How to Find Joy Writing a Hero into a Novel

You can have loads of fun writing a hero, whether he is a hero for a fantasy novel, a huge literary novel hero or even a small-time hero in a small book. These steps explains how you can have fun writing the modern hero, whether it is for the epic you so want to write or the novella you just have to finish.

Instructions

1. Start at square one. Building a hero is much like putting together a car from spare parts—it can be a tough challenge, but when you look at the fitting hero you have made, it’s all the more worth it. Starting from square one doesn’t mean you have to jump into the novel and start to randomly type. Give it time to form in your mind; don’t rush writing the hero into your novel. He will be all the better if you take time to think and study.

2. Remember heroes you’ve seen. Don't copy the best-of-the-best like something out a classic Stephen King novel or look to Luke Skywalker as the signature hero. Rather, remember these heroes when you are brainstorming. And you will be doing a lot of brainstorming. Remember the certain qualities of your favorite hero. Did she have certain negative traits? What choices did she make? What is her place in the world?

3. Be weary of copying. There is no point in writing a hero into a novel based upon the works of someone else. If you apply yourself to the story more than any other novel, then you are in good territory. Most heroes will have similar qualities. There have been millions of stories with epic heroes, whether they are samurai, knights or cashiers. Something about them will work. Find that and try to add your own perspective to the novel, to the hero of it. It’s no fun copying a hero from someone like Tolkien, Rowling or King, so make your own.

4. Focus, focus; there is the villain. To have fun with your hero, and make the novel a good read, you will need some kind of opposite to the hero. It doesn’t have to be as dark as choosing the way of the Dark Side or the way of The Force, like in Star Wars. But you need some enjoyable differences between the hero and the villain. One saves lives, the other ends them. If your villain is true, he will be more than a joy to write; he will start to make his own choices in the story. He will surprise the writer.

5. Remember that heroes can fail and be surprised by the villain, too. Consider that we have all failed at something in our lives, so the driving force of the story may come from a failure by the hero. A hero’s wife could be murdered. A heroine could fall to addiction. These failures can be joyful to write because they draw on your own failures. When you express failure on the page, it becomes a way of expressing sorrow, which can lead to a new understanding, and a new happiness.

6. Watch your hero become like you. We have focused on ways to have fun with the hero. None are more paramount than this fateful step—when the hero becomes more like you than you ever believed. Some writers will have alcoholic or drug-addicted heroes in their novels. Others will have heroines who cannot forget one failure. A novel is something based upon reality, and the novelist will see his own reality coming up when the hero becomes like him, a unique character who makes choices in his own way.

Tips & Warnings

• Outline or don’t outline? It depends on the writer. Outlining a hero and her actions can be challenging. Sometimes you just have to start.

• The works of Joseph Campbell are the definitive works on applying hero and myth to a story, though Campbell’s focus is on the history of heroes and not the writing of them. He provides many enjoyable stories on developing a hero.

• Try to read of heroes in genres outside your own. For example, read J.R.R. Tolkien if you are writing a romance. Otherwise you might fall to copying.