I spent a lot of years doing 1:1 work with authors, first as a developmental editor and now as a story coach.

🧩 And there's one conversation that I seem to have over and over. It usually starts with:

🤔 "Sue, something feels... off with my story. But I cant figure out what."

The plot makes sense. The scenes flow. The characters are interesting. But somehow, the emotional impact isn't landing quite the way you want.

And here's what I've discovered:

When a story isn't connecting with readers, don't assume it's a plot or pacing problem.

❣️ It's often because you missed seeding key emotional beats in your hero's journey.

These emotional gaps are especially tricky because they hide behind perfectly good scenes.

They mask themselves as "structure problems" or "flat characters."

😩 And they're nearly impossible to spot when you're deep in your draft.

But there IS good news! 🎉

I've developed a framework that helps you find these missing beats before they throw your whole manuscript off track. (And it doesn't involve complicated character sheets or hours of plotting!)

Tomorrow, I'll share the simple but powerful technique I use with award-winning authors to give their stories the emotional depth readers crave.

🔎 Until then, take a quick look at your work-in-progress.

Does your hero's journey hit ALL the emotional notes you want it to? Or is there a quiet voice suggesting something's missing?

<3 Sue Brown-Moore Story Revision Coach for writers of character-driven fiction ​Website | Instagram | Facebook​

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PS - Can't wait until tomorrow? My 20-Minute Hero Makeover walks you through exactly how to identify and fill these crucial emotional gaps in your story. Click here to check it out!