My mother successfully underwent major surgery today and now has a pin and a plate in her hip. She is amazing — when the surgeon tried to tell her the difficulties she would be facing, my mother airily waved her hand and said, “Look, I’ve had 3 kids. How bad can it be?”
How’s that for courage?
In addition to the normal risks, she has COPD and her risk of dying from the anesthetic was over 50%!
She has inspired me to ask myself my current main character would react in a situation like this, and also my villain. My main character interestingly enough, is so unhappy that she would hope for an easy death. This was unexpected. My villain would treat the situation like planning a war, and would do battle, being determined to cheat or bribe death, if necessary.
What about the leads in your current screenplay or novel? How would your hero or heroine handle a serious operation with a 50% chance of death? What about your villain or obstacle?
