“You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm.”

So said Colette, was frequently acclaimed as France’s greatest woman writer—she who wrote Gigi, and was said to have personally chosen Audrey Hepburn to play the title role on stage. (Yes, it was Leslie Caron in the movie.)

What foolish thing does your main character do? And why? We know decisions are the engine that drives our stories: every choice is should be revealing about a character’s personality.

Find a place in your manuscript where a character makes an important decision. Why do they do it? It is clear? What if … they made a different choice? What if they did something foolish? Impetuous? Maybe out of love or fear or manipulation?

What would happen to your story then?