So the problem with having a protagonist who is neither careless nor stupid is that it becomes difficult for him to get trapped into disaster by the villain. He has to overlook something, but it can’t be obvious, which means it is not obvious to me either. Also, most of what I’m working on now is situated inside, because it’s winter, so there are always people around who get in the way of the plot. They can’t just all conveniently go out for a walk or something. So how do I make my main man heroic? (My main woman’s heroism is all thought out, so not an issue at the moment.) It needs some action. Maybe I should just completely disregard everything I’ve written and have him leap through a portal to battle tentacled aliens surrounded by erupting volcanoes. Or we could do the salt monster thing and he goes to bed with his wife who is not actually his wife. Or there’s an invasion of pirates. Or he wakes up and it was all a dream and he’s actually chained up in a dungeon. Right.
I guess he could do something kind of stupid for the sake of love. He knows it’s stupid, but he can’t stand to let her down. Plus pride gets involved. He has to have some conflict about what he’s doing. I was thinking maybe he would rescue someone, but that seemed a little too boring, but maybe it’s someone he really really doesn’t like. Would you put your life on the line for someone you despise? No? What if your significant other will be so disappointed in you that it’s the end of the relationship? Plus you don’t want to look like a chicken? This has potential.
