Meet an Author Monday & Creating a compelling heroine
Happy Monday, peeps!
Song of the day- Angel by Akon (This song always reminds me of Nick the first time he sees Halley in my latest work, Obsessed)
So, I struggled for a bit this morning, trying to decide what to blog about. I'm a bit tired from the holiday weekend, and feeling a tad burned out from life in general. My oldest daughter, who doesn't usually emerge from her cave until noon, shocked the hell out of me with her early appearance in my kitchen. Hungry for my mother's Jello salad, she descended upon my refrigerator like a half-sarved beast. I earned a frown after reminding her to save some of the Jello for the rest of us, and was treated to an eye-roll when she sat down next to me.
"I don't know what to blog about today," I said with a sigh.
With a shrug, she shoveled a large bite of food into her mouth, and after chewing said "Write about Jello."
Humph! Write about Jello. Some help she was. But then it hit me. I'm always blogging and talking about Alpha males and heroes, but I never talk about our favorite female leads. This is mostly, of course, because I'm all about the hot hero in any story, but still...I think it's time the heroines in our favorite stories get their due.
So how do we create heroines with layered personalities who are compelling, funny and make us want to root for them? How do we, as writers, make sure our leading ladies don't end up bland and common like Jello? (Sorry, mom, your Jello is fabu. I promise!)
Gone are the days of weak, damsel in distress heroines who wait for their hunky man to not only whisk them to safety, but sweep them off their feet as well. These days, our leading ladies need to kick ass and take names to get any respect. Our girls are not only strong, they're strong willed. They know what they want and often times have a mission/purpose. These iron women are fun to write, but how do we keep them fresh? How do we keep these tough girls from becoming one dimensional like their weaker counterparts? We all want a strong heroine who can tame her hero's beast, true, but if she's all badass all the time, well...IMO, she's not any better than her whimpering cousin, Mary Damsel Inwaiting.
So what's the solution to crafting a well rounded heroine? Think of her as an onion (this always reminds me of Shrek and his "Ogres have layers speech.) Shrek was right though. People have layers to their personalities, and it's the gradual peeling away of those layers throughout the book that makes us want to turn the page. Much like an onion, our kick-ass leading lady has a tough, crunchy exterior she uses to protect herself and those around her. But when you strip away that outer layer, you quickly discover a vulnerability, a softer, hidden interior that, as you keep peeling morphs into something completely different from what you originally started with.
Give your gal a flaw, whether it be physical or emotional. Give her a dark past, something that haunts her, something she needs to overcome. Give her room to grow along with her leading man, let her stumble, and heck, maybe even let her fall. Because it's that bumpy journey we crave as readers. We want a thrilling roller-coaster ride full of will they or won't they, and oh please, please, just let them get together!
What do you think? What makes a compelling female lead for you?
On to the hop!
Authors! Have a book out? Are you under contract for publication? Make sure you join in the hop. This is a great way to network your blog and let readers know who you are!
Here's how it works:
READERS:
Follow as many authors as you like. Just follow the Linky list and hop from author to author. The idea is to find as many "new to you" authors as you can, and hopefully some great new reading material as well. Leave a comment as you hop from blog to blog! We'd love to chat with you!
AUTHORS:
Follow the Meet an author Monday host (Cali Cheer Mom) along with any of the wonderfully talented authors on the list.You will need to enter your name and blog url into the Linky tool.Grab our super cute button and place it in a post. (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) If you don't create a post for the hop, your readers won't have a place to comment, and the hop will stop with you. So create a post, paste in the Linky code and start hopping!The purpose of the hop is to meet "new to you" authors and discover great new reads. Follow as many authors as you can. Leave a comment and introduce yourself!If you'd like to share the Linky list in a post on your blog ( Please do!) just follow the link and grab the code.
Song of the day- Angel by Akon (This song always reminds me of Nick the first time he sees Halley in my latest work, Obsessed)
So, I struggled for a bit this morning, trying to decide what to blog about. I'm a bit tired from the holiday weekend, and feeling a tad burned out from life in general. My oldest daughter, who doesn't usually emerge from her cave until noon, shocked the hell out of me with her early appearance in my kitchen. Hungry for my mother's Jello salad, she descended upon my refrigerator like a half-sarved beast. I earned a frown after reminding her to save some of the Jello for the rest of us, and was treated to an eye-roll when she sat down next to me.
"I don't know what to blog about today," I said with a sigh.
With a shrug, she shoveled a large bite of food into her mouth, and after chewing said "Write about Jello."
Humph! Write about Jello. Some help she was. But then it hit me. I'm always blogging and talking about Alpha males and heroes, but I never talk about our favorite female leads. This is mostly, of course, because I'm all about the hot hero in any story, but still...I think it's time the heroines in our favorite stories get their due.
So how do we create heroines with layered personalities who are compelling, funny and make us want to root for them? How do we, as writers, make sure our leading ladies don't end up bland and common like Jello? (Sorry, mom, your Jello is fabu. I promise!)
Gone are the days of weak, damsel in distress heroines who wait for their hunky man to not only whisk them to safety, but sweep them off their feet as well. These days, our leading ladies need to kick ass and take names to get any respect. Our girls are not only strong, they're strong willed. They know what they want and often times have a mission/purpose. These iron women are fun to write, but how do we keep them fresh? How do we keep these tough girls from becoming one dimensional like their weaker counterparts? We all want a strong heroine who can tame her hero's beast, true, but if she's all badass all the time, well...IMO, she's not any better than her whimpering cousin, Mary Damsel Inwaiting.
So what's the solution to crafting a well rounded heroine? Think of her as an onion (this always reminds me of Shrek and his "Ogres have layers speech.) Shrek was right though. People have layers to their personalities, and it's the gradual peeling away of those layers throughout the book that makes us want to turn the page. Much like an onion, our kick-ass leading lady has a tough, crunchy exterior she uses to protect herself and those around her. But when you strip away that outer layer, you quickly discover a vulnerability, a softer, hidden interior that, as you keep peeling morphs into something completely different from what you originally started with.
Give your gal a flaw, whether it be physical or emotional. Give her a dark past, something that haunts her, something she needs to overcome. Give her room to grow along with her leading man, let her stumble, and heck, maybe even let her fall. Because it's that bumpy journey we crave as readers. We want a thrilling roller-coaster ride full of will they or won't they, and oh please, please, just let them get together!
What do you think? What makes a compelling female lead for you?
On to the hop!
Authors! Have a book out? Are you under contract for publication? Make sure you join in the hop. This is a great way to network your blog and let readers know who you are!
Here's how it works:
READERS:
Follow as many authors as you like. Just follow the Linky list and hop from author to author. The idea is to find as many "new to you" authors as you can, and hopefully some great new reading material as well. Leave a comment as you hop from blog to blog! We'd love to chat with you!
AUTHORS:
Follow the Meet an author Monday host (Cali Cheer Mom) along with any of the wonderfully talented authors on the list.You will need to enter your name and blog url into the Linky tool.Grab our super cute button and place it in a post. (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) If you don't create a post for the hop, your readers won't have a place to comment, and the hop will stop with you. So create a post, paste in the Linky code and start hopping!The purpose of the hop is to meet "new to you" authors and discover great new reads. Follow as many authors as you can. Leave a comment and introduce yourself!If you'd like to share the Linky list in a post on your blog ( Please do!) just follow the link and grab the code.
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