Writers, does your main character have an overriding goal for the middle section of your book? One that makes him or her reach outside his comfort zone, again and again?
In a sense, could you call him a hero on a journey?
Or is your main character dodging something, reacting to the actions of others, suffering at the hands of others, and really not moving toward a main goal?
If he’s a hero on a journey, readers will gladly walk alongside him through perils and triumphs. If he’s a victim, they might put the book down. Who wants to spend a number of hours experiencing the emotions of a victim?
The person who developed the idea of the hero’s journey, Joseph Campbell, had an adventure quest in mind. The journey has twelve steps, involving living in the ordinary world, hearing a call to adventure, leaving the ordinary world to pursue the quest, and eventually after many trials returning to the ordinary world with the prize. Plotting using this detailed formula can result in a very strong story.
Our stories may not fit that template, exactly. But it’s best not to ignore the hero’s journey completely.
The wimpy heroine needs to be escorted off the stage. Nobody wants to spend an evening or a day reading a book and experiencing the emotions of a wimp. We all want to be inspired by what we read, strengthened. And so we need our heroine to be pursuing a goal, starting at the inciting incident. Not starting at the beginning of the book, but at the beginning of Act 2 (the beginning of the middle of the book). Doggedly pursuing it in the face of all kinds of opposition, unselfishly. Actively, not passively.
That’s the basis of a strong plot.
Ref: The hero’s journey, first proposed by Joseph Campbell.