JANUARY, 2020
BUILDING A HERO WITH STATURE—WHAT NOT TO DO
By: Alice Orr
If your storytelling
goal is wide audi-
ence appeal, build
an admirable hero.
A hero the reader will
look up to, and re-
member that when I
use the term hero, I‟m
referring to main characters of all gen-
ders.
I base my admirable hero asser-
tion on two things. First, the bestseller
lists. Most fiction titles you find there tell
stories of admirable protagonists con-
fronting great obstacles in admirable
ways. Second, my experience as editor
and literary agent, which too often illus-
trated what an admirable hero is not.
Here are some examples, with names
changed for discretion‟s sake.
Caroline is the hero of a Regency
romance set in early nineteenth cen-
tury England. We‟re told she‟s a woman
of spotless character, which would be an
appropriate portrayal. Most readers of
this genre prefer their heroines intelli-
gent, wise and, above all, dignified. An
author seeking wide reader appeal would
be wise herself to honor these prefer-
ences.
Unfortunately, Caroline is not the
highly principled woman we are told
she is. Instead, she shows herself to be of
low moral character. Specifically, she
joins a traveling theatrical company
where her performance specialty is as a
procurer or, in more forthright terms, a
pimp.
To make matters worse, Caroline
lacks acceptable motivation for her
choices. She‟s an unhappily married
woman to be sure, but she is also from
the landed gentry with ample financial
means. She doesn‟t need to disgrace her-
self and her family to escape her hus-
band, nor allow herself to be degraded as
she does in this author‟s story.
A Regency era main character
may find herself in dire straits. She
may act to overcome her trials in many
ways, but not at the expense of dignity
and self-respect. Otherwise, she becomes
too tawdry to qualify as a hero of this
genre, and maybe as an admirable hero of
any genre, at least for a non-established
author. Bestsellers can afford to take
chances, sometimes.
As for Sebastian, I wonder if even
his author liked him very much.
Sebastian is cold, distant and uncaring.
His lack of compassion must be counter-
acted by noble qualities to make him an
admirable hero. He could be written as
remote on the surface with endearing
depths beneath, but, in this portrayal,
under his craggy surface beats a heart of
unappealing stone.
Kendra has heroic qualities but is
never called upon to use them. Her
story is meant to be suspenseful. She
should be in danger, real danger that, to
maximize appeal, threatens her life. She is
strong, resourceful and brave. We‟re ea-
ger to see those qualities tested by ex-
treme circumstance. When no truly thrill-
ing challenges arise, our reader expecta-
tions are dashed.
Kendra’s author could have made
stronger storytelling choices. A peril-
ous situation, which Kendra only nar-
rowly escapes. Better still, another char-
acter, vulnerable, like a child, faces seri-
ous threat, and Kendra risks her life to
defy that threat. These scenarios would
reveal her heroism in action and intensify
the suspense. Instead, Kendra is a hero-
ine waiting to happen, and the author
squanders the dramatic potential of her
story.
Shattered reader expectations,
heartless main characters, dra-
matic potential squandered. Avoid
these like the storytelling plagues
they are, unless you’re a bestselling
author with
maybe some
room for risk.
Build instead a
hero with stature
we can admire.
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