So I was having a conversation with a friend about writing and I shared some advice then I realized I have a book here specifically for sharing that kind of stuff so I'm going to just paste the text here in case anyone else wants to read. It's very short this time lol.

In a story you want to make the pace less rushed but still progressive. Need to focus on character development though and make it a character-driven story instead of just plot-driven.

A good protagonist is someone who propels the story and makes things happen actively. They win you over with some trait of theirs and make you care about their goals and ambitions. And with those goals/ambitions and the things that hinder them, you have conflict, meaningful conflict, so the readers can become invested.

A passive protagonist just lets the story happen to them. Things occur solely because they're the main character but it's not important and you don't always care about them. Their importance is either as a mary sue (ie perfect and everything is perfect) or some other generic, bland, uncreative type that doesn't really connect to the reader, making everything forgettable.

Write memorable characters and tell a memorable story.