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My Book Therapy…discover the writer in you!
February 8, 2010 – 1:56 pm
Why are you here?
Part One of How to create Heroines who can take care of themselves! (but still want a good man!)
I used to hate romances. Why? Because I didn’t respect a woman who had to have a man to save her. BUT, I did respect a woman who allowed a man into her life to make her better, stronger, more noble, more complete.
Which is why, probably, all the heroines in my books are strong women, — CIA agents, and K-9 Handlers, and bush pilots and fire chiefs.
But for all the toughness of my heroines, they need a good man. So what makes a strong heroine?
The first element is that your Heroine must have a Goal. And that Goal must be measurable, and specific.
Now, both your characters need to have a goal, but it’s essential for your heroine. She needs to be proactive, and fight for something she believes in. We want to get aboard her cause and fight the fight with her. Making her proactive and strong makes her noble and someone we might even want to emulate.
This is similar to our hero’s Noble Cause. However, the truth is our heroines are often innately noble (it’s just the way women are – let’s be honest) Not that men aren’t, but most women are born nurturers, so we don’t need something dark and compelling from our past in order to make us throw ourselves in front of a speeding vehicle to save our child, or sit out in the sleet to watch their football game.
But, we do struggle with goals. (Men, on the other hand often have no problem setting goals – it’s a part of their innate nature).
A great heroine has a goal – and a reason for that goal. (And is must be a reason that resonates or makes sense to the reader).
Let’s take a look at our favorite movies:
My Big Fat Greek Wedding: Our heroine just wants to get away from her family business (the restaurant) and do her own thing. Yes, it helps that she sees the hero in the beginning (which gives her motivation), but her real goal is to respect herself and live life on her own two feet.
Shakespeare in Love: Our heroine wants to play a role in a play – to do something for herself before she is assigned to marry a man she doesn’t love.
Pride and Prejudice: Our heroine wants to marry, yes, but marry for love, not convenience. (Although she realizes that convenience is the convention of the time, and she is going against the flow).
Return to Me: Our heroine wants to finally do the things she couldn’t do when she had a bad heart – ride a bike, go to Italy, fall in love.
You’ve Got Mail: Our heroine wants to save her bookstore, the Little Shop Around the Corner. It was her mother’s store and she wants to hold onto those memories.
Whatever it is, the goal must be measurable and specific, and it must touch at the heart of your reader – something they can get behind and believe in. Without a goal, a heroine simply isn’t…heroic. And she has nothing to fight for in the story.
So – what is YOUR heroine’s goals? Go to www.mybooktherapy.ning.com and post them in the Heroic Heroine’s discussion. If you need feedback, or help finding a goal, let us know – Every Voice Counts!
My goal is to post the NEXT element of a Heroic Heroine tomorrow! See you then!
Susie May
February 5, 2010 – 2:05 pm
What are you so afraid of?
Creating a Hearthrob Hero…continued.
My husband used to hate to dance. Last year, because he’s a hero, he gave me dancing lessons for my birthday. Now, this flaw kept him from dancing for years because…he was afraid of looking foolish. (which is why we have to make sure our dancing is perfect. It’s like dancing with a drill sergeant.) I finally figured this out and helped him conquer this fear by buying us dancing tapes and letting us learn the basics in our kitchen. Then, when we enrolled in dance class, he looked like he knew what he was doing. (And wow, you should see him now!)
Behind every hero’s flaw…there is a fear.
Yesterday we talked about flaws…those problems our hero has that makes him less than perfect. Flaw are important, because they lead to a deeper issue, and the third element of a great hero…
What does your hero fear?
Our hero has to have a fear. This fear must be deep - one that would keep him awake at night, or drive him to do stupid things, make stupid decisions. Things that make him flawed. Sometimes a novel will start out with his fear being realized, and the result is so horrible we understand why he will run from it. A fear will build until the black moment, and makes him human. The fear — and eventually his courage to face it, will cause us to love him.
Let’s look at a few of the flaws from yesterday.
The Sleeping flaw (While You Were Sleeping). Jack can’t go after the woman he loves because he doesn’t want to upset the family. His fear is letting down his family. (as played out in why he won’t tell his father about his furniture business).
In the Wedding Planner, our hero is engaged to someone else – the wrong woman. But he is an honorable guy and he wants to see it through. His fear is breaking his promise to this girl – his college sweetheart and the woman he should marry. He fears letting down someone who believes in him.
How many of us have this fear? Okay, don’t answer that, but is a legitimate fear, and one that drives a large majority of people through life. The truth behind the fear is that we may be betraying more people if we don’t own up to the truth…our heroes learn it’s better to live in truth, and let a few people down, than live a lie.
How about the Troublemaker flaw? Jack, in Titanic, and Johnny in Dirty Dancing, and every bad boy that thinks he’s not good enough for the girl. What are their fears….that it’s true. They are trash. Of course, we, the reader, and the heroine, see the truth – they are honorable and worth loving. But having a moment where that fear comes true is a key element to helping that flaw feel insurmountable. Like, Jack being arrested and handcuffed to a pipe while the boat sinks. And Johnny being accused of fathering a child out of wedlock. Make your trouble believe he is trouble, and his flaw will translate into a real fear.
The Playboy flaw is easy to diagnose – They’ve been hurt by women in the past. OR, better yet, they’ve had a role model who told them that commitment will only hurt them. it will keep them from enjoying life, or achieving their dreams, or even make them miserable (like their role model). In Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, his parents loved each other, but he choked on the night he should have asked his best friend to dance, and instead she had her first kiss with someone else. He was so hurt that he ran to his uncle…the King of the Playboys, who taught him everything he knew. His fear is letting someone inside, and committing to them.
The Distance flaw (Sleepless in Seattle, the Lake House, somewhere in Time, You’ve got Mail) can have numerous fears. Sam Baldwin fears not finding another love like he had before. Sam, the hero in Ghost fears saying the words “I Love You” – until it’s all he has left. In Somewhere in Time, he fears travelling back to the present and losing this love in the past. When this exact thing happens, he has to confront his fear that he is from a different time than she is, and that perhaps they had their one chance.
The key to finding the fear behind this flaw is looking at what they need to overcome to bridge the gap, and then tracking that back to a fear that might keep them from doing it.
As your own Book Therapist look at your character’s flaw and ask: what is the fear behind the flaw? This fear will help you plot your book’s tension and eventually, the moment of….
COURAGE.
Courage is the last element of a great hero.
See, we won’t fall in love with a wimps! A hero has to have courage to change. We don’t like heroes that are stuck in their ways, that don’t see their need for change, who are unwilling to take up the sword and fight the battle. Why is the Matrix so popular? Because it’s about an ordinary guy who dared to reach out with his gut and fight for something real and better. He can be reluctant, for sure, but in the end, he has to see the greater good of going into battle for what he wants (and ultimately, for the woman he wants).
We cheer when Jack shows up at the booth, and drops in a diamond ring. When Johnny Castle charges back into the resort and takes the stage with Baby. When Sam reaches out on the top of Times Square and takes Annie’s hand. When Conner Mead (the hero in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past) chases the woman he loves through the snow to tell her he loves her.
Give them a courageous moment where they will break through their fears, overcome their flaws and change into the perfect hero that saves the day. (and gets the girl!)
As you’re plotting your story, ask: what moment shows his courage to change? (and then make sure you put that in your book!)
Give your hero these four qualities, put them with a winning Heroine (which we’ll talk about next week!) and you’ll have heroes your reader will love.
Have a great weekend. Hey - go dancing! ~ Susie May
February 4, 2010 – 10:50 am
Aw, he’s not that bad!
We’re talking this week about building a heartthrob hero into our stories – if you want more about building a hero – and characterization in general – go to our archives. There, you’ll learn how to build a hero from the inside, out.
Yesterday, we talked about a hero having a Noble Cause – that thing that makes him likeable and drives him through the story, through all the obstacles and conflict.
Today, we’ll touch on the next element….
Your Hero must have a Flaw
Your hero has to be less than perfect. Something about him that makes him real. Maybe he has issues with recklessness, or perhaps he trusts too much and has gotten burned. Maybe he’s jaded and mean on the outside (but of course tenderhearted on the inside). Something that is fixable, but less than perfect.
Let’s look at some of our favorite movies and their flawed heroes:
While You Were Sleeping – Jack refuses to tell his father that he doesn’t want to be in the estate sale business anymore, and keeps his furniture building business a secret. He also doesn’t want to “steal” his brother’s fiancé. (which is admirable, except that, well, we want him to speak up, too!) His flaw is that he holds back when he should charge forward. We see this timid flaw played out in movies like the Wedding Planner or Two Week’s Notice.
Titanic – Jack’s flaw is that he is a gambling vagabond, not good enough for our heroine. Of course, we see his true value, but he struggles with feeling that he deserves her. He is also a bit of a troublemaker, and gets her into trouble as well. Again, we might find these admirable, but still, they make him less than perfect. This is a common flaw – we see it played out in movies of all genres from Shakespeare in Love, to Moulin Rouge, to even A Walk to Remember. Even, Dirty Dancing. The “wrong” guy, the trouble-making guy, the rogue from the other side of the tracks is a favorite flaw and one that works time and again.
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past – I’m just going to call this the Matthew McConaughey flaw, aka, the Playboy flaw. He has this same flaw in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Failure to Launch, Fool’s Gold, even Sahara. Mel Gibson suffers from it in What a Woman Wants. It’s that…”I love the women, but I don’t want to commit” issue. Deep inside, of course, the playboy is afraid of rejection. We all understand being afraid of rejection, so we forgive them…if they promise to amend their weasley ways when they find the right woman.
Sleepless in Seattle – Sam Baldwin is…too far away! His flaw is that he lives half-way across the country from the heroine, and he doesn’t even know her. Separation by time and/or space is a great flaw. It’s often a construct of plotting, yes, but in the end, they have to confront the “distance” and do something to overcome it. We see it in movies like The Lake House, Somewhere in Time, even You’ve Got Mail (where they are separated by the internet). Even Sam, the hero in Ghost has this problem. These heroes are flawed in the fact that they are distant, and have to make the effort to bridge that gap.
I know there are other flaws out there – things that make our heroes less than perfect, but still loveable by the right woman. What are your favorite flaws? Go to www.mybooktherapy.ning.com and join the discussion!
And by the way, if you’re writing a romance, I’d encourage you to attend one of the “How to write a Best-seller” conferences that I’m doing with literary agent Chip MacGregor. A great opportunity to get a crash (but thorough!) course in writing commercial fiction, as well get feedback on your idea from one of the industry’s top agents. Our next one is in a few weeks in Atlanta! Check them out at: http://www.themasterseminars.com/
See you tomorrow when we talk about the last two elements of a heartthrob hero!
Susie May
February 3, 2010 – 12:30 pm
Who do you love, baby?
Or…how to Write a Heart-throb Hero!
Every romance has to have a great hero who leaps off the page and into our hearts! Think of your favorites: Braveheart, or maybe Robin Hood? Maybe it’s simpler: Hugh Grant in Notting Hill.
As you start building your romance, your hero is key. You need a man who will at once be noble, but flawed enough to be relatable. And don’t forget, every woman wants to come to the aid of her man, just a little (it’s the nurturer inside). So, how do we make a Hearthrob hero?
This week we’re going explore the Four components EVERY HERO must have.
#1 A Hero Must Be Noble – Every hero must have something to fight for. As Mad Max says in the Princess Bride—what do you have to live for? “True Love.” But every hero should have something he believes in, something we find noble and true and worth believing in him, even when he acts like a cad to the woman he loves. Maybe it’s a secret, or a wish, or a past mistake. It could be a dream, or something he’s protecting the heroine from. It could be his family, or his homeland.
Let’s take a look at some of our favorite romances:
You’ve Got Mail: The Hero is fighting for the One Woman who fills you with Joy. (remember what he says to his father on the boat?) He isn’t a jerk – we see how he is kind to his siblings (or uncle, if you know the weird storyline). And he doesn’t like how his father and grandfather have gone through women. He wants True Love.
While you Were Sleeping: The Hero wants something Quality – okay, he expresses it in making this amazing chair, but we see deeper – he isn’t just a glitzy, shallow man (like Peter, the guy in the coma the heroine THINKS she wants). He’s a guy who knows craftsmanship and values that. And he sees that quality in our heroine.
Sleepless in Seattle: Our Hero wants someone who completes him. Who complements him so well he doesn’t know where his hand stops and hers begins. He wants the real thing – and we see that he IS the real thing in how he relates to his son.
In Chasing Liberty (or, Roman Holiday), the Hero is all about protecting the woman. We see this as the noble cause in a lot of movies, even Notting Hill.
Whatever it is, it needs to be strong enough for us to love him, and forgive him when he does something stupid. (like stand Meg up in the café in You’ve Got Mail).
Book Therapy Question: As you’re building your hero, Ask: What cause are you fighting for that makes us love you?
Now – got to your bookshelf, or movie collection and pull out your favorites – then go to www.mybooktherapy.ning.com, join the Who’s Your Hero discussion and tell us what your favorite Hero’s Noble Cause is!
Tomorrow, we’ll be talking about Component #2 of a Hearthrob Hero: FLAWS.
