Tuesday, November 13, 2012

5 Hero(ine) Don'ts and Dos

Heroine Don't

Top 5 Characteristics A Hero(ine) Cannot Have:


1. A penchant for ass-scratching or nose-picking ... and most definitely not one then the other
2. An incessant need to berate everyone all the time
3. An addiction to whining
4. A habit of kicking puppies or sticking babies on pikes
5. An incurable case of Too Dumb To Live (TDTL)






Classic Heroes

Top 5 Characteristics a Hero(ine) Should Have:

  1. Believable Actions/Reactions
  2. Believable Actions/Reactions
  3. Believable Actions/Reactions
  4. Believable Actions/Reactions
  5. Believable Actions/Reactions
What about the long flowing locks and the body blessed by Venus? Where is the tortured past or the broken heart of gold? Where are the Goals, Motivations, and Conflicts?

Truth is, readers will forgive a lot as long as they can wear the character. Go ahead, make a serial killer your heroine or promote that dust-bunny to a hero ... just make sure the body-suit fits your readers.

  

6 comments:

  1. I LOL'd at Iron Man. Sooooo true! :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. I LOL'd at Iron Man, too! And excellent points.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the idea of being able to wear a character! That is exactly what I want. Matter of fact, I am off to wear one right now...even though she annoys the hell out of me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, thank you. Characters are like cardigans, you can take 'em off and toss 'em in the corner when you've had enough. :D

      Delete
  4. LOL! Isn't that part of Tony's charm? That he's the unrepentant hero?

    ReplyDelete