Photo by Jennifer Pallian ~ Unsplash

What Are Your Favourite Kind of Chocolates… erm,  mean Characters?

A writing colleague recently said to me, “You tend to write hard women characters and soft men. Why don’t you try it the other way around?” Well, at first I was a little shocked, then realized maybe it’s a little bit true. I would say, not completely true, but a little. Then I thought, well if I turned it around in this case, two things would happen. Firstly, my story would be a different story, perhaps not the one that wants to be told… at least by me.

And secondly, in romance and women’s fiction, there are plenty of other people telling stories about soft women and hard men. The tropes are familiar and often entertaining, but it can get a little old. A lot of Romance readers gravitate to the fantasy fulfillment of millionaire-CEO-pirate-duke-cowboy-Navy Seals-biker-delinquent-step-brother. And that’s okay for some, at least some of the time. But romantic women’s fiction can be so many things, why should everyone, readers and writers both, be shoehorned into just one kind of story? I certainly don’t, as a reader.

Drawing on the inspiration of Forrest Gump, and his famous quote that life is like a box of chocolates, what if we looked at characters like chocolates? There are so many kinds, and we all have our favourites. The ones we grab first when the box is opened because we know what to expect and we know it’s going to be good.

It struck me that the characters in fiction are kind of like this. We all have our favourite kinds of heroines and heroes too, for whatever reasons (probably complex psycho-social ones.) Maybe we relate to them. Maybe we enjoy the particular kind of transformation those character types take in terms of story. The plots or the emotional journeys they take. What kind of heroines are you drawn to in fiction?

Soft Creams?

The one’s that are smart, sexy and well-put-together, but fall apart under a little pressure? That can be fun. Off the top of my head I’m thinking of Sophie Kinsella’s The Undomestic Goddess  in which a successful, ambitious lawyer makes a stupid careless mistake that snowballs out of proportion and she panics, runs away and tries to hide out while adapting to a radically different kind of life baking bread.

I would classify my character Kate O’Day in Reconcilable Differences this way. She’s got her life figured out. She’s smart and competent and everything’s fine, thank you, but under pressure, we learn she has unresolved issues that threaten to make her fall apart. (Proving that not all my women are hard.)

Chewy Caramels?

The ones that are firm on the outside but have a soft, gooey centre, like a caramel? Maybe a little resistant and stubborn, one that needs to be chewed on a little or gradually warmed up in order to soften, but then get really fun as they get going? Another example of this would be the heroine Ellen in Emily Giffin’s Love the One You’re With.

In my book The Art of Enchantment, Sophie’s had some bad experiences, and a lot of pressure from her family, to behave in a particular way, and to avoid the heat. They’ve shaped her into a little square box. Only under the continuous and persistent pressure of Guillermo’s charismatic attention does she soften up and recognize that she’s been avoiding the good stuff, and denying an important aspect of her own character, and life!

Or Hard Nuts?

Or maybe the ones that are smooth on the outside, but need to be cracked and broken in order to be digested? I see this type of character as ones that have been hardened by some extreme trauma in life, perhaps the loss of a loved one, a failed relationship, betrayal or an abusive childhood. It’s not a matter of warming them, but forcing them into a tough make-or-break spot, like a nutcracker, and breaking them down so they can become something else altogether.

The book I’m working on now, (A Forged Affair) has a heroine who’s lively and strong on the outside, but rigid in her world view, and pretty cut off from her own emotions, because of something heart-breaking that happened to her when she was young (you’ll have to wait for the book to find out!) She’s engaging, but might seem cool to the touch, and for the hero looking for love, out of reach. But when she gets into a tight spot, and he recognizes that she needs to face her past, he lets her break and waits patiently to pick up the pieces so they can start over.

Personally, I think I’m mostly a caramel girl myself. But when a character, situation or story comes to me and wants to be told, I have to be honest and open to who the characters are and how they need to transform in order to grow into their essence.

For me, if I start reading a novel, romance or otherwise, and the main character is weak and TSTL (too stupid to live) that’s a huge turnoff. Now that’s not the same thing as a character that’s tortured by their emotions, insecurities or indecision – provided their backstory and goals adequately justify this character flaw. To me that just means they need to go through some transformative experiences in order to be happy and fulfilled, not rescued by some big strong guy who will solve their problems for them.

After all, a character without flaws is boring and has nowhere to go in terms of growth. And we all want to see characters we can relate to be challenged and learn important life lessons. Right?

Well… back to my hard nut of a heroine. What do you think about this idea? Comment below and tell me what kind of chocolate “heroine” you like best.

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