Does my hero HAVE to believe in a lie? 

 

We get this question sometimes when we’re working with clients in a Book Therapy session.  Clients have done so much work creating the character, trying to figure out who he is, and it just seems like another mindless question. 

 

It’s not.  In fact, I build my characters on just a few key questions, the most important ones that comprise our lives.  You’ve seen some of them in this process…greatest fears, greatest dreams, values, motivations.  The Lie They Believe is one of the essential questions that threads throughout the entire book.  Without the lie, you don’t know what the truth is you’re aiming for.  Without the lie, you don’t know how he/she builds their lives, what their view on the world is, even their everyday choices. 

 

For example, we’ve been having an interesting discussion over at Club Book Therapy Voices about our Hero’s Lie.  Here’s a glimpse: 

 

 

One voice wrote:

If our hero was special ops and is now figuratively and literally hiding out in the woods, how about a twist on the “old” he saw/was the cause of, his best friend dying when he could’ve/should’ve saved him? How about a *child* died as a result of him hesitating when he could’ve/should/ve taken action? He’s hiding himself because of his guilt and pain, and having flashbacks to that child’s face before the suicide bomber he didn’t take out, blew up beside the little boy/girl?

His lie is: I’m a failure, I couldn’t be trusted to do what I was supposed to do and someone died because of it. SO I’m running away from God ( a la Moses) and hoping He doesn’t find me. I’m not good enough for God to love me because of the terrible thing I let happen/contributed to.

Truth:  God is a God of second chances. 

 

Another added: (What if the hero) is hiding from himself. He’s hurting on the inside, I haven’t figured out a good what or why yet, but he feels that no one else will get hurt if he hides from the outside world. People he loves will stay safe. The nightmares still haunt him but since he knows the woods from growing up and from his days in spec ops, it’s where he stays safe. The forest and solitude make him feel secure and keeping an eye on the animals and protecting them from poachers. He stays away from most of the other rangers who don’t mind too much because they don’t have to take the extreme solitude posts too often, since our hero readily takes them. Staying out of the limelight is his primary goal. So is hiding himself from his loved ones. He’s protecting them.

 

Another Voice picked up on this and added a PTSD element:

Maybe that’s why the hero became a park ranger — so that way his post traumatic stress does not affect the people around him. He isolates himself at times in the park due to previous experience where he had episodes that occurred due to triggers and he ended up scaring the people around him.

This could also be connected to Truth vs lie
Lie – he believes that he is like a poison in people’s lives and so therefore he tries to keep his distance.
Truth – He needs a support network that God has placed around him and that God will always to be there for him and love him just the way he is.

 

Now we have a picture of our hero, based on the lie he believes – that he isn’t good enough for God to love him, and that he’s “poison” (I love that word) in other people’s lives.  We now have a picture of our hero, and can determine his everyday choices, and maybe even his mannerisms and behavior. 

 

At this stage of the game, I like to create a little “chart” to help my brain keep everything straight. 

 

Character name	Lie	proof	Truth	Leap of Faith
Luke Alexander	He blew it with God, and his PTSD has made him unfit for humankind.  He’s better off alone.	He was in Afghanistan, and saw a suicide bomber at a market…and didn’t stop him because of a group of kids playing soccer…and his best mate died.	Lamentations 3:20 – God’s mercies are new every morning, and 1 John 4:7-8 – God uses relationships to reveal His love to us. He wants us to be in relationships. (I’d like to also throw elements of John 15 in there – something about giving up his life for a friend).	Walking into MacKenzie’s world, and allowing himself back into the limelight, for her.

 

 

Wait, you say, what is the “leap of faith?”  Well, I’ve just given away the little trick I use for the ending…taking the new truth the hero believes, he has to apply it.  Remember that moment in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where he has to apply everything he knows/learned, and simply put his foot out (to reveal the hidden bridge to the cave?)  That’s exactly what the leap of faith in your book is.  It’s that moment where everything he learns comes in question, and he has leap forward in faith.

 

Oh, and if you’re wondering about our Heroine’s lie…

 

Here are the thoughts being discussed at voices:

 

…She is still recovering from a divorce and her ex left her for someone “better.” She has convinced herself that no one could ever love her again…

 

…Maybe we could tie them together and it would complete her back story? I think most celebrities are hiding their “child” ego inside themselves and have lots of doubt about their self-worth. Otherwise, they wouldn’t go looking for the limelight and adulation of strangers.

 

Heroine’s Lie: She has to prove herself. Her worth comes from achievements.

ie, this could be a repeat of how her parent’s wrote off her much older sister when the heroine was a little girl–because the sister dropped out of high school, ran off with a druggie, and didn’t make anything of herself. If her sister could lose her parent’s love, then she is in danger of losing their love. She already lost her husband’s love, and she takes full responsibility. She must not have earned it. How can she possibly earn God’s love?

OR…Heroine is very hard on herself and won’t ask for help from anyone. She thinks that if she works hard enough she can make all her own dreams come true. Then, and only then, will she consider herself successful.

 

…I love how she is always over achieving and needs success as her false measure of love and approval. Taking it further, her life prior to this was a total hamster wheel. The truth for her is knowing her true identity in Christ and resting in His unconditional love for her. When she is in TN. and all the suspense is going on, she is supposed to be laying low but the ranger and her handlers are working overtime trying to keep her out of trouble and resting. To her rest=laziness and failure until Christ sets her free from the lie.

 

Another lie…
Lie – That she will never be anything more than an actress and that the only way to live is with fear.
Truth – God has gifted her with the ability to communicate to the world through her fame but also discover that even with her career she can have a fulfill with a peace and fulness that can come from a relationship with God

 

 

…Maybe the lie that she believes is that she can’t act–so she’s always having to prove herself, even when she’s at the top, because someone may discover that “truth” about her. Maybe when she was in high school she was the understudy for the lead part and then on opening night (or the final show) she had to fill in for the leading lady. The popular boy who had the leading male role told her she couldn’t act, that she’d never make it as an actress, that she should stick to being a waitress (or something). Except the audience loved her. But she’s always still believed the high school boy actor was right.

 

…which would lead to why she has made so many compromises in her professional life.

 

So, based on the above discussion, here’s our chart…

 

Character name	Lie	proof	Truth	Leap of Faith
MacKenzie Grace	Her worth comes from her achievements but she has made too many moral compromises, and had too many failures to  call herself a success (and fit into God’s kingdom).  She hears the voices of condemnation.	She got terrible reviews of her last movie, her hubby left her,  her indy film is shut down…and now her manager is “sending her away” for her own good.  Also, her parents rejection of her sister tells her that she has made too many compromises to be accepted.	Romans 8:31-32…God is for us!  And Romans 8:35-39 – Nothing can separate us from God’s love for us.	She takes a role at the local community theater, investing in the small town, and getting back to what she really loves…acting.  (rather than being a star).

 

 

So, there you have it – a look at how the LIE can determine the spiritual scope of your story.  We’ll be diving into this deeper as our story progresses, but at least we have a spiritual roadmap. 

 

Stop by tomorrow….we’ll be VOTING on our Inciting Incident!  (and for now, go to Club Book Therapy VOICES and add yours to the discussion!)