Writerly ways

[cornerofmadness]

Our Hero. No book is worth the reading without a protagonist of some kind. If the reader doesn’t like your hero/heroine then chances are your story is going to go nowhere. I got this critique recently on one of my fantasy novels. The hero has scored a minor victory, which apparently didn’t sit well with this first reader. A hero who we know can handle danger is less interesting than a hero who's in over his head.

The first thought in my head after whut?? Was I disagree. And I do. Strongly. Captain Kirk, James Bond, Indiana Jones, Buffy Summers, shall I go on? These are heroes who at least can handle danger on one level. I’m sure there are people out there what would argue they’re uninteresting. I think, though, an overwhelming majority would disagree.

Of course, there is a balance that needs to be maintained with a hero and it’s often a hard one to do. If a hero is too good, then we run the risk of Sueism (and I’m sure you could make a case that Kirk and Bond are Stus). On the other hand, at least for me, a hero who is blithering around way over his head can be just as unbelievable. As I type this, I have just finished the first seven episodes of an anime where much of the action could only happen if the hero is clueless. After a while that gets just as old and unbelievable as the Mary Sue.

No, for my part I want to read a hero who is at least able to handle some danger. S/he may not have all the answers. S/he may stumble and even fall, but I don’t feel a hero who has some clue what he or she is doing robs tension from a story. I’m curious as to your take on this.

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Comments

[eglantine-br.livejournal.com]

Interesting question. I think it depends on what the danger is. I mean, there are people who handle some kinds of physical things very well, but cannot deal with emotion, or who have a particular blind spot or weakness within themselves. (Achilles is an example.) This can make for plot tension too I think. And it is realistic.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

excellent point. Actually that would be for the character in question. he's a well trained young man, able to fight but he sees himself in the same negative way the bullies have conditioned him to believe in. To me, him overcoming that self doubt is half of what this story is about and the chapter in question was one step toward that.

[silvrethorn.livejournal.com]

Vulnerability is the difference between a hero and a superhero--and even a superhero is boring if he doesn't struggle sometimes (Superman has Kryptonite for a reason). Probably the most successful formula for a sympathetic hero is the ordinary Joe who's thrown into a situation and discovers strengths and depths he never realized he possessed. The least successful heroes are the ones who come into a story so invulnerable that they have nowhere to go, growth-wise. This does not apply to Clive Cussler guy-thrillers and their ilk, by the way. That's escapist fantasy stuff for men--their version of romance novels--and indestructible heroes are the standard for that genre. An accomplished fighter with emotional issues doesn't sound to me like the boring, masterful, infallible hero your first reader seems to be implying. Maybe the hero's bullying and self-esteem issues are powering his battle prowess. I see nothing uninteresting about a scenario like that.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

exactly. That's usually why stories about gods are rather dull unless that god has some sort of kryptonite.

Hmm you know I never thought about the thrillers in that way but you're right.

Thanks. My thought is, if he never grows at all throughout this then how can he succeed at the end?

[rahirah]

I think a better way of looking at it is, how much tension do you want the reader to feel over the character's predicament? If you want to reader to be on tenterhooks over whether the hero will succeed/survive, then putting them in a situation where it's up in the air whether their skills are a match for the task is what you want to do. If you want to establish that your hero is competent at what they do before ratcheting that tension up, then maybe you want to run them through a few scenarios where they show that competence before tossing them in over their heads. It all depends on what kind of story you're writing and what mood you want to evoke.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

this is also a very good point