u/dynesius

When I wrote for Wattpad around 2013-2016, whenever I wrote my chapters, I went through the usual “first draft then go back and revise/polish” process. It’s no secret to writers that a polished chapter means that your readers get the impression that the author has put significant effort to get them more intrigued, regardless if you’re a plotter or a pantser. But I feel like some writers on Wattpad writers expect to rush out a chapter, post it, see little activity, then ask the sky why they’re not getting thousands of reads and likes.

So, how polished are your stories so far?

To preface: I’m in the very early stages of formulating a M/M sci-fi cosmic romantasy series, where the two main characters that i’ll be taking readers through POVs are princes of opposite Empires. Each Empire follows/worships a divine/cosmic being/deity based on fundamental ideals.

The one I want to focus on in this post is the Prince whose Empire follows the divine being that embodies: creation, devotion/love, preservation of life, the Heaven-Flame, etc.

This character, or what I’ve built on him so far, believes that his purpose and worth is being a sort of ‘beacon of hope’ of their Empire. He carries the will and ideals of the divine being his Empire worships, and he carries it to the extent where he gives too much of himself that he nearly burns out.

Being the physical vessel of the divine being’s will has made him to be utterly selfless, will do anything at any cost to save his people even if that means having nearly no regard for his own safety, has self-erasure/self-destructive tendencies, and thinks that his purpose is to serve and save his people, and that if he can’t even do that, then he fears being worthless.

My problem here is that I’m beginning to struggle in giving him internal conflicts that will help develop his character arc throughout the entire story. I have thought of a vague idea that I’d like for the second main character, his eventual lost interest, to be the one to help him find self worth & to show what it means to be loved for who he simply is and now what others expect him to be. This doesn’t satisfy me, and I feel like this internal conflict sounds boring and uninteresting.

Could anyone give me some pointers or shed some light on where I should go from here? Should I change his personality where it would tie me more suggestions of internal conflict to work with?

Any recommendations are greatly appreciated!