•The conflict was a result of her vanity

•The highest peak in my story, climax, showed an intense moment of whether her goal would be met (whether her vanity would work for, or against her)

•And ending? The ending showed how she was led to destruction because of her vanity

By following my theme, everything in my story was precise.

If I showed my character not being vain in any instance, then I would’ve strayed from my theme.

Does your story have a theme?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you didn’t consciously write with a theme in mind, then your story won’t have one. Chances are, your story isn’t focused. But then again there is other possibility… At times we fluke things.

Perhaps without consciously knowing, a theme is running through your story.

Check your story to see if this is case. If it is, are you sticking to theme?

If you find that some parts of your story are straying from theme, those parts will need to be changed to accommodate theme.

Now other possibility…

You don’t have a theme and none is running through your story. That’s okay. We can still save it. Read through your story and see what it’s about. Then come up with most appropriate theme to it - A theme that makes sense yet won’t mean too much work to change story.

Rewrite those parts that don’t accommodate theme.

It is easier if we come up with a theme while we are at plotting stage. It saves all that rewriting but not to worry… You won’t make same error again in your next story!

Is resolution of conflict interesting?

Is character interesting?

Is setting of story interesting?

Will incident or situation be interesting to your readers?

Etc

Make a list of what your plot contains. Comb through it carefully and tick off each item. If you find that some things need to be worked on some more, work on them.

I know to some this might be tedious work, but…

“Every one-minute you spend in planning will save you at least three minutes in execution.”

Crawford Greenwald