Who is the Main Character (Him or Her)?

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defyalllogic

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I'm most familiar with Urban Fantasy romance novels (esp. Kresley Cole and Larissa Ione) where the POV alternates between Him and Her.

Two questions:
1. From the perspective of those who write these kinds of stories, who is considered the Main Character.
Both? The person with the most connections? Always Him? Always Her?

2. Queries tend to start: Main Character wants nothing more than to be something. If there are two MCs do you tend to choose one depending on the agent/agency or would the query look more like the blurb on the back of the book? "She needs X, He needs Y. Can they overcome their differences to Z?"
 

Beachgirl

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My queries and blurbs look more like your second scenario. Although the female MC's POV tends to get more pages than my Male MCs do, there is a fairly decent balance.
 

sunandshadow

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Usually her if there is one unified story, but there can be two related stories running in parallel, where each is the main character of one and a secondary character in the other.
 

Evangeline

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1. Both are considered the main character, since the purpose of a romance novel--urban fantasy, historical, contemporary, etc--is to chart the growth of the H/H's relationship. Meaning, their story arcs exist to bring them together. However, for me, the basic "main character" definition is whomever has the most to lose (for example, a hardened assassin who falls for the woman he's supposed to kill--Anne Stuart's Cold As Ice).

2. Here are examples of winning queries:

http://pubrants.blogspot.com/2006/08/queriesan-inside-scoop-sherry-thomass.html

http://ashlynmacnamara.net/first-query-last-query-maire-claremont/

http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/2009/01/query-letter-by-karen-macinerney.html

http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/2009/01/query-letter-by-bella-andre.html

http://www.cynthiaeden.com/writers/the-query-letter-5-simple-steps/
 

defyalllogic

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Thank you. Those where great examples that really helped.
 

Wilde_at_heart

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I don't know if this is frowned upon by mods but I'm shamelessly bumping this so I can find it later.
For my own WIP the answer is obvious, but those links Evangeline has posted look very useful.
 

gcsalamon

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I'm pretty much in agreement with the majority here - it really depends on you if the male or female place a little more as the lead. If you're doing a romance, and not writing in first person, then typically both characters play a major role and get about equal time.

When I write, I find that I may have started out with a certain character in mind to play more of a lead, but as the story unfolds, the other surpasses them. I think, you, as the writer, will know first who your ultimate main character is when all has been said and written.
 

French Maiden

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JR Ward does this with her Black Dagger brotherhood series, but she also throws in other characters POVs as well.

It depends on the book Larissa Ione I think it's deffinatelly the male being the MC. As with Christine Feehan and JR Ward and come to think of it Sherrilyn Kenyon too. Hmm there is a trend with what I read.
These are all PNR/UF and all change POVs between the man and the woman. Come to think of it I dont think I've read a PNR/UF where I'd consider the woman to be the MC.
 
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