Writing Your Hero or Heroine

What defines a great hero or heroine? How can you be confident that your readers will accept this character? There are a few fundamentals:

1. Believability. How believable is your character to the average person? Is this a fictional person you might meet in real life or is he untouchable, more like a Superman? Are your claims for him or her too far-fetched to be easily accepted by the average reader?

2. Vulnerability. Are there frailties that make your character less-than-perfect? Do these weaknesses add interest to the story? Do they balance his or her strengths?

3. Like-ability. Can you find something--anything-- in this person to like, even if it becomes apparent only later in the story?

4. Identify-ability. Can you identify with this character in any way? Does he or she strike a sympathetic chord in you?

The hero or heroine in a story can be an underdog. Maybe she is the innocent bystander that finds her life changed horrendously by an unforeseen event. However, a character that starts out too strong and impervious to problems may not be one that readers will initially like or identify with. Not that a character can’t fall from grace or a position of strength and then be reinstated or restored in some heroic fashion—most of us can identify with such a “rebirth.” A personal struggle and a subsequent victory in the plot, if pulled off convincingly, adds great interest.

The fact that the character is vulnerable will make him more believable to a reader. Life is full of imperfect people. We are all subject to weaknesses and temptations. We often fail in personal trials and have to overcome obstacles only by great effort on our part.

The issue of whether a hero or heroine is likeable is up for grabs. I think it would be interesting to have a less-than-likeable individual that somehow redeems him- or herself through a self-less and heroic act. Conversely, a character might be very likeable from the beginning. What you do with this issue is subjective. You must let your imagination dictate what should happen. You may surprise yourself.

Perhaps the most important issue to consider is whether or not a reader could identify with the main character. Do you think a reader could see himself as that person? Could the reader picture himself in the same circumstances, although they might be somewhat extraordinary? Belief and judgment on the part of the reader have to be suspended for a story or character to work.

If the reader is saying, even subconsciously, that the hero or heroine is not realistic, believable or likeable, you have failed from the start to portray the character you intended. The goal is to grab the reader and draw him into the story until he believes that he lived it or could have lived it, too. When you can do that, you have accomplished your goal in triplicate.

©2005 Steven O’Dell