*Big smile*, Denise. It looks like I've gotten a look of people thinking today. I'm not sure whether that's a good thing, but thank you!

So true, Eldred. I made a little choice to help out a colleague by going to a coaching dinner with him. Not a date, because I'd been dating the same guy I met in college for four years. Four months later, my "nondate" is telling me we're getting married. I kept protesting that I never wanted to get married. Well we all know how that worked out...

Thanks, James! Don't all characters have to suffer to make the story interesting. But...it would be interesting to read one that the character is happy to begin with, maybe like Sleeping Beauty. And thanks for noting the cover. It won a contest! I love my cover designer.

denise

I agree, Fae. The worry-driven self-talk drags the story down. Yet, it is the easiest thing for us authors to write!

Me too. 🙂 It's nice to think about small choices that can change big things.

Thanks so much, Rick. When I started paying attention to why my characters made the small decisions, I could foreshadow events without giving things away, show flaws, and much more—all without having pages of worry-driven character self-talk.

You're right, Terry. Decisions done poorly by an author never work. I learned about "to stupid to care" in my first critique group long before I met our WITS group.