Asking for Help

I'll be submitting a short story to an anthology soon, one that will hopefully reach hundreds, if not thousands, of new readers. There's a hole in the story, a gap I can sense but can't define.

Another author reads the story. Sees the gap I'm too close to find. He can define the ripped seams so I can stitch them back together.

I'm nearing the conclusion of a series. The crux of the conflict draws near, only I don't know what my character will do. His world is filled with options, many of them defensible, almost all of them disastrous. What might he do?

I sketch the problem in broad strokes. Better, I find, that people not know every detail. When I share every detail, I capture them in the same rut of thinking that I've been following. Share only enough to get them going, though, and their minds aren't trapped like mine. Their subsequent answers might not suit what the story needs, but I'm not looking for a final answer. I'm seeking inspiration, different ways of approaching the problem.

I'm always surprised. We're all so different. We all approach the world from such different priors.

I write every word on every page, but that never means I'm doing this alone.