Or…how to Write a Heart-throb Hero!
Every romance has to have a great hero who leaps off the page and into our hearts! Think of your favorites: Braveheart, or maybe Robin Hood? Maybe it’s simpler: Hugh Grant in Notting Hill.
As you start building your romance, your hero is key. You need a man who will at once be noble, but flawed enough to be relatable. And don’t forget, every woman wants to come to the aid of her man, just a little (it’s the nurturer inside). So, how do we make a Hearthrob hero?
This week we’re going explore the Four components EVERY HERO must have.
#1 A Hero Must Be Noble – Every hero must have something to fight for. As Mad Max says in the Princess Bride—what do you have to live for? “True Love.” But every hero should have something he believes in, something we find noble and true and worth believing in him, even when he acts like a cad to the woman he loves. Maybe it’s a secret, or a wish, or a past mistake. It could be a dream, or something he’s protecting the heroine from. It could be his family, or his homeland.
Let’s take a look at some of our favorite romances:
You’ve Got Mail: The Hero is fighting for the One Woman who fills you with Joy. (remember what he says to his father on the boat?) He isn’t a jerk – we see how he is kind to his siblings (or uncle, if you know the weird storyline). And he doesn’t like how his father and grandfather have gone through women. He wants True Love.
While you Were Sleeping: The Hero wants something Quality – okay, he expresses it in making this amazing chair, but we see deeper – he isn’t just a glitzy, shallow man (like Peter, the guy in the coma the heroine THINKS she wants). He’s a guy who knows craftsmanship and values that. And he sees that quality in our heroine.
Sleepless in Seattle: Our Hero wants someone who completes him. Who complements him so well he doesn’t know where his hand stops and hers begins. He wants the real thing – and we see that he IS the real thing in how he relates to his son.
In Chasing Liberty (or, Roman Holiday), the Hero is all about protecting the woman. We see this as the noble cause in a lot of movies, even Notting Hill.
Whatever it is, it needs to be strong enough for us to love him, and forgive him when he does something stupid. (like stand Meg up in the café in You’ve Got Mail).
Book Therapy Question: As you’re building your hero, Ask: What cause are you fighting for that makes us love you?
Now – got to your bookshelf, or movie collection and pull out your favorites – then go to www.mybooktherapy.ning.com, join the Who’s Your Hero discussion and tell us what your favorite Hero’s Noble Cause is!
Tomorrow, we’ll be talking about Component #2 of a Hearthrob Hero: FLAWS.