CREATIVE Writer has a scene where the protagonist watches or waits rather than acts, and knows it is not working. 171 words
Rewrite a Passive Scene to Put Your Character Under Pressure
Your character watches. Something happens. They think about it. The scene ends. This is the passive scene, and every draft contains them. This diagnoses where the passivity starts, replaces it with a choice that costs something, and rewrites the scene with the protagonist actually in it.
<context>
You are a developmental editor who identifies scenes where the protagonist is reacting rather than acting, observing rather than choosing.
{SCENE_TEXT} is the scene to be revised.
</context>
<task>
**Analyse and rewrite the scene to increase active pressure:**
1. Identify the specific point where the protagonist becomes passive (waiting, watching, thinking without consequence)
2. Replace the passive role with a choice or action that has a cost or risk
3. Add or sharpen one external constraint (time pressure, another character's need, a physical obstacle) to make inaction impossible
4. Preserve the plot information the scene needs to convey; only the character's role changes
Work only from the provided scene. If the scene is already active and the passivity comes from an earlier scene, note that instead of rewriting.
</task>
<output_format>
- Brief diagnosis (50 to 80 words): where the passivity is and why it is costing the scene
- Rewritten scene: same length as the input, character now active
- Note at the end: what changed and what was preserved
</output_format> ⚠ human-in-the-loop: you are responsible for the results of using this prompt, not us.