H is for Hero
- A is for Amazon
- B is for Bio
- C is for Character
- D is for Drama
- E is for Efficiency
- F is for Fun
- G is for Gradual
- H is for Hero
- I is for Inspiration
- J is for Judgment
- K is for Kneading
- L is for Lull
- M is for Marketing
- N is for Natural
- O is for Opportunity
- P is for Publish
- Q is for Quickly
- R is for Resourceful
- S is for Sales
- T is for Timing
- U is for Updates
- V is for Very
- W is for Website
- X is for Xavier Chanceworthy
- Y is for Yours
- Z is for Zeal
You don’t have to love or even like him, but you have to care about what happens to him.
The hero, or heroine, doesn’t have to be the guy in the white hat (and white teeth). He might be the guy in the black hat (and missing teeth). You just need to want to know how he fares, how he thinks, and what’s going to happen to him. If you don’t care, then he’s not the hero, he’s just a character.
I’m going to copy straight from John Muldoon’s excellent comment from yesterday’s G is for Gradual where he expertly defines what he likes to see in a character and we can then translate into what we need from our hero:
I like to see a character struggle, and maybe not get what they want. Or at least not get what they want in the way they’d hoped. I want to see characters make hard decisions, and have those decisions not always work out like they expect. I like making characters who have to grown and change in order to get what they want. I like it when things don’t go according to plan, and someone has to come up with a new plan and learn new things and change who they are in order to reach that final destination I imagined with my architect’s pencil.
In a way, the hero of a story is someone you’d want as a friend or maybe he even is your friend (if only between the pages of the book). You care about him, you want him to succeed, to progress, to grow, to learn, and you want to experience it all right there with him.
My hero is someone who can do things that are difficult for me (e.g. painting).
Great post! 🙂 Good luck with the rest of the challenge x
Thanks, Vikki!
Nice post about heros. 🙂 It’s fun to have a main character with flaws as well, and I totally agree that no matter what, the reader has to care what happens to him.
I think the hero probably has to have flaws, otherwise they’re just too perfect and who likes that! Well, I guess it’s nice to aspire to, but I’m not going to like the perfect hero! 🙂
Hi Bradley, I bookmarked your G post after reading Johns comment yesterday. Definitely will help turn a character into a hero.
It was an excellent comment. How often does a comment turn into (part of) a new post? Great stuff.
Yes, this is everything you want in a hero. Great post!
Thanks, Sonia.
Whoa. Thanks Bradley. 🙂
very helpful thoughts and suggestions. I’ll be wanting to refer back to this one.
Thanks, Marcy!
Or, how Chuck Wendig put it, you don’t have to love or even like the protagonist. You only have to be curious enough to spend some time in his company.
Love it, thanks for sharing, Veronica!