Tuesday's Writer's Tip - Developing Your Hero #MFRWAuthor #BWLAuthor #Hero #Development

Not to begin a bit about the major characters. They are hero, heroine and iften the villain. Let's start with the Hero.

The hero in the story must be strong but not overpowering since he will be facing one or two strong characters. If the hero isn't a strong one the reader will wonder why the heroine fell for the wimp or why the villain so easily over powers the hero. Of course, there are many things you need to know about your hero before you begin but not necessarily do you have to know all right away. Characters develop during the story especially when they are faced with incidents and other people.

Let's look at the general things you need to know.

. 1. Name – To me this is important since I can’t write about a nameless character. I have occasionally renamed hero while writing the story but there has to be a good reason.

2. Physical description – I need to have a good idea of the height, weight, hair and eye color.

3. Emotional nature – Are they quick tempered, are they maddeningly calm. How would they react to various stimuli.

4. What is their background – family life, birth order, career choice, education, social standing of them or their family.

5. How do they come across to other people. This can be different with each of your major characters and their interactions with others. Heroine might think he’s arrogant. His best friend considers him a great guy. The villain might think of him as a snob. All these things effect your characters.

6. I discover their secret. This is something they don’t want anyone to know.

Now I do something a bit different when finding a general profile for my major characters. I semi-cast their Horoscopes. What do I mean be semi? I choose their Sun Sign, their Ascendant or Rising Sign and their Moon Sign. This gives me a general picture to work with.

The Sun sign gives their inner nature and this is usually where their secret arises. The Ascendant shows the picture they present to the world. The Moon shows their emotional nature. With 12 units in each of my chosen area, I have myriad ways of casting a character to make them individuals.

So when developing the hero make him the strongest you can and give him real problems both internal and external. Make sure his goal is one a hero would want.