I'm a third of the way through the novel, fretting that my protagonist doesn't do enough, doesn't take enough action. But she's only 23, and I think it's a function of her being half my age that I'm having a hard time imagining what she *could* do, in the midst of a war. She doesn't know anything! Okay, she knows some things, but hardly anything! The thought of anything substantial being in her hands is frankly a little terrifying. She's practically a child! She's not much older than Kavya! She's reckless and impulsive and is about to dash into the midst of something she completely doesn't understand. She'll probably make it all much, much worse. I should just send her to her room to read a nice book until the war is over...
Okay, when I write it all out like that, I do hear how ridiculous the voices in my head are.