Building a Hero

By Anna Kathryn Lanier

This is not so much 'Western' in subject, but I think all readers enjoy the book so much better when the writer has given them a good hero. So, here is a list of what makes a good hero.  What qualities do you most like in a hero?

Building a Hero

James Frey in THE KEY tells how to build a hero.  He lists the time-tested qualities a hero should have and suggests that leaving out a few of these qualities is a kin to leaving out a few spark plugs when you do a tune-up on your car.  On the other hand, there is more to a hero than mythological motifs and heroic qualities.

A hero must also be “three-dimensional, interesting, passionate and dramatically driven.”

Frey’s list of myth-based heroic qualities are listed on pages 46-47 of his book, followed by a brief explanation.  I’m going to make the explanations even briefer, but based on what Frey wrote.

A hero must be or  possess:

1)     Courage – readers are repelled by a hero who lacks courage.

2)     Cleaver and Resourceful – he does not need special knowledge. “In fact, it often helps the story if your clever and resourceful hero is lacking in the specific skills required by the situation.” A fish-out-of-water sort of thing.

3)     Special Talent – it does not necessarily have to be used in the course of her mission. Examples, according to Frey: photographic memory, psychic powers, tossing horseshoe ringers, picking winners at the track, growing prize winning flowers, shooting an arrow with amazing accuracy, talents of deduction to solve a crime.

4)     Is an “outlaw” – he plays by his own rules, not society’s.  Examples: Colombo, Scrooge, Michael Corleone, McMurphy (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest).  If you don’t want an extreme ‘outlaw,’ he only needs to be rebellious.

5)      Good at what she does for a living – Scarlett O’Hara’s job at the beginning of Gone With The Wind is to attract beaus and she uses her charm to achieve her goal.

6)     The hero is the Protagonist – he takes the lead in the story.

7)     Has been wounded – the would can be physical, psychological, spiritual, or social.  She is maimed, disgraced, or lost a loved one, for example.  Anything to cause suffering…the hero needs to suffer.

8)    Motivated by Idealism – He “is not motivated by selfish reasons, but sacrifices himself for the good of others.”

9)     Sexually Potent – Yeah, need I say more?

The above are qualities every hero should possess.  Below is a list of qualities he may possess, but doesn’t necessarily have to possess:

1)      Having Hubris – a big head (conceited)

2)     Stoical

3)     Loyal

4)     Sexually appealing

5)     Physically superior

6)     A special birth

7)     Have a special destiny

8)    Special brand—tattoo, birthmark, scar

9)     Sometimes cynical

10) Mouthy or sharp-tongued

11)  A Flaw – though if he has a wound, a flaw isn’t really needed.

  

Resource: THE KEY: How to Write Damn Good Fiction Using the Power of Myth

By James N. Frey ISBN 0-312-30052-2

Anna Kathryn Lanier is a multi-published short story and novella writer in both contemporary and historical Westerns. 

Anna Kathryn Lanier

www.aklanier.com

http://annakathrynlanier.blogspot.com