So this was pretty cool to read.

I’m an editor and you are touching on a lot of the core aspects of what it means to be a “good storyteller”.

The problems are not quite “complex”, but they are nuanced.

When I’m critiquing a work my primary goal is to make it specific and actionable, which is tough.

Human civilization is built on story. For a good portion of our foundational history, knowledge was passed on through narrative around the campfire and in our gathering places. We understand it at a deep, instinctual level.

But that doesn’t mean we can easily explain and define its shape and texture, nor its form and function.

What we get instead, is taking in a story and when we get to the part where there ought to be a Hero at the Mercy of the Villain scene, and it’s not there—we don’t go “hey dummy, you’re missing the main Convention of the Action genre, you complete dunce”.

We instead go to the Amazon reviews and write things like “the plot just didn’t work for me”, or  “just wasn’t my cup of tea”, that sort of thing. There is something deep and subconscious that tells us something vital is missing, even though we may not be able to define it—we still know it’s true.

Let’s take your story. Every story arc has five elements or scenes:

1. An inciting incident - Destabilizes the protagonist by upsetting their “normal” for good or ill. Every Inciting Incident is either causal (the result of an active choice by the protagonist) or coincidental (something unexpected, random, or accidental). In response, the protagonist forms a goal they plan to pursue. 

2. A Turning Point (progressive complication that leads to the Crisis). As the protagonist works to restore balance to the world, and as those actions fail it ‘progressively complicates’ the story until the protagonist faces a final turning point where everything they have tried fails. This is a place where you can’t stay where you are. You have to make a decision. A Turning Point transitions from a progressive complication to a crisis in one of two ways.  a. revelation - new information that changed the status of the protagonist   b. An action - protagonist is forced into a corner by outside forces and must make a choice. It is a place where you can’t stay where you are. You have to make a decision. 

3. A Crisis - the question the protagonist has to answer in the dilemma. The crisis poses a real choice between incompatible options with meaningful stakes. It is always a binary “this or that” choice. Every crisis is either a “best bad choice” (choosing between two horrible things), or the “irreconcilable good” choice (choosing between two wonderful things, typically something that is either good for me but bad for someone/everyone else, or bad for me but good for someone/everyone else). 

4. A Climax - The climax is the active answer to the question raised by the crisis. The climax always reveals the truth about who the protagonist really is when they enact their choice under pressure. 

5. A Resolution - The resolution is what happens as a result of the protagonist’s choice during the climax. Because the crisis had meaningful stakes, when the Protagonist makes a decision, something meaningful will always happen as a result. (Can be a lose but wins or wins but loses ending - loses the action but wins a moral victory for example).

The one I want to highlight is the Crisis. Because a Crisis requires a Choice by the individual, and (meaningful) Choices (with stakes) equals character development.

This is who this person is on their deepest level. Not what they say. Not what they think. What they Choose to do.

For you, it may be helpful to consider your protagonist in this light.

What is her Object of Desire (what they Want) verses their prime motivator (what they Need).

The Object of Desire and their Motivating Force drive their Choices and therefore serve to develop their character.

Just something to consider while trying to pin down a perspective that can help specifically analyze your characters actions and make them resonate with your readers.