WaysouthCharacter Development - The Hero
September 27th 2006 03:16
Your Hero.
It is your Hero's time in the spotlight.
From a previous post of mine, it came to light there is some disagreement with my advice that the Romantic Hero must be bad. It seems there is some that don't agree - which you have every right to, and I'd love more of a discussion on this (just leave your comments, it gives me votes and lures me out of the world of nappies and cooking and cleaning and gets me into this writing world I love so much).
But for now, I'm sticking to my theory that the Hero has to bad. After all, do you really think readers, particularly women readers, are interested in a guy that caters to a woman's every need, brings her breakfast in bed, rings her five times a day, offers to drive her to the shops, and buys her jewellry?
No, this is not a hero. This is a stalker. Or some kind of crazy that should not be in the spotlight in a romance book.
At least, not in my romance books.
Us women don't want a chauffeur. We don't want annoying phone calls all day long (well, maybe we do...I won't go as far as to say we don't want jewellry...that could get me into alot of trouble). We want a man.
The Hero has to be unattainable, difficult, sometimes nasty, but only because he is just so frustrated and in love with the Heroine. This is a romance novel, after all. If the two lead characters got together in the first chapter, there would be no book.
Not to mention fun, sexual tension, a goal to the overall story...
And, before we forget another very important point...the Hero has to be hot. Preferably with bulging arm muscles, a rippling torso, and...well, you can figure the rest.
Of course, he has to have some depth, too. This is a character development post, after all.
Again, I'll list some of my favourite Hero's stats and background info, as I did for my Heroine:
His age: 27
Loves: Ghost hunting. Scotch. Beer. The view from his living room windows, overlooking his small, seaside town.
Hates: Pain.
Fear: That he'll exist forever in this eternal pain and loneliness. Giving his heart again to lose yet another loved one.
Dream: To have a family once again. For his business to be successful. To find his other half.
You can go on forever with your character stats. You can spend hours doing biographies on each of your characters, in each of your stories. And why not? Its fun, it sees your characters, and even your story, brought to life before your very eyes.
And if you settle back with a glass of wine, ignore your husband/kids/pets/whatever else is going on in your life, while you play around with your charcters' personalities, even better.
Us writers are an escapist bunch, after all.
It is your Hero's time in the spotlight.
From a previous post of mine, it came to light there is some disagreement with my advice that the Romantic Hero must be bad. It seems there is some that don't agree - which you have every right to, and I'd love more of a discussion on this (just leave your comments, it gives me votes and lures me out of the world of nappies and cooking and cleaning and gets me into this writing world I love so much).
But for now, I'm sticking to my theory that the Hero has to bad. After all, do you really think readers, particularly women readers, are interested in a guy that caters to a woman's every need, brings her breakfast in bed, rings her five times a day, offers to drive her to the shops, and buys her jewellry?
No, this is not a hero. This is a stalker. Or some kind of crazy that should not be in the spotlight in a romance book.
At least, not in my romance books.
Us women don't want a chauffeur. We don't want annoying phone calls all day long (well, maybe we do...I won't go as far as to say we don't want jewellry...that could get me into alot of trouble). We want a man.
The Hero has to be unattainable, difficult, sometimes nasty, but only because he is just so frustrated and in love with the Heroine. This is a romance novel, after all. If the two lead characters got together in the first chapter, there would be no book.
Not to mention fun, sexual tension, a goal to the overall story...
And, before we forget another very important point...the Hero has to be hot. Preferably with bulging arm muscles, a rippling torso, and...well, you can figure the rest.
Again, I'll list some of my favourite Hero's stats and background info, as I did for my Heroine:
His age: 27
Loves: Ghost hunting. Scotch. Beer. The view from his living room windows, overlooking his small, seaside town.
Hates: Pain.
Fear: That he'll exist forever in this eternal pain and loneliness. Giving his heart again to lose yet another loved one.
Dream: To have a family once again. For his business to be successful. To find his other half.
You can go on forever with your character stats. You can spend hours doing biographies on each of your characters, in each of your stories. And why not? Its fun, it sees your characters, and even your story, brought to life before your very eyes.
And if you settle back with a glass of wine, ignore your husband/kids/pets/whatever else is going on in your life, while you play around with your charcters' personalities, even better.
Us writers are an escapist bunch, after all.
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Comment by Antonio B
I now understand why you married me!
I always thought I was lazy, but it turns out I'm just bad in a good way.
Love it
A
Comment by The Daily Sonnet
The Daily Sonnet
Lots of Sonnets
I'm not really familiar with the romance genre, but it seems that a stalker type as a character would make things interesting. But the character would probably have to be a supporting one as opposed to the "hero."
As for your suggestion on my blog, I don't think I understand my writing process well enough to write about it. It seems to be a lot of thinking over a long period of time with short spurts of writing and occasional long periods when I get into a zone and write a lot. And there's a lot of counting on my fingers for the sonnets. Nothing more to say, really.
Comment by Aaronarmmuscle
I'm jealous as hell of course.
Oh and I think your husband may have a crush on me again.
Comment by K.L.Almeroth
To Antonio B,
You can cook dinner tonight...
Oh, and I expect a piece of jewellry soon...
xoxo
Comment by K.L.Almeroth
To The Daily Sonnet,
Thanks for reading...I love your sonnets, they are truly creative and very talented of you. Keep it up!
Love your stalker comment, too...there is the bad guy in my book (different to bad-guy-hero), and I do like the idea of the stalker...
K.L.
Comment by K.L.Almeroth
To K-Dog (I know its you),
Yes, my husband loves you...I've already told you two to run off with each other, and leave me in peace.
K.L.
Comment by Homer Joyce
I agree that the hero has to be bad.
It would be interesting if he was a private investigator called in by the heroine to follow various metrosexual stalkers in her life.
The metrosexual stalkers think he’s a stalker, so they ring his agency to hire someone to follow this guy that’s following them around.
He agrees to follow himself around, but after spending a few days walking around in circles, he places an ad in the paper for an assistant (someone to follow himself around so he can go back to the job of following the metrosexual stalkers around).
The big question is: Who applies? The Heroine or one of the Metrosexual Stalkers?
H.J.
Comment by K.L.Almeroth
H.J.
The Heroine would have to apply...this is a romance novel, after all. She hired him, now he hires her...
And the romance blossoms...yada, yada, yada...
About to go check out how your site is going...
K.L.
Comment by Ahmed
techy.Bytes
Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks
Qwerk
Cinema Three
you think you know what makes them happy... but BAM...
Comment by Andrea
V8 Supercar Pitstop
Romance novels are about fantasy and who on earth fantasises about the skinny bloke who seems to have been born with an allergy to working-out and a stalker mentality.
Personally, my fantasies (and like all writers I have a rather vivid imagination) all have damn fine bodies. They are also kinda bad (in a hot sort of way) and somehow they always manage to find their way into my (as yet unpublished) books.
Funny that!
A.H.
Comment by Andrea
V8 Supercar Pitstop
A.H.
Comment by K.L.Almeroth
Thank you so much! Love to hear feedback, and yours was so positive...
Glad to know you're out there, writing romances!
K.L.
Comment by K.L.Almeroth
To Ahmed,
I'm sensing something...you've tried hard with women, and it isn't working? Well, maybe you need to be a bit bad...as in Romance Hero Bad???
You think?
Thanks for reading...
K.L.
Comment by Ahmed
techy.Bytes
Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks
Qwerk
Cinema Three
I just thought women liked being pamperred and all, so the idea of not doing it to impress one is just utter confusion for me...
Comment by K.L.Almeroth
To Ahmed,
Sorry about that...misread what you meant...I'm in no way saying you're having a bad time with the ladies...
An enigma wrapped in a puzzle buried at the bottom of the ocean, stuffed with marbles, trapped in a bubble...a pink credit card in our hand...
That's us women...you've got no hope in deciphering us...
But women like a bit of romantic tension...being unsure whether the guy actually likes them...all that romantic jazz...
And, yes, we like to be pampered, too...but not pampered too much...
Its all a fine line, and a crazy balance, and its no wonder we drive our male folk mad.
K.L.
Comment by Ahmed
techy.Bytes
Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks
Qwerk
Cinema Three
Comment by K.L.Almeroth
To Ahmed,
Sorry if I offended you...was all in the name of romance, and my romantic nature....sorry about that!
Was taking a bit of a jab at my own sex, too...us females are a crazy bunch!
K.L.
Comment by Ahmed
techy.Bytes
Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks
Qwerk
Cinema Three
on a side note your not actually posting from your orble account, your registered as a guest with the tag 'K.I.Almeroth', you should refresh the page after you load it up once so it registers you (does that with me all the time), just press F5 everytime before you want to make a post on a page.
Helps with your karma too, if your posts aren't being counted for your account it kind of sucks, don't you think?
Comment by K.L. Almeroth
Motherhood
Thanks, Ahmed...
Was wondering why it wasn't logging me in...I was completely baffled...
The refresh thing worked straight away...I'm now logged in...
Pity about all that karma I've lost!!
Thanks again,
K.L.