Last night, I basically had this conversation with my main character:
Me: I need you to do this thing.
MC: Hell no. That’s stupid. Why would I do that?
Me: Well, you can’t deny you want to do it.
MC: Sure, but it’s risky and dumb. No thanks.
Me: It’s OK. I promise nothing bad will happen. I just want you to go have this conversation, OK?
MC: Why should I trust you, after everything you’ve done to me?
Me: …Fair point. OK, never mind. Don’t do it.
MC: Damn straight.
It served as a good reminder: don’t make your characters do dumb things for plot purposes. They’ll only be sullen and uncooperative if you do.
(It would have been a cool scene, though. Sigh.)
Melissa Caruso 