist too competent. They're too smart. Too many times writers have their protagonist easily and quickly solve all the problems that come up. This creates flat storytelling where the tension is constantly resolved for the reader, which means they get bored and stop caring about what happens next. Your story should be about a protagonist that's learning a hard lesson and is having to change in order to learn it. That means that most of the problems they run into throughout the story, they shouldn't know how to solve. For more writing tips, subscribe below.