Balancing the power between Protags

The biggest thing is respect. Both parties have to respect the physical and/or mental abilities of the other. It helps to give them different specialties. Like, I'm good with communication/composition in my own relationship, while my husband specializes in science and math (which I suck at!) While his interests don't really interest me, and mine don't really interest him (including writing) we acknowledge the other's skill and admire their knowledge.

But if you're talking about "balancing the power" as far as romantic conflict in a book, then that's a different thing. Usually that comes from a lack of understanding about the other. For example, in one of our paranormal romances, I made both the hero and heroine cops. She's a sheriff in a small southern town and he's a beat cop in a big northern city. Instant conflict! They're forced to join forces, and both have good ideas about how to do it. But they don't have the SAME ideas and that's where the conflict come in. He wants to do it his way and she tries to explain why it's impossible to impose a city way of thinking on small town residents. It'd never work for the scenario. So, he learns to respect her as she finds a way to improvise his ideas along with her own knowledge to make a workable solution that smooths the waters with the locals. She learns to respect him for having tactical knowledge she's never been forced to know.

Etc. Does that help a little?

I keep a quote handy (on a Post-it stuck to the bottom of my monitor) that reads:

A conflict only works if the two parties are truly equal in some way, and have some kind of power over each other.

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I have no idea who said it or where I read it, but when I'm having conflict problems it always helps.

Hi MissMacchiato!

I had the same problem as you in a paranormal romance I am writing (well, just finished actually.)

I wanted my female MC to be stronger than the typical romance female, and I used Bella from twilight as sort of the opposite of what I wanted my MC to be. It was especially hard for me, because my book is written from the perspective of a Male MC...in First Person.

But honestly, I simply didn't let her appear weak or devoid of opinion. My MC was easy to appear strong because the entire book is from his persepctive, with his ideas, etc., so I made my female MC not afraid to counter what he says when she disagrees, etc. Also, in the "fight scenes", she isn't simply hiding behind him either. Sure, there always is that to an extent to make the male appear "romantic", but I have at least one scene where she needs to help him in a fight scene (albeit using his dropped weapon).

Hope that helps a bit!

She doesn't have to be physically stronger than him - you could always give her skill sets that he doesn't have. Like if he's an assassin, maybe she's a master thief that can pick any lock. Their mindsets would be compatible (both are living on the wrong side of the law) and both are awesome at their jobs. He might need to protect her every once in a while, but it doesn't make her helpless or useless.

I think it depends on your setting, too - power balance is a lot easier to do in paranormal (Kresley Cole's heroines are usually pretty strong and strong-willed) than it is, say, in Regency Historical (where a strong heroine is going to be constrained by the mores of society). Which is not to say that you cannot make her strong in a Regency (look at Jo Bourne's SPYMASTER'S LADY) but that you will need to tread a more delicate line so people do not feel she is anachronistic or too 'modern' in her sensibilities.

Good luck! I think this is a great question - I know that most publishers/readers you talk with nowdays want the strong heroine. It's ok for the guy to save her sometimes, but the modern heroine also has to save herself now and then.

My WIP isn't romance, but I still wanted the relationship between my two leads (who have a romantic sub-plot) to be at least somewhat fair and balanced. It was really hard to do, because at first glance Tasha seemed to have all the important abilities. She's physically and emotionally tougher than Chris, more outspoken, and she's the one who's been given the enchanted monster-killing sword too. So I looked deeper to see what Tasha isn't good at, and saw that she really lacks creativity and attention to detail (like so many alpha characters do). So I ramped up Chris's abilities in the areas where Tasha was weak, so they could make a genuine team.

Towards the beginning of the story, Chris takes detailed notes of everything the priestess tells them, then is able to use that information in conjunction with what's happening to find a solution to their problem that Tasha would never, ever have thought of. Chris may not be great at killing monsters, but Tasha would never have found the monster they need to kill if it weren't for him. That's a pattern that repeats in different forms throughout the story.

I figure the fact that neither character could have overcome the obstacles of the plot without help from the other is a good sign that the relationship is reasonably balanced.

Jane Austin's very good at having strong female characters despite all the social constraints of her time. Yes, Elizabeth Bennett's mother's looking to marry her off but there's no way she's going to marry just anyone. (If that was the case, she would've married her cousin, despite how insipid the man was, and her family would've been set.) Or she would've married D'Arcy when he first asked despite his arrogance, rather than waiting until he had overcome it. That being said, I doubt D'Arcy would've been happy with anyone less than Elizabeth Bennett because she was the only one who had the intelligence and wit to match his and the courage to call him on his own flaws and follies.

Even if the characters are being married off or otherwise socially constrained, it's how they hold to their own convictions and thoughts that helps even out the balance of power.

I like there to be an equal balance of power yet I admit I am a huge Johanna Lindsey fan. Somehow she makes it work.