What does your protagonist want? Not what happens to them. Not what you want – which might be to explore themes of enduring human significance. No. What does the person at the centre of your story want – specifically, urgently, to the point where they would do something really unwise to get it? This week on the water If you can answer that question in a single unambiguous sentence, you are in better shape than most writers are at any stage of their work. Because wanting is the engine of...