From the SRP Editor:
If I had to boil it down to one thing—the single most common issue I see when I’m working on manuscripts—it’s this: There’s no real reason for the story to keep going.
That usually shows up as weak stakes, low tension, or a situation where the protagonist could, quite reasonably, just… stop. And nothing meaningful would happen if they did.
That’s a problem. Because story is driven by necessity. Not convenience. Not coincidence. Necessity. If your character can shrug and go home, they probably should. And if they should… why aren’t they?
I was recently working on a manuscript where this showed up very clearly. Without naming names, there’s a moment early in the story where the protagonist is presented with a situation that should compel action. Except it doesn’t. Not really.
There’s no ticking clock. No meaningful consequence. No emotional or external pressure that forces a decision. The character could walk away, go back to their ordinary life, and—crucially—nothing truly bad would happen. So why don’t they?
That’s where the story starts to wobble. Because readers feel this, even if they can’t articulate it. They sense when a story is moving forward because it has to, versus when it’s moving forward because the author needs it to.
Strong stories close doors. They remove easy exits. They create situations where the character must act—not because they want to, but because they have no other viable choice.
That’s stakes. That’s tension. And without it, even beautifully written prose won’t carry the weight.
So if you’re looking at your manuscript and something feels a little flat, a little “off,” ask yourself one simple question: What happens if my character does nothing? If the answer is “not much,” you’ve just found your problem.
— Mark
Mark Posey
SRP Author and thriller writer.
Mark writes thrillers for readers who don’t mind a little dirt under the nails — stories with emotional weight, lean prose, and characters who rarely do the right thing for the right reason. His work lives somewhere between noir, revenge fantasy, and literary grit, though he avoids calling it any of those because that sounds like marketing.
When he’s not writing fiction, Mark also works as a professional editor and story consultant. His editing blog offers straight talk for indie and traditionally published authors alike — especially the ones who are tired of being told to “find their voice” by people who can’t define what voice is.
He believes in clarity over cleverness, clean narrative over trend-chasing, and that semicolons are fine, but you probably don’t need as many as you think.
He lives in Canada, which explains the politeness, but not the sarcasm.
You can find him online at MarkPoseyAuthor.com, where he blogs about writing, editing, story structure, and whatever else is on fire this week. His books are published through Stories Rule Press, an independent publisher of genre fiction with strong characters and sharp writing.