: Re: How to write characters doing illogical things in a believable way? As much as I would like it, both in Worldbuilding and Writing, not every action is logical or "right". There are two types

You can't do just "dumb." You can write a mentally impaired character, like Lenny in "Of Mice and Men," that does dumb things that cause complications out of an inability to understand. Stephen King has a mentally impaired character (Tom Cullen) in "The Stand" and turns that mental impairment into a strategic asset (the bad guy cannot read his mind).

Otherwise, in an MC, any consequential dumb mistakes are a deus ex machina, it is the author putting their thumb on the scale in order to force a plot point.

Nobody cares if that "happens in real life." A novel is NOT real life, a novel is about humans facing adversity and doing their damnedest to overcome it. They can have some bad luck, that may BE the adversity (like getting cancer, being in a car accident, being held hostage in bank robbery).

They can also have been dumb in the past, that can be the adversity (e.g. drove angry drunk and killed a child).

They might guess wrong given multiple options, they might be misled, they might be betrayed or trust someone that lies to them.

But they cannot be just dumb. Any reader that sees a dumb move that has plot consequences will not identify with the MC, that breaks their immersion, and that is a bad story.

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: Creating a persona for cross niche marketing Not strictly a writing question but this touches on some issues that some writers may face, and I thought maybe someone here may be able to help.

@Gonzalez219

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: Writing a book in a non native language I have a fantasy story in my head for several years now. I wrote an outline for a book and draw a crude map of the world. I even started writing

@Gonzalez219

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: Your story has to make sense, the plot has to make sense. It has to seem like the characters are making realistic decisions for their situation, with their goals. What they say and do cannot

@Gonzalez219

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: How to cite an interview in APA with multiple interviewees? I need to cite an interview with multiple interviewees in APA format, but the APA website only has an example with a single interviewee.

: Re: How to write characters doing illogical things in a believable way? As much as I would like it, both in Worldbuilding and Writing, not every action is logical or "right". There are two types

More posts by @Gonzalez219

: Creating a persona for cross niche marketing Not strictly a writing question but this touches on some issues that some writers may face, and I thought maybe someone here may be able to help.

: Writing a book in a non native language I have a fantasy story in my head for several years now. I wrote an outline for a book and draw a crude map of the world. I even started writing

: Your story has to make sense, the plot has to make sense. It has to seem like the characters are making realistic decisions for their situation, with their goals. What they say and do cannot

: How to cite an interview in APA with multiple interviewees? I need to cite an interview with multiple interviewees in APA format, but the APA website only has an example with a single interviewee.

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