In real life, heroes come in all shapes and sizes. They do heroic deeds in many different ways and most of us admire them for stepping beyond the norm to risk something while attaining something worth the risk. Real life heroes sometimes die for what they have risked. Humans tend to want heroes and often wrongly judge who is one based on appearance (influenced by what we saw in media).
In all fiction, the hero is just a name for the lead male character. Like real life, he could be any shape or type. But in romantic fiction, well he's usually something out of the ordinary. Most frequently heroes are gorgeous, examples of the height of masculinity. They inspire, they risk, and they fall in love-- something that often costs them a great deal. Will they win? It would be a tragedy not be a romance if they would not-- think Beauty and the Beast for how a romance will end.
Frankly, don't we get enough tragedy with real life? I am all for that hero winning, but I want it to be believable that he would do so. I want him to overcome all those odds and that the reader sees he had the tools within him to do it.
My fictional heroic creations range from ordinary looks, to ugly, to that gorgeous specimen. Sometimes they recognize their physical gifts and use them. Sometimes it gets in their way and causes them to find it difficult to be taken seriously. When I set them into difficult situations (and they will be in difficult situations), they will show their true colors. They will shine. They will be victorious even at a high cost.
The truth of it is that in romances, generally speaking, the heroes are the most important character. I know, it's a woman's book but that is likely why it is that way-- or has been.
I told a consulting writer once that my favorite characters were always the man and said I had to work to find interest in the female. She said she thought it was my generation and hers. We grew up with male heroes and they were the ones doing exciting things.
Times have changed and there are more female heroes. Covers have apparently changed also and there are more dominant appearing females on them, sometimes brandishing guns-- ala Angelina Jolie types. However, for me, I still have a soft spot for men and don't pretend otherwise. It logically shows in all that I write.
When I thought I'd write about heroes, what makes a man into one, I decided to pick one of mine and describe his key characteristics. Picking a favorite isn't easy as frankly I fall in love with every hero I have written about. When I am writing that story, he's my favorite only to have another take over with the next book or editing. There isn't one I don't see things that I adore about them. When I am writing these men, I make it obvious why the heroine would fall for them. Who wouldn't?
These guys might be gentlemen or those who earn a living by their strength but they are never wimps even if the heroine might start out thinking they are. They aren't bullies, braggarts or blowhards. Their strength is held leashed for the moment it is needed. It sounds like a bit of a fantasy, but I know personally a LOT of men who are just exactly all those things.
Well back to this one individual hero from one of my books. There is no way I could pick one favorite between David, Dill, Jake, Dane, Phillip, Judd, S.T., Randy, Reuben, and Billy (last two are from books that will be coming out in May and June). Each of them have characteristics I admire and yes, with which I fell in love when I wrote the story.
Since this went on so long, I'll describe him next blog and what makes him not only a hero but capable of winning the victory.
