I have seen so
many books that have a heroine who happens to be the most beautiful creature in the world. I mean every guy, animal,
or whatever the case may be wants to have sex with her or possess her. She is
so irresistible and get this, it is nothing she is doing on purpose, it’s just
that “whatever factor”––she happens to possess it. Sorry to all the struggling
women out there, you’re just out of luck if she shows up on the scene.
I have also
seen, I guess I should say read for clarity, too many stories where she is the
smallest thing, yet whips men twice as big as she. She always has to be the
biggest and boldest badass in the room. Don’t worry, somehow, someway, she will
save the day all by her lonesome. She has to, no one else is capable of setting
things right, remember. Ridicules. I hate that recipe.
And let us not
forget the ever-present triangle where the girl is human and the two guys or
not. Perhaps one is shall we say dead for centuries, wow, great necrophilia
story. I mean I would definitely want my teenage daughter to go to a graveyard
and dig up a corpse and have sex with it. I’m a good parent, after all. I
digress. Let’s get back to our perfect heroine. While one is possibly dead, the
other is shall we say some type of beast or transformative being. I double hate
that recipe. I know its fantasy and my mind stretches quite nicely, but I like
more believable romance. For instance, I like Harry Potter for the simple
reason that it’s an average-looking, nerdy boy, desperately searching for a
girl, as clumsily as possible and she happens to be human. He may save the
world, but girls don’t lose every shred of decorum and throw themselves at his
feet, as if she will die if he doesn’t want her. I know that is not the plot, it is the plot I
like though.
For my series,
I chose Zora to be a woman of average looks. She is not the most special woman
in the world and quite frankly, there is nothing remotely exciting about her.
She makes due by highlighting her strengths like loyalty, stubbornness,
dedication, but her many weaknesses creep into everyday life causing her problems.
I chose to give the title of super badass to another. I chose to give the title
of most beautiful and desirable to another. So how can our heroine become the
perfect heroine without these props? She doesn’t need them. In due time, she
will make decisions that are selfless and prove her worth. She will see how her
tunnel vision leads her astray and learns to get out of her comfort zone and step
out onto a high wire with no safety net below. She will willingly put her life
in the hands of others and find that it doesn’t make her weak, in fact, it
strengthens her. These are the things I want to get across and make a heroine,
a perfect heroine.
Now, as to
likeablity—for the record—I planned on making her not likeable in the
beginning. I wanted a break from the many stories of the sexy badass who gets
the most attractive man. It’s played out and I refuse to go there. I want the
reader to hate her first and then grow to love her, realizing she is a product
of environment. Around the right influences, she shines.
So, the perfect
heroine is a work in progress as far as I am concerned. She cannot start off in
a position of power, she evolves into it. It is okay for her to help save the
world, but to single handedly do it while others helplessly watch, no, no, no,
no, no. As big as this world is, no single person can save it themselves. Now,
you are stretching my suspension of disbelief to its max. I refuse to go there.
I’m not alone.
Make a perfect
heroine. Give her challenges to overcome and keep moving the goal posts. Before she wins, she has to lose, because when she finally wins, you have reached the
end of the story.
