Tag: hero

Categories
Romancing Your Story

Developing the Leading Man and his Lady

The man and woman who will fall in love in your romance story are your most important characters. Therefore, it is imperative that you know them inside and out and develop them throughout the story in a way that shows why they are drawn to each other, what makes them move from being drawn to one another to falling in love, and how do they know this will last.

How do you get to know your characters well enough to build a good love story between them?

First, you need to develop their back stories. What is his view on love and on the world. What is her view on love and on the world. How and why are each of them going to make the decisions they will make throughout your novel. These things are a part of their back stories—what happened to them, in the past, that makes them think, react, and make the decisions they do?

Romance relies on strong main characters and your reader engagement will depend on the chemistry between your leading man and his lady. Therefore, you need to make your protagonists convincing.

Building a character

Start by asking yourself the following questions:

Who is he or she?

What is his or her flaw(s)?

What is his or her lie or burden? This is the thing they carry around with them that influences and determines their view of the world.

These things have all come from their back story—things that happened to them in the past: hurt, rejection, abandonment, etc.

Every character needs a GOAL, MOTIVATION, and CONFLICT. Their GOAL is what he or she wants. Their MOTIVATION is why he or she wants that thing, whether it is tangible or intangible. Their CONFLICT is why they can’t get it—what is keeping them from getting what they want?

When it comes to conflict, there needs to be outside forces that add to the conflict, not just internal conflict. Otherwise, you may fall into the trap where they have a very simple misunderstanding. This will not last long enough or be strong enough to sustain the conflict necessary for a novel. External conflict can produce and intensify the internal conflict within the character and between the man and woman.

Character growth

You also need to develop your characters throughout the story—they have to have some kind of change from the beginning of the novel til the end. Use the interactions between the male and female to show their character development. Have them challenge each other and bring about change in each other through the conflict and bonding.

Changes from the beginning to the ending of your story will include growth in their relationship as they move from mutual interest and physical attraction to a deeper love. Physical attraction is not enough to sustain a relationship for the long haul. Use some of each character’s attributes or quirks to deepen their love; things like intelligence, wit, charm, humor, social status, etc.

Character development is necessary for a successful romance.

Kelly F. Barr lives in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. She is married and has three sons. She writes historical romance. She has also been a blogger for ten years, and every Friday, you can find her Flash Fiction stories posted for your reading pleasure. She loves her family, including the family dog, books, walks, and chai lattes.

You can find her online at:

Categories
Mystery/Thriller/Suspense

Do You Love Your Series Sleuth?

mystery suspense thriller

Oh, the work you put into developing your sleuth, your investigator, your detective! Whether old or young, tall, or short, male or female, attractive or plain, rich, or poor—much thought goes into crafting this character.

At first blush, you can imagine yourself having a long happy partnership with this unique individual who will ultimately be the smartest person in the room when it comes to solving a crime. Your goal is always getting the readers to love this entity as much as you do, to join you for the long haul of seeing your star succeed.

But then, one day. You don’t like your person anymore! You didn’t think about that when you started your series and now, you’re in a pickle. That’s what happened to Conan Doyle. Most of us would die to create a character as noteworthy as Sherlock Holmes, but Doyle was bored, and he killed him off in the aptly titled “The Final Problem”. The public wasn’t tired of him, but the author was.

A mindset problem

This phenomenon can happen to any writer—when we play the brain game. The mind starts to throw out the thoughts such as “this is boring” and “it’s not good.” It comes from being behind the scenes and understanding how the sausage is made. The reader, however, isn’t having that same experience. Rather, they are not caught in the same web that has engulfed the writer’s mindset. It’s a snare that captures any writer, especially the perfectionist. The writer begins to devalue the very things that brought their work to light and are still appreciated.

Meanwhile, the reader continues to enjoy the story and feels uplifted, escapes day-to-day life, and is entertained—something they are not willing to give up because an author is yawning. You are no longer alone own in the universe you’ve created.

So, let’s get back to you as you are creating a series sleuth or detective.

Since we are in the era of ongoing series, here are some helpful questions as you begin to prevent pulling a Conan “oops.” Think ahead to stay in sync with your protagonist.

Tips for keeping your sleuth interesting

▪ Pick a character with potential. This should include personal and professional foibles. Readers want to love the person. Know their fears, interests, needs, and desires intimately so you have places to go.

▪ Your character must want to solve crimes above all. Have you put them in a position to be able to continually pursue crime? Are they a detective, police officer, or an amateur with crime solving resources? Do they have access to resources that allow them to stay in the game and possibly travel to new locations if you want to change things up?

▪ Visualize the age of your character. Can moving through stages of life help bring something new to every story? Don’t paint yourself in a corner with time.

▪ Give them some traits the reader can count on while continuing to reveal nuggets of their personality that are intriguing in every new novel.

The moral of the story? At some point, your readers become your partners in the stories you invent. Make sure you make room for loving your characters for years to come, because that’s how long you may be in business together!

Michelle Olsen

Michele Olson writes stories set on Mackinac Island in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan filled with suspense, romance, friendship, faith, and quirky characters. A top seller in Mackinac Island Fiction to the million people who make a trip to the island every year to experience life with no cars, amazing scenery, and the glorious Grand Hotel, she enjoys opening up this incredible island to even more visitors. Incorporating her work as an artist and a voice professional into her writing whenever she can, she enjoys creative endeavors of all genres and Fueling Faith with Fiction™.

Michele lives in the shadow of Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI with her husband and thoroughly enjoys being a wife, mom, and “Gee Gee” to two adorable grandsons.

Visit her:

  • Website: www.LakeGirlPublishing.com
  • Facebook: facebook.com/lakegirlpublishing.com
  • Twitter: @modawnwriter
  • Instagram: Instagram.com/lakegirlpublishing
  • Linked In: www.linkedin.com/in/lakegirlpublishing
Categories
Romancing Your Story

Should Your Christian Novel’s Hero be Perfect?

When writing a Christian romance novel, should your hero be perfect?

I entered a writing contest a few years ago that required me to submit part of my WIP. My entry didn’t make it past the first round judges because one of the judges scored low due to being highly offended that my hero told a lie. The notes from this judge stated that I would never find a Christian publisher willing to publish my book if my hero wasn’t perfect.

As a writer who studies the writing craft, is very involved in the writing world, and reads a lot of Christian romance and Christian historical romance novels, I believe this judge was sadly mistaken. In the novels I read, the heroes are not perfect, and neither are any of us in real life. That’s why we need a Savior. The fact that a story’s hero is not perfect allows the reader to identify and sympathize with the hero. It makes the hero believable and realistic to the reader. If a reader cannot connect with our hero, they may put the book down, never to pick it up again. We certainly don’t want that!

Our hero’s imperfections also serve another purpose—the purpose of creating conflict in the story, a necessary ingredient in our writing recipe. The hero may struggle with his or her imperfections, creating internal conflict. The imperfections could also create tension and conflict between the hero and his or her love interest or with his or her environment, creating external conflict. If you like, you can use the imperfections to create both internal conflict within the hero and external conflict with a love interest or the environment. Of course, your hero’s imperfections shouldn’t be the only source of conflict.

You also need to choose your hero’s imperfections carefully. For instance, you wouldn’t want your hero to struggle with cussing in a Christian novel. However, remember that as you write, your hero should change from the beginning of the story to the end, and every story needs to have conflict that will be resolved by the end of the book. If your hero is perfect from the very beginning of the story, how will he or she grow and change? Remember, you want your readers to like your hero, to find your hero believable, and to journey with your hero as he or she grows and changes throughout the story. Readers want to be able to root for your hero.

My name is Kelly F. Barr and I am a new columnist here at Almost an Author. I am so excited to be part of this team. I am a historical romance writer, and I will be writing four posts a year here on the romance page and four posts a year on the historical page.

Kelly F. Barr lives in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. She is married and has three sons. She writes historical romance. She has also been a blogger for ten years, and every Friday, you can find her Flash Fiction stories posted for your reading pleasure. She loves her family, including the family dog, books, walks, and chai lattes.

You can find her online at:

Website: kellyfbarr.com

Twitter: kellyb_26

Facebook: Kelly F. Barr, Writer