What does the character want in the immediate scene?
Start here, then go back to the page and see what the manuscript gives you.MANUSCRIPT PROBLEM
Why does my character make sense to me but not my readers?
You know things about your character that the page may never quite give the reader. That gap is often the whole problem: the character makes perfect sense from inside your head, while I am working with only what the manuscript lets me see.
BEFORE YOU CHANGE ANYTHING01 02 03 04 05
More explanation can actually make the character feel less alive. We would first ask what the reader is supposed to infer about them and whether the page gives the reader enough to make that inference.
FIVE QUESTIONS
What we would look for first
What evidence makes that desire legible?
Start here, then go back to the page and see what the manuscript gives you.Do choices follow from motivations the reader has access to?
Start here, then go back to the page and see what the manuscript gives you.Are important emotional transitions visible?
Start here, then go back to the page and see what the manuscript gives you.Could two reasonable readers infer different motivations from the same page?
Start here, then go back to the page and see what the manuscript gives you.WHERE A DEEPER READ HELPS
Stay with the reaction before deciding what to change.
We would compare the character’s intended logic with what the reader can reasonably know at that point in the book, then find the exact place where the inference stops being available to me.
A POSSIBLE NEXT STEP
Bring the question, not a diagnosis.
You do not need to arrive knowing which editorial service you need. If you want another pair of eyes on the actual manuscript, this is the route that fits the question above.
IF YOU ARE STILL NOT SURE
That is useful information too.
Sometimes the most honest starting point is simply, “Something isn't working and I cannot quite tell why.” You can start there.