Heroism

Write 200 words about a heroic characters. However, this character's heroic actions may not be life-saving, world-saving, etc.

For example, here is the skeleton of a scene. Guy at a store. He's in a hurry, seems generally tired. There's a whiny kid in line in front of him. The mom is obviously having a bad day. She's yelling at the kid, taking out her bad day on the child. This strikes a chord with the guy. Maybe his kids are grown and have moved away, and remembering how many times he yelled at his kids, he feels moved to try to ratchet down the emotion.

There is an act of minor, every day heroism. Writing suspense and emotion into life and death situations is easy. If the reader relates to the character, and really cares for her, the outcome of the situation has high stakes. Taut suspense is the natural outcome of high stakes and an uncertain outcome.

In an every day situation, however, the emotion probably won't running as high. You will have to work harder to develop suspense. The challenge is to develop the right amount of suspense without descending into melodrama. Imagine reading a story where every situation is written like the fate of the world rests on the character's decisions and actions. The reader would likely find it laughable after just a few pages.

So this week's challenge is: Can you write a suspenseful scene of every day heroism without melodrama? Let's see what you can do.

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