I'm BORED with action scenes...

[DragonOfTheAerie]

It seems really weird to find writing action scenes tediously boring, but that's exactly the condition I find myself in.

At the point I left off in my WIP, my characters have escaped imprisonment inside my assassin school and are about to break into the Headmistress's office. And yeah it's going to be risky and dangerous blah blah blah...but I'm so BORED just thinking of writing it.

It's been this way for almost every action scene in the book. Instead of being exciting to write they're just painfully tedious.

So, two things: What can I do to make action scenes easier to get through? and, Will my readers find the action scenes just as boring as I do?

I'm not quite sure what's wrong. Is there no emotional dimension, no reason to care about the action? Probably. But I have no idea how to insert that emotional dimension...I don't know if you can "insert" it. Are the stakes too low? I think the lack of emotional dimension plays into this. Sure, the characters are risking their lives, but...does the reader really care? Does the reader really care whether my main character reaches her goals? I think not. I don't know if her goals are emotionally compelling, but how do I MAKE them emotionally compelling?

stuff I have to work with: Main character feels honor-bound to keep her word to another character, who she promised to reunite with her sister, but now she's making said character risk her life and if that character dies... The other characters wanted to leave her behind, but MC convinced them not to. Another character, who the MC is just now realizing she cares about, is also putting her life in danger to create a diversion so they CAN break into the Headmistress's office and my MC is worried her plan will get the other character killed. Also, MC is trying to comprehend why another character chose to save her from death, even knowing that she's turned traitor against the Headmistress and the school. (It's because the other character considers her her friend, but MC is too emotionally constipated to realize that.)

Basically, a bunch of completely selfish a-holes realizing they DO, in fact, care about each other. That's what's happening in the story at this point emotionally...how does that play into this action scene? I'm thinking of killing someone earlier on than I planned...

It's a systematic problem, though. I feel like the problem is that in my action scenes the conflict is purely external, physical, with no dimension of internal conflict. But I have no idea how to fix this problem. I'm having a horrible crisis of character motivation right now. Everything's a mess and I haven't made it to my daily goal but I can't seem to summon the motivation to write this scene. Throughout the story I've done a lot of motivating characters purely through self-preservation...it's biting me in the butt.

 

[Incanus]

I hear you. When I was younger, I thought the action parts of my favorite stories were the best parts. But I've since become a bit bored with that aspect as well. I mostly see it now as a way of moving the external plot forward. But action without context just isn't enough to be compelling.

I'm not quite sure what's wrong. Is there no emotional dimension, no reason to care about the action? Probably. But I have no idea how to insert that emotional dimension...I don't know if you can "insert" it.

I don't have much of an answer, but I can commiserate. Basically, my WIP--my first novel--is a great big experiment to find out if inserting this stuff is even possible. I'd say my story is an 'action/adventure' kind of tale, but the emphasis is on the adventure.

Anyway, the first draft was super thin on character details, depth, internal conflicts, and the like. I'm in the middle of trying to flesh it all out, and it's been difficult to say the least. I spend most of my writing time seemingly failing at all this, but I keep plowing forward nevertheless. In fact, I actually think it will end up failing in this regard in the end, but the idea is to learn from it and do better on my second novel (which is more ambitious). Still, I have a fair amount of faith in the power of editing (and editing, and editing, and editing some more).

The only suggestion I have is to somehow push yourself to write through these scenes as best you can. I'm reminded of a great quote I read a few days ago (paraphrasing from memory): I can fix a poorly written page, but I can't fix a blank one.

At the very least, you could just drum up a bare-bones version of the action sequence, a place-holder.

In the meantime--good luck! I hope you find an answer you can live with.

 

[Heliotrope]

Oh my goodness I have so much to say about this I can probably not fit it in a single post (which is typical for me).

When I'm having trouble getting through action scenes it is usually because:
1) The goal is not clear.
2) The stakes (personal and public are not high enough).
3) The action sequence is repetitive (we've already seen one like it in the story).
4) The setting does not lend itself to high tension.

When I have those four things then action scenes are my favorite! I love writing them! If something is missing then they can drag and feel pointless.

1) The Goal

I'm going to be honest, and say it is challenging to write an "emotionally constipated" character that a reader will actually care about. I'm just going to put that out there. And it may be why you are struggling to care as well. I know it sounds crazy, but readers actually identify with characters who feel things intensely, and an action scene is only as important as how the character 'feels' about it. So in order for it to matter you have to make it matter to them on a very deep, intense level. They need to have a goal. Something that matters. Something that is important, to them on a deeply emotional level. Not just to save their life. It has to be more important than their life.

Which brings me to #2:

2: STAKES

Why does the goal matter? There should be two types of stakes involved personal, and public. Personal stakes are why the goal matters to the character. Remember, it must be emotionally important. Worth more than life itself. But, there should also be public stakes. This means that it doesn't just matter to the character, but to the others around them. Others have a vested interest in the character's success.

If you don't have these two key pillars your action will fall flat and be boring to write because it doesn't really matter.

Please, please, please, do the pages in this workbook. It will take some time but it will really help you develop your character into someone with depth that you actually care about. It will help you narrow in on what your character's goals are, and how you can create a steady stream of inner conflict. It will also help you to set personal and public stakes that can keep escalating as the story progresses so that the action scenes become meaningful for you to write.

http://www.writersdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/BreakoutWorksheets1.pdf

 

[Heliotrope]

A good friend of mine sent me an article recently on characters and intensity that was amazing. I'm going to post the link even though the link was broken for me for some reason. I'm also going to post some of the article:

http://writerunboxed.com/2016/09/07/intensity/

Ask yourself these questions: Do I wish for my readers to experience quiet, peace, placidity, and calm? Or, do I wish for my readers’ experience to be intense? I suspect I know your answer. Who does not want their novel to be intense?

...........

But what exactly is intensity? What causes the action of a novel to provoke that feeling in characters, readers and authors? How is intensity produced on the page, so that readers feel it? How is it generated by authors within themselves on any given writing day?

When most of us think of intensity, we probably think of experiencing what is extreme. That’s not wrong. Extreme action can be intense.

..........

In science, intensity is a measure of power per unit area (physics), such as radiant heat flux (heat transfer), or field strength (electromagnetism). It can also be luminous intensity (optics), radiance (astronomy), or peak ground acceleration (as in earthquakes, geology). In other words, intensity is when force is packed tightly into something. It’s not the object itself but its effect. In writing terms, that means that intensity isn’t action per se, it’s the effect that any given story moment has on us.

Violence can be intense but it’s not the only way to produce the effect of intensity. In psychological terms, intensity is a high degree of emotional excitement. Over-excitability used to be seen as a personality problem, but is now understood not as a cause but a consequence of something else; a consequence that can be constructive, in important ways forming and strengthening personality instead of impairing it.

Psychologist Kazimierz Dabrowski’s Theory of Positive Disintegration explains, among other things, the extreme excitability of gifted children. Once seen as hyperactive, distractible, disruptive, immature and oppositional, Dabrowski and later researchers revealed that such children are instead high energy, imaginative, passionate, sensitive and creative. They react more quickly and intensely, moved by inner forces that generate over-stimulation.

That’s true in all healthy personality formation. Conflict and pain lead to an inner collapse or “disintegration”, which in turn builds stronger personality based on an individual’s values. The result is autonomy, or what informally we would call maturity. Grown up, if not gifted, individuals are curious and driven to challenge conformity, complacency and self-satisfaction.
Does that sound like a guideline to creating great protagonists? It may well be. Protagonists in general do not easily conform. They do not run from conflict but face it. They do not experience emotions in the muted, contained and safe way in which most of us must in order to get along in life. Protagonists are passionate, principled and large in their feelings. They don’t get along. They are excitable. They are intense.

Thus, creating intensity in fiction starts with creating protagonists whose emotional excitability is above average; characters who react and respond to things in a larger way than most of us would. Second, it means packing scenes with material that produces a strong response, both in characters and in readers. Third, it means bringing your own excitability into the moment as you write.

Intensity is an achievable effect. It makes for exciting action. It tears characters apart and builds them back up. It gives readers a high experience. It challenges you to be a greater storyteller. The effect, though, comes not from characters or events. It’s not a function of plot, arc or voice. It’s the result of your own commitment, passion and courage. Your novel is intense not because it is, but because you are.


- Donad Maahs

 

[skip.knox]

That last comment, DotA, may be a key. Self-preservation is a motivation that lasts only for the moment. There has to be more to it.

The characters need to connect with one another, somehow. Or, if acting alone, they need some aspect with which the reader can connect.

Here's a big action scene: thousands of goblins descend upon a city. They kill all they find and generally trash the place, unintentionally setting fires which they've no idea how to extinguish.

We see this through the eyes of a twelve-year-old girl. Now, that alone might be enough to get the reader engaged. We meet her just prior to the catastrophe, we know the catastrophe is coming, so there's a natural feeling of protection and worry, but that wasn't enough. So I gave her a dog. A Roman war dog, specifically. So, as I bring them through the scene, she both worries for the dog and is comforted by him. When the dog has to tangle with a couple of goblins to make it out through a city gate, the reader can worry over both girl and dog. The real point there is: if you want the reader to worry (love, cheer, whatever), then let one of the characters feel those emotions so the reader can feel along with them.

In another example, there's a big battle between Roman legions and those goblins. I have a character who is a jerk to our hero earlier, whose actions nearly sidelines the hero for the battle. I put this jerk on the left flank of the army, put there deliberately by the Emperor, who doesn't much like the guy either. We see part of the battle through his eyes. Specifically, the army gets outflanked and surrounded, and it's the jerk who experiences this first.

He's already been a jerk to our hero, but I let him be a jerk to his own men as well. I show him eager for accolades, tactically foolish, making decisions that expose the left flank needlessly, so that when the second goblin force arrives, his legion is completely out of position. The reader gets to see him make these choices. They get to boo him, call him names, and probably cheer when he meets his demise, even as we realize he may have cost the battle. But his actions come because of who he is. He thinks all along he is absolutely doing the right thing, and blames everything but himself when it goes wrong.

I give two examples in part to show there's a wide range of ways to invest a scene with emotional overtones. To do that, I think it's necessary to know the character more deeply than shows on the page. So, for example, the young girl is an orphan--abandoned, actually--and has learned to be self-reliant, but not by choice. She doesn't realize how badly she wants a real friend, so when she happens onto the dog, the bond is instant and deep. When her mother abandoned her, she went to Constantinople, so when the girl flees the burning city, of course that's where she heads. She has created a whole mythology around her abandonment, her mother, and what she will find in Constantinople. I as the writer need that depth in order to rustle up feelings inside myself. When she's in peril, I need to feel it, or the feeling won't find its way into the words.

The same was true for the jerk. I couldn't just make him a ninny or an incompetent. I needed to give him some complexity that *I* could believe in.

Sorry for the extended examples. I don't really know how to talk about these things without resorting to specifics

 

[Heliotrope]

Great example skip.

 

[skip.knox]

But enough about me. You give a paragraph of specifics, so let me follow up.

>Main character feels honor-bound to keep her word to another character, who she promised to reunite with her sister,
Why? Does the MC have a strong sense of honor? Why? Where did that come from? Is it innate, or something learned? The answers matter.

And why did she give her word? Honorable people tend to be chary of giving their word. Did she not realize the risks and so made a stupid mistake she has to live with? Did she realize the risks but felt some obligation? If so, what? Why? What she tricked into it? Did she mistake the other character's, er, character? Was the sister more the reason?

All the interesting stuff lies down in those answers.

>but now she's making said character risk her life and if that character dies...
In what way is she doing this? Does OC (other character) have no choice in this? Does OC go along with it merrily? What is the nature of the risk? What were the alternatives that were rejected, and why? And if the OC dies, then ... what? The sister dies? Anything else? What if the OC is severely injured or captured?

>The other characters wanted to leave her behind,
Why? This sort of implies that the rescue of the sister could have gone on without the OC. True? Again, why were these specific choices made, and by whom? Those other characters, do they have a say in all this? Can they resist, screw up, or otherwise throw a spanner into the works?

>but MC convinced them not to.
Why? This implies the other characters are needed by the MC. Why is each, specifically, needed? What happens if one of them leaves or is killed? Would the MC care? Would the OC? The sister (when she found out)?

>Another character, who the MC is just now realizing she cares about,
Why just now? Is this one of those I hate you, I love you things? Does the AC (another character) care about the MC? How much of this caring have we actually seen prior to the action sequence?

>is also putting her life in danger to create a diversion so they CAN break into the Headmistress's office and
Why? Is AC especially brave? Foolish? Or does she do so as part of The Plan? For that matter, is there a plan or are they making it up as they go? Watching a plan go wrong is always a good way to up the tension.

>my MC is worried her plan will get the other character killed.
This makes it sound like the AC is acting as lone wolf. Really need some strong motivation there, but if it exists, that's a great move. If AC is in love with sister, that'd do it.

>Also, MC is trying to comprehend why another character chose to save her from death, even knowing that she's turned traitor against the Headmistress and the school. (It's because the other character considers her her friend, but MC is too emotionally constipated to realize that.)
OK, got a little lost in the other another business, but this makes me think there is time in this action sequence for reflection. That's fine, but this speculation seems a touch ... remote. The sort of thing you'd think about after it was all over, rather than during. In any case, there's always the possibility that one who betrays her old allies may choose to betray her new ones as well. Worrying about a mole is another good way to ratchet up tension.

In all the above, though, notice the repeated use of a word: why. I don't care how or where or when, or even who to a certain extent. What I as reader want to know is why. Goals and motivations.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

I won't bother speaking to action scenes, I will speak in general for me (since I am the only person I can write about from a first POV accurately).

If I am bored (or otherwise struggling) writing a scene/sequel, action, romance, clue-drop, travel, transition, internalized deep thoughts, etc. etc., there is one reason:

Something is flipping wrong!

The last time I got bored writing, I figured out the issue and wham! deleted that entire POV. It wasn't that it didn't add to the story, it didn't add enough to justify it's existence. AND as bonus, its deletion forced me to get the vital parts into different parts of the story.

If you think there's probably an emotional disconnect, it's almost guaranteed there is, IMO. The gut isn't always right, but usually it is in this sort of case. And reading your post, I have a question:

Do you care "whether my main character reaches her goals?"

It could just be the frustration coming through in the post, but honestly, I'm not so sure you do. If you don't, no reader will. So maybe the answer is a simple one, do what it takes to make you care.

 

[Peat]

I think Heliotrope has nailed it - the stakes are the key.

To apply this to what you're doing DotA - I don't think you even mentioned why they're breaking into the office. How does this action scene move the story along? You need to be certain why this scene matters. I think being excited about how the scene fits into the story will improve your motivation to write the scene.

You're right to look for the emotional dimension. Judging from your post, you have metric craptons of emotional dimension to play with here. You make it sound like they're going from constipated to not in the middle of a battle. That's big. I think you can do something with that.

 

[DragonOfTheAerie]

Thanks for all the replies guys

I see lots of the potential problems being brought up in my story right now. Yes, we have had a similar action scene before. The stakes are the characters' lives, but i feel like it needs to be about more than just self-preservation. The goal itself isn't that compelling, I don't think.

And...yeah. My character motivations have been a complete mess throughout this book. That's what you get for pantsing with a character who's emotionally constipated and reluctant to let her emotions drive the plot forward, I guess. I'll tell you outright: she's a fiercely independent, arrogant, selfish asshole. She's been a street criminal for most of her life, selling drugs or weapons or whatever brings in enough money to keep her alive, and she doesn't care about the welfare of others easily. She's killed people, she's taken eyes or fingers for threatening her...Self-preservation is one of my default motivators because most of the time my MC cares about her own survival and little else. It's the way the streets have wired her. She's not quick to care about others, or any larger goal. Like stopping a villain.

My characters' goals are...well, a little murky, first of all. MC is trying to stop the villain's plans. I had to do some serious gymnastics to get the other characters to agree to breaking into the office. First of all, the other characters have been believing villain character is actually good for...years, really. And they just believe ii formation related to them from the person they believe is the enemy? I'm not 100% sure that MC's drive for trying to stop the villain is clear. I've tried to almost...enforce her motivations throughout the story. But they still seem inauthentic.

How do you motivate a character to care about what happens to the world around them, to care about something bigger than themselves? Rocket from GotG has the best answer: "Because I'm one of the idiots who lives in it!" This is basically her motivation. But...it's kind of grasping at straws at this point because she doesn't *know* how the villain's plan will affect her negatively...so...

The villain's plan includes starting a war, basically destroying society and restarting. How on earth do you make a character want to stop a villain from creating a dystopia when things are already about as bad as they can get??? (Everything is polluted, rain is acid, dire poverty, drugs and plague everywhere. Things are BAD.) Right now the MC is assuming that because the villain went to such great lengths to conceal her plans, she must have a terrible secret. But this feels like grasping at straws.

Of course, the villain has already lied and manipulated her (something she hates, because she's independent and hates being manipulated, and as mentioned before, she does have some kind of sense of honor.) and has also harmed characters the MC cares about (is just now realizing she cares about). But is that enough? It doesn't feel like enough for her to try to stop the villain. Hate the villain, sure. But risk her life to stop her?

I keep struggling with WHY does my selfish, independent character care about stopping the villain? I mean, there are the things I've mentioned above, which are enough to make my MC hate the villain, but she's more the type that would run from her than try to stop her.

So, she's breaking into villain's office to try to stop her plans. But, I'm having trouble figuring out why.

My go-to for when a character is lacking motivation is to think about her relationships and threaten someone she loves. (I write mainly relationship-driven stories, so I like it.) but the villain's plan doesn't directly threaten anyone she loves, or her, really. And she doesn't really DEVELOP these attachments to the other characters until late in the story. Like, she's JUST NOW realizing she cares about them.

Gah, this will be hard to explain. My plot is EXTREMELY COMPLICATED. But I'll try. Please don't laugh at it; I'm very self-conscious as it is.

So, I have four characters in play here: my MC, Leslie, Justine; and...actually we don't know the fourth character's name, but her nickname (and not an altogether inaccurate one) is Bonkers.

The main villain is the headmistress of the assassin school, but the other characters don't know that. Only the MC knows the whole truth. She was told that by another character who the other characters believe is the enemy. Basically, MC was captured by enemy character and was revealed the truth about the Headmistress and all the secrets and weird coincidences immediately made sense. (First problem, how does MC decide so surely who to believe?) MC makes a deal with Justine, who works with enemy character, but who has a sister who is an alumnus at the school and one of the Headmistress's most skilled goons, to help her escape in exchange for helping her reunite with her sister. MC is struck by how willing Justine is to agree to this, even on a distant hope. So, MC is bound by her word to help Justine. (No, these aren't placeholder names. I like them. NO JUDGY.)

Fast forward a few chapters and they are both captured and imprisoned at the school by the Headmistress, who has labeled them traitors. (GAH ITS GETTING COMPLICATED NOW) MC discovers that Leslie is imprisoned as well. Evil headmistress lied that Leslie was captured by nebulous enemy character, but upon being imprisoned in nebulous enemy character's home base, she figured out that this wasn't the case. Turns out that Headmistress was just getting Leslie out of the way because Leslie knew a secret that could expose her evil plans or whatever. (I don't feel like explaining that part right now) Leslie is in horrible condition, like, close to death, and reveals that the Headmistress has been keeping her in this weakened state to prevent her from being able to escape. So they're all three imprisoned, and will likely all be executed once the evil plan has come to fruition. (Ok, now I'm not 100% clear on why MC has been labeled a traitor...though she kind of is...It's a mess, I tell you...)

MC's history with Leslie: They hated each other and we're both assholes but MC both came to relate to her, and to be reminded of someone she once loved by her. When she believes Leslie to be captured and probably dead, she promises herself she will try to rescue her, because of the parallel with Character From Her Past. (In short she loved a guy but he ended up dead and it was her fault and she was tortured by guilt over it and yeah. I think I give the full details of the backstory on another thread somewhere...) but now Leslie, to her surprise, is alive but has been locked up in the dark for a month in a state of half-dead. And MC realizes then that she actually cares about her. Since the villain inflicted this state upon her, this only deepens her hatred for the villain.

In the last chapter where I'm at, Bonkers breaks into the prison black and rescues the three. Now, Bonkers is really the only purely good character in the whole book. She and the MC were roommates and she was REALLY tough to live with (EVEN MORE backstory I don't want to talk about right now) and MC was kind of an asshole to her at first but later improved. Bonkers really cares about the MC; honestly she'd never had a friend before and that was really important to her. But MC doesn't understand why Bonkers would care enough about her to risk her life to rescue her.

The four are trying to figure out what they're going to do now.

I need the MC to try to stop the villain's plans. This means she tries to organize a plan with the other three. She still has her deal with Justine to think about, but taking the detour of fulfilling it could kill all of them and anyway, the others don't trust her. She also really, really doesn't want any of them to get killed because of her plan. (She has killed at least five people in the past, but she includes the boy she loved in her "kills" because she thinks it was her fault. And she doesn't want anyone else to die because of her. Choosing to kill an enemy, in her mind, is far better than causing the death of a friend. She justifies the deaths of the five. They had it coming. they messed with her. It was them or her. But being at fault for the death of someone she loved tortures her.)

Honestly I have no idea why stopping the villain is so important to her. That's a HUGE problem, right? I've kinda tried to make her care about the world and stuff, but...she doesn't really care for the welfare of humanity as a whole. She cares about herself. And he's beginning to care about some other characters, but she's only just now starting to realize it.

Not to mention the huge gaping problem that the villain's plans will probably improve the world more than hurt it and since the other characters have been brainwashed by her to believe that anyway, it seems unlikely that they'd turn against her.

Yeah. It's a mess. A big stinking mess. If you didn't have the patience to read that, I don't blame you.

This brings me to my problem...Do I shove through the rest of this draft with my character motivations in shambles? Or do I go back and fix things? Try to? I don't know. I just don't know...

 

[DragonOfTheAerie]

I'm this close to either making everyone bisexual and throwing in a ton of romantic subplots or killing like 2 characters prematurely. (Justine and/or Leslie, but originally Bonkers was going to die, which...complicates things)

 

[DragonOfTheAerie]

At least I've figured out why the action scenes are boring.

Where to go from here? Go back and fix things or shove on through?

 

[Heliotrope]

Do you care about the character? Do you care about the story? Does the story have an important theme you truly believe in that you want to share with the world? Is there a truth in your story that excites you? Are you putting your own self in the story, being honest and brave about your beliefs/values?

If no, then what is the purpose of the story? What is there to drive you (and your characters forward?)

If yes, then keep going!

But, please do those worksheets I gave you.

At this point it sounds like your character is very two dimensional and needs to be fleshed out. You have not given her anything to live for. What is the purpose of self-preservation if there is nothing to live for? If the world is shot and full of drugs and death and destruction, and she hates everything and everyone then what is there to keep her moving forward? What does she want? Revenge on someone who was cruel to her? To feel loved? To feel in control? To prove something to someone? There must be something. Think about what that is. What drives her to keep living?

But do those worksheets!

 

[Heliotrope]

What is your story about? is is about redemption? Is it about fighting for what you believe in? Is it about believing in your dreams?

Because a reader is not, I'm going to tell you right now, follow a two-dimensional asshole with no goal or purpose for a hundred pages. They won't. Unless they think the asshole is going to eventually get their comeuppance then they won't follow along or sympathize or care about any of the action.

When you give the character a reason to care, to really truly deeply care about something on a personal level then the reader will care. Then the action won't feel pointless.

 

[Heliotrope]

I'm this close to either making everyone bisexual and throwing in a ton of romantic subplots or killing like 2 characters prematurely. (Justine and/or Leslie, but originally Bonkers was going to die, which...complicates things)

This is not going to help. It's not. Making everyone bisexual would take away the intensity and deep emotional impact of a true romantic subplot. Make the MC bisexual. Make her fall in love. Sure. That would work, but a bunch of romantic subplots will dilute the impact.

Killing people wont help if the reader is not connected to any of them on an emotional level.

 

[DragonOfTheAerie]

Do you care about the character? Do you care about the story? Does the story have an important theme you truly believe in that you want to share with the world? Is there a truth in your story that excites you? Are you putting your own self in the story, being honest and brave about your beliefs/values?

If no, then what is the purpose of the story? What is there to drive you (and your characters forward?)

If yes, then keep going!

But, please do those worksheets I gave you.

At this point it sounds like your character is very two dimensional and needs to be fleshed out. You have not given her anything to live for. What is the purpose of self-preservation if there is nothing to live for? If the world is shot and full of drugs and death and destruction, and she hates everything and everyone then what is there to keep her moving forward? What does she want? Revenge on someone who was cruel to her? To feel loved? To feel in control? To prove something to someone? There must be something. Think about what that is. What drives her to keep living?

But do those worksheets!

Yes! I do want to keep going. What I'm asking is what is the best way to do that? Do I go back and try to fix some of these problems before continuing, or do I try to finish the first draft first?

I will but you weren't lying when you said they were long. O_O

And you're dead right that she doesn't have much to live for, and actually that's a good insight because I think one of her motivations is wanting something to live for. About 10 chapters earlier she returns to the world she left when she was accepted into the school and is given the opportunity to escape the Headmistress and abandon her plans. But she sees how hopeless everything is and realizes that she has nothing, no skills (except fighting and surviving), no family, and she wonders, is this all there is??

So, she wants something MORE. But it's very vague.

 

[Heliotrope]

At least I've figured out why the action scenes are boring.

Where to go from here? Go back and fix things or shove on through?

Go back and fix it now. You have to flesh out your character and find out what she wants before you can move on. That will drive the entire story and it will fuel every action she makes and every choice she makes. If you are struggling with action scenes now then you will find that it will only get worse as you keep going.

 

[DragonOfTheAerie]

This is not going to help. It's not. Making everyone bisexual would take away the intensity and deep emotional impact of a true romantic subplot. Make the MC bisexual. Make her fall in love. Sure. That would work, but a bunch of romantic subplots will dilute the impact.

Killing people wont help if the reader is not connected to any of them on an emotional level.

Don't worry, I was joking. Sort of. It does reflect, somewhat, my desperation.

 

[Heliotrope]

What do you like about your character? What about her inspires you?

There must be something other than her jerkness. Something that you like. Something that is heroic?

 

[Peat]

My first two books included me stopping half way through the first draft, flicking a match on it, and going right to the beginning. I'm not saying that's what you need to do but it worked for me.

*pause* Okay. Actually, I do think its probably the best option.

As you recognise, you need to shove a bit more motivation into the MC (and maybe the others). The likelihood is once you've found the motivations and start writing them in, you'll find the logic of previous scenes doesn't work as well. Best to go back and fix that now.

Heliotrope has some good questions which I'm gonna sorta echo here -

Why do you like this story? What's special about it?

Why do you like character? What's special about her?

Do you know how you want the story to end? What's special about the ending you have in mind, why that and not something else?


edit: I see Heliotrope ninjaed me on question 2