There is only one thing that makes a read (or a movie) interesting and that is the challenges to the hero. Usually these are in the form of problems he or she needs to solve and there is one problem which stands out as the ‘mother’ of all. That is the “Big Other.”
If you don’t have a big other in your writing there won’t be peaks and valleys, which need to exist to hold someone’s interest.
In “Blaze Motors” the big other was the oppressive government agents, first in the form of the Nazis and then the Polish Secret Service. There were many other challenges, such as the flight from Poland to the USA by the families and the enigmatic statements of a secret diary, bu the “Big Other” was the government interference in freedom.
In more familiar territory (for people who haven’t read Blaze Motors) in Casablanca Rick has to deal with the bureaucracy of a divided city in North Africa, but the real Big Other in the story is the love triangle between Rick, Ilse and Victor. How will Rick overcome the circumstances and allow Ilse to escape and have love in her life?
Look at your story and make sure there is a defined Big Other (along with a series of connected or unconnected ‘little others’) to make sure the story has victories and challenges built in for the heroes. If not you may need to add them.
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