My Hero is a Wussy Man
How can this man be a wuss, I ask you?
I was writing my sucknopsis last night and I came to the realization that my hero is a girl. No, he doesn't talk like a girl, he doesn't dress like a girl, but man, is he acting like one. He just reacts to the things that happens, he's not proactive, he doesn't cause things to happen. My heroine does that. Now, that's all well and good if this was a Bombshell, but this is HIS STORY. He's the one that has so much to overcome, and he's sitting in the corner feeling sorry for himself. He's supposed to be the strong silent type, a man without a country, a man who walked away from his family to protect them, a man drawn back into the life he hates, yet is good at.
Right now I have this kind of parallel thing going: she thinks he's a superhero, he thinks he's no hero at all. That could be part of my problem, too. He doesn't think he deserves to be treated heroically (is that a word?)
Then there's the issue with the soldiers he's leading, and the trouble they're having giving him respect, and the fact that he feels he deserves their derision. Do you see my problem here?
Wussy man. ARGH.
I'm going to the grocery store.
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9 comments:
*snort* poor mary. I have the exact oposite problem. I think my heroine is almost too proactive in straightening her life around and find myself constantly agnsting over whether I have enough conflict (the oposite of my usual problem).
Hmm, tough, Mary. Okay, so he doesn't think he's heroic, but he KNOWS he's kick-ass, can do the job. He can be just a bit arrogant in this department, without feeling sorry for himself. Don't let him do that or he gets wussy! LOL!
Good luck, I know you'll pull through! =)
Arrogant, eh? I think I can do that. Thanks, Kelly!
To go along with the arrogant...I heard a comic say recently that men have one all purpose emotion for all needs and occasions...anger. Start thinking about the men you know, and it starts to actually make sense! Angry when scared, angry when confronted, angry when stressed, angry when overwhelmed---things that would make a woman show a myriad range of emotions is just set on "angry" for guys?! It's a thought! Put some anger into him, and see what happens.
JoAnn
Anger, huh? Well, he is that, but he's gotten very good at controlling it. VERY good. Control is his thing, which causes problems with the heroine because it's her thing, too.
Mary,
I had a similar problem going on, where the balance was a bit off. With my book, both hero and heroine have stuff to overcome, and in the beginning, my hero wants nothing to do with my heroine's "quest." She's the one who pushes and prods, but then the balance of power and proactiveness shifts when he gets his "call to action" from a surprising source. At that point, the heroine's brave front begins to unravel when she's blindsided by some surprising developments. He then picks up the slack.
Both characters pull each other through in the end.
If you're having a problem with this string throughout the book, just switch a few things. For instance, in my first draft, I had the heroine doing library research on her condition. In the current revision, the hero is the one who brings the research to her attention. So pick one or two "discoveries" your heroine has made, and just juggle a few scenes so that it's the hero who makes them.
Tanya
Tanya, I was looking for stuff like that today, stuff that she did that I can attribute to him. I think that would help a lot.
well first of all synopsis writing should be outlawed.. *g
Wussy hero...might be a problem *g. I'm sure you'll figure it out. A few twists will probably work. But really, it alls goes back to synopsis writing should be against the law. Problem solved...
I agree with outlawed synopses...especially one page synopses.
My CP doesn't think he's too wimpy, so maybe it's just the synopsis. Will continue working....
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