Creating a Heroine
Going along with creating a villain (post below), I thought I would talk about my thought processes when creating a heroine.
Unlike a lot of romance writers or women's fiction writers, I don't feel a need to make my characters perfect. I know that authors give their characters flaws, but half the time the flaws seem like the kind of response to the age-old job interview question: What is your biggest flaw? To which the response is nearly always evasive--making a positive-negative statement. Like I'm a perfectionist--because yes, it's a flaw, but then who wouldn't want a perfectionist working for them? Same with flawed heroines--a lot of times, they're not REAL flaws.
Not so when I write them. I like my heroines real. So Ava uses her brother to escape her tormenter in THE ROOFER. She uses him though she knows she is manipulating the one person who loves her completely. And is costs him his soul. And Cassie Hayes--my first heroine in Spanish Disco--drank for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She popped valium. She was rude. Not witty rude, but downright rude. She was condescending. She mooned a reporter in the middle of a restaurant. You get the idea.
I think real flaws are vital to characters . . . they give a book some teeth, some meat, some depth. When I want to tell people my flaws, I am lighthearted about it--you know, I am demanding about my martinis, my desk is messy, I am a terrible cook. But believe me I have dark, terrible flaws that I constantly work on . . . as do all of us, if we're honest.
So I would have to say that flawed complexity is what I first look at when I start to create a character. How about you? What flaws do you give your characters?
Unlike a lot of romance writers or women's fiction writers, I don't feel a need to make my characters perfect. I know that authors give their characters flaws, but half the time the flaws seem like the kind of response to the age-old job interview question: What is your biggest flaw? To which the response is nearly always evasive--making a positive-negative statement. Like I'm a perfectionist--because yes, it's a flaw, but then who wouldn't want a perfectionist working for them? Same with flawed heroines--a lot of times, they're not REAL flaws.
Not so when I write them. I like my heroines real. So Ava uses her brother to escape her tormenter in THE ROOFER. She uses him though she knows she is manipulating the one person who loves her completely. And is costs him his soul. And Cassie Hayes--my first heroine in Spanish Disco--drank for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She popped valium. She was rude. Not witty rude, but downright rude. She was condescending. She mooned a reporter in the middle of a restaurant. You get the idea.
I think real flaws are vital to characters . . . they give a book some teeth, some meat, some depth. When I want to tell people my flaws, I am lighthearted about it--you know, I am demanding about my martinis, my desk is messy, I am a terrible cook. But believe me I have dark, terrible flaws that I constantly work on . . . as do all of us, if we're honest.
So I would have to say that flawed complexity is what I first look at when I start to create a character. How about you? What flaws do you give your characters?
posted by Erica Orloff at 7:10 PM
9 Comments:
Wow, it's like the universe subconsciously told all my favorite bloggers that I'm mentally figuring out my next book. Everyone's so helpful today, and I didn't even have to ask! I feel like I won the lottery!
My next character is almost sociopathically manipulative, but she's got a generous spirit and love of children. I really like her; I only hope I can pull it off so others do, too!
Spy:
It's tricky. When Spanish Disco made the rounds one editor said she just didn't find Cassie's bitchiness "endearing." But others liked her edginess. It's definitely a fine line. I think it's when you can balance the flaws with something very special and appealing that it can work. At least in my books that's what I aim for.
E
I swore I was going to have a 'book bonfire' if I picked up one more story where the heroine is brilliant, the bestest friend/wife/mother/daughter/citizen of the year candidate and yet her 'flaw' nay--disability according to some--is that she wears a size twelve :0
Come on people, bin there, done that--cleared the buffet and took dessert home in a doggie bag.
I personally like characters with a good hit of bitch or attitude, it makes me want to read further and discover the good in them, or what made them bad.
I do my best to avoid stereotypical flaws, and the ones I do inflict on my heroines I try to the best of my non-psych-major ability to incorporate enough back story that the flaw seems legit, a natural extension of her history and personality type. Whether I pull that off successfully or not, remains to be seen :)
I find I don't "give" my heroine flaws, but that they emerge organically as I write. I never set to give them a specific set of characteristics, but they work themselves in as the story progresses.
Scarlett, my first and favourite heroine is relentlessly stubborn and often far too defensive for her own good. She's also slightly neurotic and hopelessly soft-hearted which often leads her to trust the wrong people.
In my newest project, I'm discovering that my heroine is prone to hysteria, which I never intended, but is proving amusing and helpful in terms of the plot.
My heroines aren't always brave enough to say what they really want to say. Sometimes they'll tell a fib to keep everyone happy. Or, they're timid. My YA heroine is really mousy and wants to play the victim because it's easier than standing up for herself. Those are difficult flaws to accept and deal with but I feel that they're universal among all of us.
The thing about the darker sides of the characters is that readers don't always like it. A reviewer said that she had a hard time respecting Isa from In Between Men because she has been married to an asshole. Well, there are a lot of women in this world who settle for assholes. (Doesn't Osama bin Laden have five or six wives?) For fiction to be relevant and powerful, we need flawed characters who make us roll our eyes with exasperation. And like you said, those same characters need to have something special.
Best,
Mary
I love my flawed characters. I love giving them little quirks or vices too. For me, that's what keeps them real. Even better, give me character who can't get rid of her flaws so easily, but can find a way to work around them.
Usually, I create kick-ass heroines who are a tad crass and too independent or too mistrusting for their own good. In my latest WIP, my heroine is the opposite. She's naive, indecisive, and people-pleaser who refuses to embrace her inner bitch. The cool thing about her is she grows a backbone as the story progresses. Then again, by the time I'm done dragging my characters through hell, they don't have much of a choice. :)
lainey:
Amen!
Naomi:
organic is my fave word when it comes to writing.
mary:
I know. The line we walk.
Likeability vs. reality.
E
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