Creating the (Im)Perfect Hero

When we start out as writers, and we're in the first throes of creating our heroes, we can get a little power-mad.   

We have the ability to construct a man with washboard abs who is willing to use them to do our laundry. He'll also listen to you—no, scratch that—he'll read your mind, so you won't ever have to ask him to stop at the store on the way home from a hard day rescuing kidnapped journalists in a third-world country. He'll bring you a venti mocha and a pint of ice cream, while reassuring you that you don't look fat in those jeans.

Naturally he can go all night long. . .which is important when someone is reading your favorite book aloud to you.

Doesn't he sound perfect? He is. Because he's a fantasy. He's not a heroic character. 

A hero is actually the vital link between fantasy and reality. A hero has more of the fantasy characteristics that we dream about, but he also has the need, and the willingness, to grow into his awesomeness by learning and changing along the way. 

This is what will make him not only lovable, but readable.

So how do we go about making this kind of man?

Cindy R. Wilson wrote a post titled "Tall, Dark. . . and All Wrong", at The Writer's Alley blog, where she discusses several things we can do to make our characters interesting, yet less-than-perfect.  Here's a suggestion I liked:

So if you know where you want your characters to be (spiritually, emotionally, etc.) by the end of the story, try to place your main character far from that at the beginning of the story.

What I like about this is you still get to go through the "Build-A-Hunk" process, picking and choosing all the attributes your hero will possess at the end of the story. Only now you'll also tear off a corner of his heart, put a little ding in his stoic facade, and scuff him up with some issues he'll need to resolve. 

Think of it as going from Point A(fter) to Point B(efore). 

Once you know where your hero will end up, you have a much better idea of where he needs to start, as well as the challenges you need to create for him to face on his journey.

Comments

[Quantum]

I try to create heroes and heroines rather after the fashion of a sculptor.
Start with a perfect block of stone and chip away the bits that you don't want.

So for example, I usually envisage my heroine as physically beautiful, though she might fall out of a tree and become scarred or partially blinded. She will always be highly intelligent and scornful of men who cannot understand her.

Though life in my novel will make her more tolerant. She will seek a career path which is frowned on (historical) and somehow stumble on a man who singes her mind with raw electrical energy and who creates a path for her to progress along, both career-wise and romantically.

Hey! this is sounding a bit like my last plot profile.

Freud and Jung would have loved chatting to me *grin*

I actually try to mix the A => B plotting with some unpredictable tangents that arise during the writing. That allows your inner creativity to light fireworks and send rockets into the plot. (I have idiots letting of fireworks in the lane outside my house at the moment!)

I think I'm more or less agreeing with you Donna. :)

[Donna Cummings]

LOL, Q. Yes, I think we're more or less on the same page.

My characters tend to emerge in an organic fashion. I get a scene in my head, and see them acting and interacting in that particular moment, and then I start to brainstorm their story, and the personalities that would bring them to that point. It's fun, and ripe with possibilities, not to mention unpredictability.

I love that the fireworks inspired your comment. LOL Is this a Guy Fawkes celebration going on?

[Melissa]

It seems like I never really have to think about how to scuff up my hero because he's usually someone who does the wrong things for the right reasons, which kind of naturally makes him imperfect. It's like eventually his perfectionism is what trips him up.

This is still probably going from A(fter) to B(efore) because he does start out in my imagination as the fantasy guy who fulfills my #1 rule: he's always 100% on the heroine's side. It's like, how can he not be perfect as long as he's following that rule?

But this trait is exactly what gets him into trouble. Perfect people don't like to explain themselves, so even if HE thinks he is doing the right thing, such as being protective, this might cause a misunderstanding from lack of communication. Then suddenly my heroine feels left out of a decision and has hurt feelings, and of course, the hero is left wondering where he went wrong. LOL

I love how flaws can evolve in the writing. I think this works this way more with the hero than the heroine though. My heroine usually has more flaws upfront. Sigh. LOL

[Donna Cummings]

Melissa, I love how the hero's perfectionism is the stumbling block. That's brilliant. Especially the part about not wanting to explain himself. :) I can see where he would be confused as all get out by the turmoil, because he sincerely believes he's doing right by everyone. LOL

And yes, having the hero 100% on the heroine's side is incredibly sexy. :)

I like how the flaws evolve too. It can be to fit the story, when you uncover other aspects of the characters' personalities, or when they've revealed something during a scene. (I think you've just inspired a future blog post for me!)

It's not a bad thing that the heroine has more flaws at the beginning. :) She just has more room to grow!

[Quantum]

** Donna: I love that the fireworks inspired your comment. LOL Is this a Guy Fawkes celebration going on? **

Yes, Nov 5th is officially the night when Britain is ablaze with bonfires burning effigies of Guy Fawkes and people enjoy firework displays with jacket potatoes cooked in the bonfire embers.Children enjoy it most I think!

**Melissa: : he's always 100% on the heroine's side. It's like, how can he not be perfect as long as he's following that rule? **

Its not uncommon for the Hero to hate the heroine in the beginning. He then has to be convinced of her angelic qualities before he can worship her. I like your contrarian approach to imperfection! LOL

[Donna Cummings]

Q, you had me at jacket potatoes! That sounds so good right now. LOL The one time I got to visit England, I had to leave a couple of days before the Guy Fawkes celebrations. I'm sorry I missed it.

We do like to celebrate our contrarian qualities here, so Melissa's approach works well, doesn't it? LOL

[Melissa]

**Q: It's not uncommon for the Hero to hate the heroine in the beginning.**

What? This happens? LOL Okay, I guess this has worked to create a romantic conflict a time or two. :)

It's interesting, but I've noticed that I often have different tastes in my reading preferences than what I write. Some of my favorite novels have the hero 100% certain in the "wrongness" of the heroine. Wrong for HIM that is. He is wrong, of course. LOL I do enjoy his journey figuring this out. :)

But to write this type of conflict? So far my heroes seem to be stricken with love at first sight, which is a different dilemma when it's someone he can't have. She's still "wrong" but I'd rather the hero fight circumstances than fight the heroine. It's like Donna says, "having the hero 100% on the heroine's side is sexy." :)

But too much niceness usually blows up into a big fight anyway so, so much for conflict avoidance. LOL I have one story waiting in the wings with a heroine who hates the hero in the beginning, so that will be a switch. He can take it. LOL

[Donna Cummings]

Melissa, that's an interesting point about having different tastes in your reading preferences vs. what you write. I think that's true for me too. I enjoy romantic suspense, but don't think I would ever write it -- okay, I may try it once, to see if I could do it -- but sometimes the escape for me IS reading what I wouldn't write, or can't write.

I'm loving the discussion on this topic. :) You and Q have given me lots to think about!

[Essam]

The one and only Danielle Steel book I've read was like this, too. I haven't fully decided if I like these stiroes enough to be must-reads, but they're worth trying out, I think. *grin* I especially like Bertrice Small's stiroes set in the seraglios. But I like that setting anyway. Which reminds me of another erotica fairy tale adaptation I've been meaning to get back to