Current Project: Untitled RS Proposal
Status: Chapter One
I've been spending a lot of time plotting out my new RS and unraveling the characters in my head. They're starting to take shape, I'm beginning to see and understand them, and their goals and motivations are sloooowly appearing through the fog. Last night, while procrastinating, I came across an article entitled 9 Attractive Qualities Women Look For In A Guy. You can read the entire article for the nitty gritty, but here's a condensed version (with my writerly interpretation and why the qualities listed are or are not important in your books):
1. Sense of Humor - This one ranks high for me. I don't write comedies by any means, but I think the ability for one character to make another character smile or laugh is important in their overall chemistry. My characters may not laugh a lot, but they definitely have their humorous moments. Let's face it, we want our books to be realistic. In real life, once the lust phase is gone, relationships with a healthy dose of humor tend to last longer than ones that don't have that humor.2. Trustworthiness - In romances, trust is one of those traits that seems to take longest to develop (at least in my books they do). The heroine not trusting the hero makes for interesting (and fun) conflict. But in order for a relationship to really work, there has to be trust. And no happily-ever-after can happen if one character doesn't trust the other.
3. Kindness - This ranks right up there with making your hero empathetic. He may be a total ass at the beginning of the book, but he helps an old lady cross the street or he stops chasing the bad guys long enough to rescue a kitten from a tree. He shows the ability to be kind, even if he's not apparantly kind to anyone at the opening.
4. Money - I'm not totally sold on this one. Though I will admit I've never written a book about a homeless vagrant. That said, I don't think a hero has to be wealthy. But he does have to be able to support himself. We've all heard of the super rich football star or the Donald Trumps of this world. Sure, they're set for life, but do they make the best romance heroes? Depends on your spin, I guess.
5. Super Hot - This is a no-brainer. We all write romance. Our heroes are all super hot (in one way or another) already. ;)
6. Confident - Who wants a wishy-washy hero? Why do you think the alpha male still rules the romance world? Because confidence is sexy. Let me say that again in case you missed it: Confidence is seeeeeeeexy.
7. Talent & Passion - I think these go along with confidence. A hero who is passionate is going to be confident and he's going to use his talents to go after whatever's most important to him - be that answers or treasure or the heroine herself. I love brainstorming my characters' talents and passions. It's like playing God for a few precious moments.
8. Intelligent - My hubby was watching some comedy special the other day and the comedian (I don't know who) was talking about what men should look for in a woman. His advice (minus the humor)? Go for brains over looks any day. Looks change and eventually disappear. Besides, if a man has enough money (#4), he can buy a new look for his woman. But he can't buy brains. Stupid will never be anything but stupid. True, don't you think? This is why - in addition to writing super hot heroes - we need to make sure they're super smart as well. And when you write suspense of any variety, why you need to make sure your hero can ultimately outsmart your villain.
And finally...
9. Convenient - In the above article, the author mentioned this as location - does the guy live close or is he at a place in his life where he's emotionally ready for a relationship? In a romance novel the author sets this up with plot. How are you going to get your hero and heroine together? How are you going to keep them together? What plot elements are in your novel to keep the pace high so your readers want to read how and why the hero and heroine keep getting tossed back together over and over (convenience) until they don't ever want to part.
So that's the nine. Set up by the "experts". (Okay, one guy. LOL) Which one do you think is the most important trait for your hero to have and why? And what traits are missing from this list?
13 comments:
Humor is the most important to me. I'm like you- I don't writer humorous stories, but to have real characters you have to have all the emotions AND as you said- if you can't laugh with your mate/significant other I don't see a future. Laughter is longevity in life and a relationship.
Money doesn't play a big factor in my stories, but the talent and passion does (which in a way equals out to money)
I can't think of a trait that is missing.
Great Post!
I like the list and really, as far as I'm concerned, no one trait is more important than any other trait. Humor without brains is slapstick. Brains without kindness can be cruel and self serving. Trustworthy without sexual attraction is your accountant. Passion without confidence is inertia. It's the unique combination of traits and how they react to the other character's unique combination of traits that make a couple sizzle.
Glad to hear your characters are emerging from the fog (walking hand in hand, I assume, staring lovingly into each other's eyes? Or arguing, maybe...) I'm hoping mine will shape up very, very soon!
I agree, Paty. Talent and passion definitely outweigh money.
C'mon, Alice. This is me, here. You know my characters aren't holding hands, gazing into each others' eyes yet. They're struggling with the sexual tension and tossing lots and lots of snark around. LOL. The arguing is much more up their alley at the moment.
And I like how you tied all the traits together. Very true estimation of what makes that memorable "sizzle".
I have to say confidence is #1 for me. My heroes are take-charge guys who don't flaunt the fact that they'll take the upper hand in any situation. Confidence is sexy, IMO, and it's a trait that's lacking in the majority of the male population as far as I'm concerned. There's plenty of fake confidence among guys, but the genuine article is rare and wonderful.
Humor is important, too. Especially the self-deprecating kind because it shows humility. Also, wit. There's a lot of intelligence behind a witty hero.
As for snark between the hero and heroine, I don't care for it much. You probably do an exceptional job at it, Eli, but the majority of attempts I've seen in romance novels don't work. It comes off forced, not natural. I'm just spoiled by Jenny Crusie and Susan Elizabeth Philips who do it the best. I think they're the ones responsible for me not liking snarky interaction between the H & h in other romance novels. So I'm eager to add Stolen Fury to the books on my shelf that do snark well! 8^)
ROFL, Karen. Now there's pressure!!! My only saving grace is (as you all know) I tend to be a rather snarky girl in person, so hopefully I pull it off in my book as well...since it's sort of second nature for me. (I seriously blame my husband for this trait.)
You're right Jennifer Crusie and SEP do snark very well.
And ditto on the confidence. I think that's what drew me to my DH way back when. He's one of those confident guys. And he's been the biggest supporter of me and my writing, always saying, "Believe you'll get there because you will." He had no doubt - even back when I first started writing and really stunk - that I'd eventually become published.
Great list, Eli!
I was nodding my head at all of them until I came to convenient/location, then went huh? However, after reading the explanation, especially that the hero is ready for an emotional attachment, it made perfect sense.
This is one of those lists that I'll print off and post by my computer as a reminder. Thanks for the great post!
Glad you found it helpful, Genene!
I scratched my head at number nine too. But in real life it makes perfect sense. "The Guy" has to be at a point where he's emotionally ready for a relationship or he'll never be "the guy". And in a romance novel, it's all about forcing the hero and heroine together. Because, let's face it. The best romance novels usually have one or both characters totally resistant to the idea of a relationship, hence the tension and excitement and the reward of that ultimate "aha!" moment when they realize they've found the one for them.
I think I may be getting bored of the Super Hot heroes. Does every hero need a chiseled jaw and washboard abs? I tend to like unconventional heroes better. Also, I'm noticing something of a double standard as more and more writers are featuring curvy heroines. These well-fed heroines always end up with a Super Hot hero. Katie McCallister (sp) has done a couple of books where both the hero and the heroine are fairly average looking and I applaud her for bucking the trend.
Wavy -- I think the key is how the hero and heroine appear to each other. Think about it. I'm not smart or beautiful but my dh thinks I am and I think the same about him. Okay, maybe we both know the other one isn't all that but we're perfect for each other and always have been and that's what's important to us. So in his POV, I would be gorgeous. And he would be in mine. I read a review of a book of mine once and the woman said "classically beautiful so and so---" and I was so surprised because I'd never thought my heroine was classically beautiful, I just knew the hero thought she was.
I thought of another trait -- imagination. It kind of makes all the others spring to life!
I agree with Alice, Wavy. Super Hot is a matter of debate. What's hot to one person is not hot to another. For example, Lisa's version of hot and my version of hot are worlds different (though we both agree Indy is da bomb...LOL).
Personally, I don't buy into the romances where one character is super hot and the other is average or even dumpy. If you look at most couples, people tend to gravitate to members of the opposite sex who are of the same "attractiveness" level as they are. You rarely see drop dead gorgeous women with butt ugly men (unless of course those butt ugly men are super rich and the woman is a gold digger). So super hot is totally relative to perception. And reading about super hot characters doesn't bother me because my version of hot is just that...my version.
Imagination. Very true, Alice!!!
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