Crafting the Hero––Part III by Donna L.H. Smith

Nobody’s perfect, right? True. Neither can your romantic hero be perfect. Choose a character flaw that will irritate your heroine to the point where in order to love him, she’ll have to overlook it. Click to Tweet #amwriting #RomancingYourStory #AlmostAnAuthor #CraftingTheHeroine

Pursuing Character Flaws

Tovah is our romantic heroine. Her main character flaw is her temper. Let’s review.

Tovah

Personality: Rejection, stutters when she gets nervous. Kind of shy, yet when she’s comfortable around someone, she can be witty and happy-go-lucky. She’s considerate and kind, but she’s got a temper, too.

Judah

Personality: Outgoing and friendly. He’ll be able to draw Tovah out of her shell. He’s somewhat laid back, which will help cool her off when she loses her temper. He’s self-confident, which will help her overcome her nervousness, and eventually, her stutter.

What kind of flaw can we give Judah? There are many options, but let’s just consider a couple. I consulted The Negative Trait Thesaurus by Ackerman and Puglisi. You can find more information about that book here.

Superstitious—Maybe Judah’s parents were sticklers to the Torah. Everytime he passed a doorpost, though most don’t have a mezuzah, yet he still wants to kiss his fingers, then touch a doorframe.

OR
Forgetful—He forgets a date, her birthday, when their first date was, when and where they met.

We could use both. The story could revolve around why he’s forgetful. What causes it? It can’t be that he’s not interested, because he is. Maybe he just be disorganized, or so busy, he loses track of time…or possibly he has something on his mind that’s keeping him from concentrating—even though he wants to. Let’s explore this more next month.

BIO

Donna L.H. Smith is a Kansas prairie girl transplanted to Lancaster County, PA. She is a graduate of Christian Writer’s Guild Craftsman program and holds two college degrees in mass communications.

She’s been a freelance journalist, and a radio reporter. Now, she blogs, speaks at workshops and retreats and although she is at an age where many begin slowing down, she wouldn’t think of it. She serves as Managing Editor for Almost an Author.com, and is Mid-Atlantic Zone Director of American Christian Fiction Writers. You can find her at her website, www.donnalhsmith.com, Facebook, and on Twitter as @donnalhsmith.