Our book club spent an hour arguing about whether the main character in chapter 3 was being brave or just stupid.

Last Tuesday at my neighborhood library in Portland, we tore into this thriller where the protagonist sneaks into a warehouse alone at night with no backup. Half the group said it showed guts, the other half said it was bad writing because no real person would do that. How do you settle the difference between a character choice that serves the plot and one that just feels fake?

2 comments

2 Comments

sam_murphy3913d ago

Holy crap, they really argued that?

ray36313d ago

Wait, you're telling me they spent a whole hour on chapter 3? Sounds about right though. I've seen this play out before. Best way to settle it is to look at what the character knew at that exact moment. If they knew about the warehouse being empty but still went in with no phone signal, that's stupid. If they only had ten seconds to decide and their kid was inside, that's brave or at least understandable. The trick is to ask if the story gave them a real reason or just needed them there for the next scene. If the author wrote them into a corner and had to bail them out with bad choices, that's when it feels fake.