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Interview with a Hero

By on August 9, 2012 in Brainstorming Strategies and Tips, Hero, Heroine, Protagonists: The Basics, Rachel Hauck

I was working on the hero of my next book and found I couldn’t get anything real out of him. He was a bit two-dimensional.  Flat. Too single purposed. I went through my standard exercises – dark wound, lie, fear, secret desire, true destiny… You can see that here: Dark Moment: Being yanked from his school, his family, his home to go to another boarding school. Lie: Don’t get close. Don’t open your heart too wide. Fear: Love involves pain. He’s even assigned that to God. Look what He did to His own son. But Tanner knows God is real and true, and he must seek Him.  But is standoffish Secret desire/true identity:  ?? What can he do in the end he can’t do in the beginning? Be honest about […]

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Avoiding the Rory Gilmore Syndrome

By on December 22, 2011 in Author Mistakes, Heroine, Heroines, Protagonists: The Basics, Rachel Hauck

I love the TV show Gilmore Girls. The writers created such a fantastic story world with Stars Hollow and powered it all with quirky, fast-talking, beautiful Lorelai and Rory Gilmore. But the writers fell into a characterization hole, IMHO, when Rory became too-perfect-to-live. Too good to be true. Every man and his brother, every girl and her sister loved Rory. All who met her believed she hung the moon, stars and visited the Sombrero galaxy while stirring brownie mix for pale-skinned orphans. She was smart. She was beautiful. She was quick and engaging, a repartee’s repartee. She was kind and giving, her mother’s best friend. The girl next door, the one to take home to mom, and dad. She couldn’t golf or run fast, but who cared? What an endearing […]

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Ten Common Author Mistakes. #9

By on October 13, 2011 in Author Mistakes, Editing Basics, Hero, Heroine, Heroism, The Hero's Journey Simplified

Forgetting to weave in the story elements and symbolism. Definition: If you want to use a metaphor, like a world event or a family trait or tradition to show a contrast in the hero or heroine’s life, you must layer it in.   If the heroine’s life if falling a part, coming down around her like 9-11, don’t tell the reader, “her life was just like the twin towers…coming down around her.”   Weave it.   The scene opens. It’s 9-11, the heroine is preparing breakfast. She calls her husband down to breakfast but he doesn’t show up. When she goes to see what’s taking him so long, she finds him collapsed on the bathroom floor, dead.   As she’s calling 911, her best friend buzzes in. The twin towers […]

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The Essence of Hero and Heroine

By on April 29, 2010 in Editing Basics, Hero, Heroine

Early on we learn conflict makes a great story. Conflict elicits emotion. Tension is necessary to keep the story flowing and the readers turning pages. In romance, it’s easy to put the hero and heroine in conflict with each other. They are the main players, the key figures on the stage and well, why not have them at opposite goals, fighting, arguing, hating one another. Donald Maass says, “He’s hot, she’s hot, but they can’t stand each other.” Well, true, that does make for a good story. But in our ameturish hands, a fighting hero and heroine can come across snarky, mean, petty and well, too stupid to live. What we need to demonstrate is WHY the hero and heroine belong together. What is it about her that he loves? […]

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