I kept having the words ‘I need a hero’ rattle through my brain today, which made me thing about Bonnie Tyler and her song Holding Out for a Hero that appeared in the Footloose movie.
If you think about her lyrics, it isn’t too far from what a fictional hero is all about. Today’s blog is about hero’s. Specifically what writer’s go through when they write their protagonist or as they are called in romance – hero.
I was having some trouble really wrapping my brain around who my hero is for my new manuscript. As I mentioned in GH Day 71, my heroine came screaming to life in a wonderful three-dimensional way. The hero? Not so much.
Heroes are tricky. You want them macho, but not too macho. Tender, but not too tender, etc. Finding that happy medium between barbarian (unless you are writing about barbarians) and indecisive can be difficult. Throw in paranormal powers and that adds another crazy layer to your hero. With paranormal heroes you have to be careful not to make them god-like. If you do then the story will be over really quickly. If the hero can do everything than he can fix everything which means conflict doesn’t exist and without conflict – where is the story?
My new hero is an alpha hero (and sometime in the future I’ll write about the different types of heroes) who has been living under his brother’s shadow. Now do to a twist of fate, the man who he has despised is the man he needs to become. Interesting yes?
I’ll keep plugging away at my hero and let you know how things go!
On a serious note, I think it is appropriate on this important holiday to spend a moment to honor our real life heroes – the men and women in our armed services. Fiction can never match your true bravery. Thank you for all that you do!
