Many times, new authors receive feedback that surprises them. Of course their heroine isn’t too stupid to live, what makes this reader think that? And in no way did they imply the hero was a wimp, where did they read that?

It’s not unusual for a first manuscript to be riddled with contextual errors that give readers the wrong impression. This occurs especially when a new author wishes to convey their character in a certain way and includes descriptions, events or flashbacks that they believe showcase their character’s personalities. Not such a bad idea, you may think, but where does this create the problem?

For most writer’s, once they’ve learned the difficult technicalities of the craft, the next major leap is plot and character development. Why do I mention these two as ONE step? Because they have to go hand in hand. You cannot separate one from the other. Those descriptions, events, and flashbacks MUST directly relate to the plot, or they fail and give the reader the wrong impression.

If Mary is a good girl, and a new author decides to throw in a scene where Mary is helping an elderly lady across the street–they must make this relate to the plot at some level. If the story is about a woman who helps an elderly lady across the street only to discover the woman has played upon her kindness to get her into a darkened alley where she can be mugged, then it’s integral to the story. But, if the story is about the New York Stock Exchange and Mary’s scene of kindness is only to show Mary as being kind, then the scene fails to move the plot forward and needs to be deleted.

You may be arguing with me at this point that character development does move the plot forward. And I would reply that it definitely does. But, there doesn’t need to be an entire scene devoted to showing this character development. Mary’s kindness could be shown through a quick exchange of dialogue with another character:

“Mary, if you had two broken legs, you’d still help an old lady cross the street. You’ve got to toughen up. The New York Stock Exchange is no place for a nice girl like you.”

Not every idea we have works for our story–not every bit of the history we’ve given our characters will make it into the story. When in doubt, ask yourself if you can either rewrite so the scene pertains to the plot, or if the information given could be shown better in dialogue from another character. Remember, for a character to think about themselves as kind, beautiful, handsome, strong, brave, or another personality trait, never reads nearly as strong as if another character offers that information to the reader.

With the above information in mind, create a mission statement for your protagonist(s). This mission statement should cover both the character development and the plot. Here is a mission statement for my heroine in Stark Knight:

Sara Stark will bring to justice the man who killed her father and stop him from killing anyone else. (This covers the plot) Sara will discover if she’s capable of loving and trusting the man she’s called brother most of her life. (This covers the character development.)

This mission statement will help keep you focused. Does the description, the event, or the flashback correlate directly to the mission statement? If it doesn’t, rewrite or delete the scene. Once this is accomplished, the chances a reader will get the wrong impression of your characters or your story, are much less likely and the chances of achieving the sort of feedback you long for will sky rocket!