: Re: Should my main character make a ginormous mistake? I'm rereading my draft, and there is a part in the book where when the main character is helping others escape prison, she accidentally reveals

@Frith254

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I say let em' die.
My reasoning? Simple. Protagonists are human too. You can't expect them to be perfect and neither will the reader.
I don't know about the rest of you. But I read books for two reasons. The first reason is obvious: because they're entertaining. But the second reason is different: To show that 1. Even heroes make mistakes. And 2. To remind myself that nobody's perfect, even the protagonist of the book I'm reading. I've never really been the type of guy to read superhero books or comics, simply because the people in those types of things are too perfect. Let's take Superman, for example. If you could name 5 major mistakes that lead to death or something of that magnitude I'd probably pay you. A lot of the time heroes are shown to be perfect, but no one is. So I say that it's definitely the right choice to make your protagonist make that mistake. The reader isn't going to hate them, and if they do their hate will be short-lived. But either way, who really cares? It's your book and you should do what you want in it. If that's making the protagonist indirectly kill someone then make the protagonist indirectly kill someone. I support you completely and I'm positive the readers will too.
That's also why I hate your "backup plan." Once again that plan makes the protagonist look perfect, always cleaning up after other's messes, and never messing up themselves. This isn't Thor. Your protagonist (I assume) isn't a god from Asgard who has to be perfect in order to keep him big metal hammer. So please, don't make her seem that way.

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