Recently I've read a few NA (New Adult) books and enjoyed them
thoroughly. These are book featuring young heroes and heroines (usually
in their early 20s) and targeted at readers roughly the same age.
However, when I
first started reading romances, early to mid 20s was a pretty standard
age for most romance novel heroines. These days there seems to be an an increasing trend in contemporary romance (and especially in erotic romance) towards older
heroines.
My own heroines tend to be in the 28-33 year
age range, because I prefer slightly more worldly-wise characters (no
simpering virgins here!)
It's made me wonder whether
(a) it's only a trend in my reading rather than the world at large, (b)
it's a new trend caused by the split between NA and contemporary
romance, or (c) it's a growing trend because readers are growing up and
looking for more mature heroines.
So it's poll time!
Please share your thoughts in the comments, and take part in the poll in
the right side bar to let us know (as readers rather than as writers)
which age group you prefer your heroines to be.
Showing posts with label Heroines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Heroines. Show all posts
Monday, February 3, 2014
Monday, April 2, 2012
Bigging your hero or heroine
My recent visit to The Hunger Games movie got me thinking about heroic qualities. I'm not going to talk about the Hunger Games because I know a lot of people are going to see it over the next while, and I don't want to be responsible for any spoilers, but I will say that there are a lot of heroic qualities on show in The Hunger Games, and they make it a compelling piece of work.
So, back to writing romance. We call our characters 'the hero' and 'the heroine' rather than 'the bloke' and 'the gal', and sometimes don't have our characters be heros and heroines, but rather blokes and gals.
Why does it matter - and does it matter? I think it does.
A hero/heroine doesn't have to be Thor or Supergirl, but they should, right at the beginning of the story, have something about them which means that we, as readers, care about what happens to them. An admirable quality, which doesn't have to be a big one, but has to be there. Maybe they care about someone else, a sibling, a parent, an animal. Maybe they have something to overcome, their fear of loving another or self doubt.
Blake Snyder talked about this quality in 'Save the cat'. He said to have a scene which reveals an inner quality of the hero/heroine that makes the reader/audience identify with them. He called it the 'save the cat' moment because he used the analogy of a character that initially perhaps we can't see the humanity in, taking time out to save a cat, acting in a small, heroic way that changes the way that the reader sees that character, giving the character humanity.
The words hero and heroine give an image of an over the top character, who's brave and fearless. But real heros and heroines aren't. They're human. With a spark inside that challenges them to care or act in a way against their self interest in the pursuit of someone else's happiness or wellbeing. No matter how damaged they are by their past experiences, they try. And because they try, we root for them. Care about them, and want to turn the pages to see if they will win. If they will get their happy ever after. They have a lot to learn, a journey to take through which they'll learn and change, but the spark should be part of them from the first moment that they appear on the page.
That makes them true heros and heroines for me.
So, back to writing romance. We call our characters 'the hero' and 'the heroine' rather than 'the bloke' and 'the gal', and sometimes don't have our characters be heros and heroines, but rather blokes and gals.
Why does it matter - and does it matter? I think it does.
A hero/heroine doesn't have to be Thor or Supergirl, but they should, right at the beginning of the story, have something about them which means that we, as readers, care about what happens to them. An admirable quality, which doesn't have to be a big one, but has to be there. Maybe they care about someone else, a sibling, a parent, an animal. Maybe they have something to overcome, their fear of loving another or self doubt.
Blake Snyder talked about this quality in 'Save the cat'. He said to have a scene which reveals an inner quality of the hero/heroine that makes the reader/audience identify with them. He called it the 'save the cat' moment because he used the analogy of a character that initially perhaps we can't see the humanity in, taking time out to save a cat, acting in a small, heroic way that changes the way that the reader sees that character, giving the character humanity.
The words hero and heroine give an image of an over the top character, who's brave and fearless. But real heros and heroines aren't. They're human. With a spark inside that challenges them to care or act in a way against their self interest in the pursuit of someone else's happiness or wellbeing. No matter how damaged they are by their past experiences, they try. And because they try, we root for them. Care about them, and want to turn the pages to see if they will win. If they will get their happy ever after. They have a lot to learn, a journey to take through which they'll learn and change, but the spark should be part of them from the first moment that they appear on the page.
That makes them true heros and heroines for me.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Guest Blogger - Lynne Marshall
* * *
Thank you, Minxes of Romance, for inviting me to guest blog today. As you can tell, I love the name of your blog, and decided to incorporate it into my topic:
The Pert and Plucky Heroines of Romance!
Who they are
• If you’ve read one or a hundred romances, you’ve probably already been introduced to a particular character type presented by Tami Cowden and cohorts named The Spunky Kid in their Sixteen Master Archetypes book Heroes & Heroines. This spirited underdog not only has to sort out her messy life, but win the guy along the way.
• These characters are the unsinkable Molly Browns of the world where “I ain’t down yet” is their mantra, and they are my favorite kind of character.
Who does them best?
• My absolute favorite author of these types of characters is Susan Elizabeth Phillips. She manages to strip her plucky heroines down to the bare bones in the beginning of her stories, force them to lose everything, leave them dangling over a cliff without a foothold, yet she still manages to bring them back to life…one step at a time, until they conquer all, including the hero, before the end of the book.
• Isabel Favor watches her self-help empire come crashing down around her in the opening pages of Breathing Room.
• Blue Bailey begins her journey wearing a beaver suit in Natural Born Charmer.
• Meg Koranda is down to her last few bucks and, as Maid of Honor, manages to ruin a perfectly planned wedding before the end of chapter one in Call Me Irresistible.
Why do we love them?
• Because we can relate to them.
• From where they’re standing, there is only one way to go – UP! These plucky, pert, minxes pick themselves up, dust themselves off, head into battle, and conquer both their lives and the most unlikely heroes. As readers, we believe every step of their paths. We cheer as they rebuild their lives and themselves into the women they were meant to be.
• When these pert and saucy underdogs conquer obstacle after obstacle, we believe we can do the same in our own lives. If they can come back from “there” (whatever major fix or disappointment they must overcome) so can we!
I like to think that both Anne Grady, the protagonist in Courting His Favorite Nurse, and Carrington Hanover from An Indiscretion, are in their own way, spunky kids. Both leave their old lives behind and build new ones, totally independent, but are forced to face their past again and finally set things straight.
Anne Grady knew better than anyone that love was complicated. When she’d left her hometown, she thought she was leaving her past heartbreak behind for good, as well. But practically the moment she returned to care for her injured parents, she stumbled headlong into their confidant—her first love, Jack Lightfoot.
Jack had been unable to deny his feelings for Annie when he was a teenager dating her best friend, and he certainly couldn’t muffle the spark twisting between them now—even if memories of the past kept threatening to push them apart. This time Jack wasn’t going to let history repeat itself—he was going to show Annie that the two of them were meant to be much more than best friends!
A doctor... A nurse... An indiscretion...
Paul Valverde is stretched to the limit, caring for an elderly relative while running a business and maintaining a full-time medical practice at St. Stephen's Hospital--with no time for a relationship.
RN Carrington Hanover leaves her money-hungry fiance at the altar and moves on to a new job at St. Stephen's Hospital in Los Angeles. The next man in her life must love her, not her money.
All work and no play has made Paul an unfulfilled man, and the resurrected redheaded crush from his youth is driving him to distraction. Can their complicated past become untangled by their newfound attraction--or will their love be doomed by mistrust and long-held resentment?
WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE SPUNKY KID HEROINE AND WHY?
One commenter will win their choice of e-book or print for
Courting His Favorite Nurse, or e-book for An Indiscretion.
Courting His Favorite Nurse is available from Amazon, Amazon UK (as a Cherish book) and Harlequin. An Indiscretion is availble on Amazon and Amazon UK.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)