The Un-Heroine

heyjude · Mar 15, 2010

Okay, so I'm a bit concerned about my new MC. We know that what publishers/readers are looking for is strong women, right? Well, Honey is not strong. She starts out as kind of weak-willed, scared, and in over her head. The first thing that happens to her is that she's saved by the hero.

My intention is to see her grow through the book, to watch her go from wimpy to strong, able to take care of herself, but I wonder if the reader will go along for the ride if she starts out this way.

Let's assume the plot is compelling and the writing engaging.

Do you think it's an automatic drop-the-book to start out with this kind of character?

alleycat · Mar 15, 2010

I don't think it's a problem, as long as the reader can see her "potential" fairly early on; that could be as simple as a short scene where we see her overcome some small problem by being stronger than even she thinks she is.

And, while Agatha Christie's Miss Marple wasn't weak-willed or scared, she certainly doesn't fit the traditional "manly" MC mold.

Spring · Mar 15, 2010

Interesting, HJ. This is what I'm dealing with too. My heroine is not strong or sassy. She's in the situations she's in because of fear and necessity, not an adventuring soul. I'm trying to make her NOT annoying or whiny, and I hope she comes across that way. She will prove herself by the end of the book, but again, her actions are driven by fear. So...ah...I don't know...

If your plot is compelling and the writing is engaging, then I think you'll rope in your readers and have no problem pulling it off.

heyjude · Mar 15, 2010

Alleycat, that's a great suggestion and might help with another problem I'm having at the beginning. Thanks!

Spring, I'm reading your WIP right now and she doesn't come off as weak at all. She seems very brave to me. Once I tweak my beginning, I'll send you my first chapter and you can see the difference between our gals.

alleycat · Mar 15, 2010

One of the more recent, fairly popular unhero type of MC that comes to mind is the Monk character on TV. He was even afraid of gum on the bottom of his shoes, I believe.

Stanmiller · Mar 15, 2010

Heyjude,

One way to have her firm up in a hurry (besides silicone implants) is to have your wimpy MC decide to get a CCW and have her start carrying a weapon after she's saved by the MC. That'll firm her up quite a bit.

No joke. Dealing with issues of concealed carry changes your view of the world. Then she can save the hero in the grand finale.

If your WIP is set in an earlier era, pick the weapon of the era. One of the coolest female chars around is Zena. Sword and bow expert. Silicone implants, too.

--Stan :evil

Ken Hoss · Mar 15, 2010

alleycat said:
One of the more recent, fairly popular unhero type of MC that comes to mind is the Monk character on TV. He was even afraid of gum on the bottom of his shoes, I believe.

Loved that show. And I think he was pantophobic. (Fear of everything.) That, and just a little bit obsessive complusive.

heyjude · Mar 15, 2010

Stanmiller said:
Heyjude,

One way to have her firm up in a hurry (besides silicone implants) is to have your wimpy MC decide to get a CCW and have her start carrying a weapon after she's saved by the MC. That'll firm her up quite a bit.
--Stan

Thanks, Stan. This has been my plan, to get her armed. I'm going to (gulp) take a gun safety course. I've never so much as held a gun, so I'll be learning along with Honey. Hopefully it will give it authenticity.

Good Word · Mar 15, 2010

My MC starts out scared to death--not strong, but becomes so over the course of the book.

Is your MC likable? I think that's a really important factor.

heyjude · Mar 15, 2010

Good question, Good Word.

I'm afraid her wimpiness makes her unlikeable. I'm going to farm out the first chapter to betas once it's polished up and make sure. I guess that will tell the tale, huh?

Stanmiller · Mar 15, 2010

heyjude said:
Thanks, Stan. This has been my plan, to get her armed. I'm going to (gulp) take a gun safety course. I've never so much as held a gun, so I'll be learning along with Honey. Hopefully it will give it authenticity.

Keep your finger out of the triggerguard until ready to fire and you'll do fine. There's plenty here that do carry, so you'll have lots of feedback if you want.

--Stan

kaitie · Mar 15, 2010

Gosh I hope so because my last one was one of those. Total follower, let herself be manipulated and conned into things by everyone, and by the end of it she was making her own choices and what not.

I do think there's an audience for it, though. I mean, strong women are fine, but not everyone is a strong woman, and variety is good, too, right.

jeseymour · Mar 15, 2010

I'm going to counter with a question to think about. If your main character starts out strong and confident, where's the growth? Part of the arc of the story is the growth of the main character, the change. You don't want her to start out strong and get weak, do you?

heyjude · Mar 15, 2010

It's a good point, jesey. I'm just worried that the reader won't want to dig in with her. Which is where Good Word's point comes in--she needs to be likable enough that they will.

backslashbaby · Mar 15, 2010

I have a root-for-the-underdog character, myself

The Monk example is awesome! He's annoying, but he means so well that you have to love him.

Mine is kind of a Janet in Rocky Horror, or Alice in Wonderland kind of trope. So the strange things she encounters seem even stranger, since she hasn't seen much.

Namatu · Mar 15, 2010

I'd think scared and wimpy doesn't have to equal weak unless it's portrayed as such. Example: Gunman enters a room and un-heroine is saved from certain death by hero. If you have her flailing around and screaming, putting herself in more danger, yeah, that's weak. If you have her hit the ground and hide behind a nice solid desk, that's smart. Maybe later on she can take the gunman out with some snazzy-fu, but until she learns it, smart's the way to go.

To continue with this scenario, if she's going to freak out in the aftermath, that's perfectly acceptable. But she'll have to pull it back and swallow it down before it starts to annoy both the reader and the hero (and maybe the un-heroine too). Make sure she has self-awareness of these scared and wimpy moments.

Layer actions v. thoughts/feelings well, and determine what moments are going to be turning points for the un-heroine. That tends to be where I falter and need to revise - thoughts/feelings, not enough of them at pivotal moments.

MarkEsq · Mar 15, 2010

I think the distinction you have to make is between weak and scared (which is okay) and passive (which is not). Monk may be a paranoid, compulsive, scaredy-cat but he does stuff. He shows us the strength of his intellect, which enables him to bypass the stuff he can't handle, and to overcome the bad guys.

Similarly, it's okay for your MC to be afraid. But you must give her some sort of impetus, even use the fear itself as impetus. The death-knell for a character, in my book, is one who is on the page for things to happen to. That passivity equals boring and even if there's development I (and an agent/editor) will have a hard time getting past the initial problem.

I hope that makes some sense, and I don't mean to suggest that having your MC rescued at the beginning automatically makes her passive, because it doesn't. It could, but it doesn't have to.

If you would do me the honor, I'd love to beta the first chapter and give you my thoughts.

heyjude · Mar 15, 2010

Very good advice! Thank you so much! Yes, Namatu, she is the hide-behind-the-desk kind. And Mark, such a good point about making fear the impetus. That fear, combined with the anger, is going to drive her. Right to the gun range, haha.

MarkEsq · Mar 15, 2010

heyjude said:
And Mark, such a good point about making fear the impetus. That fear, combined with the anger, is going to drive her. Right to the gun range, haha.

Then I think you are fine. A woman who is scared and has a gun in her hand is someone we can empathize with and root for. And kinda hot....

Stanmiller · Mar 15, 2010

MarkEsq said...
"Then I think you are fine. A woman who is scared and has a gun in her hand is someone we can empathize with and root for. And kinda hot...."

Jeez. Don't let my wife hear you say that. She'll spend even more on ammo than she does now.
:evil

bigb · Mar 15, 2010

Armed women are pretty hot, maybe a tatoo as well, by the end of the story she will be smoking hot.

I like characters that kind of get pushed to be stronger or more confident, even if they are doing the pushing. It seems more believable, like the soccer mom next door could kick some ass if the situation called for it.

STKlingaman · Mar 15, 2010

In my second complete story - Time Sweep
My hero became a heroine, but not until a
third of the story in. Yet she kicks a$$, subjects
herself to a near death experience, etc...
I was truly amazed at what I put her
through, and to what she became.
It's a light fantasy/sci-fi action thriller with
a (something we'd all like to believe) unique twist.

heyjude · May 18, 2010

Okay, my extremely helpful friends, I'm reviving this thread so that you can tell me:

When my heroine says "I want a gun," what kind of gun is she going to get? The hero of the story is a former Marine, and he will be the one helping her, if that matters at all.

Thank you!

ToddWBush · May 18, 2010

There are plenty of handguns (I'm assuming it's a handgun she wants and not something else) that are realistic for women to use. You don't want her grabbing Dirty Harry's piece.

Anything that could be a conceal and carry weapon could be used by a woman. The gun I use, a Keltec P-11 9mm, is perfect for conceal and carry. Anything that doesn't have a huge kick on it would be nice. The "Baby Glock", the Glock 26, is a 9mm and is perfect for a woman.

MarkEsq · May 18, 2010

ToddWBush said:
The "Baby Glock", the Glock 26, is a 9mm and is perfect for a woman.

And you can get it in pink cammo...

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