I'm a day older than I was eysterday. Only those who know me know what that means, But I won't tell you. I'll just ramble on about making decisions.
When I went to the doctor yesterday and he asked me how I felt, I said, "Weird." Then I explained that there was an annoying spot on my right thumb that wasn't numb but particularly sensitive. We went through the tens hand strength. Mine was good. What's I'd done was irritate a little nerve. Was there something to do about it. Yes. I could have my hand splinted from 6 to 8 weeks or I could learn to live with it. Decision time had arrived. I would learn to live with my sensitive thumb.
Decisions for the characters you put into books should have decisions with a but... If the answer is a simple yes or no, there's nothing hard about. One needs to put them into a dilemma. If you decide on option A what could happen. Option B could bring a different but.
I'm working on the last book of an alternate ancient Egypt. After doing a lot of research and having the three books planned out, I was hit with a decision time. During the period I was writing about, There Were No Camels In Egypt. But camels belong in Egypt. This meant making a decision. There were horses and donkeys but there were no camels. So I changed the venue to an alternate world. Then I had to decide what other things I should leave out. No Sphinx, no pyramids. I did hang onto the Valley of the Kings and most of the other research needed for the story to give it the flavor of Egypt. In fact I've had comments about don't you mean this or that and I reply alternate world.
All during the three books, the characters are faced with decisions that have a but so they have to stop and think for one of these characters, learning not to jump rashly into action makes him learn to consider the But.
