We’ve talked about when we started reading and first and last lines and types of plots and conflict, but what about characters. What type of characters do you love? I think so often readers and writers focus so much on the hero, since that is who we must fall in love with, that the poor heroine is left to the side. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read a good book with a great hero and a not so great heroine. Frankly, some of them have been down right annoying which makes me scratch my head and wonder why the hero falls in love with her to begin with. But heroes are important, I get that.

It concerned me at some point in the middle of my journey to publication that I was such a heroine driven writer because I seemed to be on my own in that endeavor. Most of the writers I heard talk focused on the hero. I worked long and hard on my hero, with just as much focus as my heroine, but for me the idea, the core of the story always begins with her. So then my job is to craft the perfect hero for her.

I generally start out with an archetypal system when I’m first doing my prewriting and character work and while my characters develop beyond these stereotypes, the names they represent really capture the essence of their character. So if you’re not familiar with the Tami Cowden, et. al. system, then check here for a brief description of each archetype so you can identify your favorites. For heroes. For heroines .

Let’s start with the heroines since that’s where I begin. I think that we have a limited number of characters in our writing arsenal. I don’t mean that in a negative sense, but I think that characters are a big part of our voice and there are certain types that we’ll gravitate to over and over again. It’s what feels natural. It doesn’t mean we’re writing the same characters or same book again and again. In any case I tend to gravitate towards the Spunky Kid, the Librarian, and the Nurturer. I have written a Boss before and a Free Spirit, but I find these more challenging. The Spunky Kid is my favorite and most widely used (Claudia and Amelia were both Spunky Kids) and I think it’s because I find a lot of myself in that archetype. I love how resilient she is and how supportive she is of her friends and family. The Librarian is another favorite, this works really well for historicals, in particular, because you have the repressed, proper and intelligent woman who causes all kinds of trouble for her hero. I’m working with a Librarian right now in Willow’s book.

With heroes I know that the alpha male is hugely popular and I’m certainly not against that, but I don’t really naturally do the dark, brooding alpha guy. With the archetypes, I stick pretty close to the Warrior, the Swashbuckler, the Charmer, and the Professor. I’ve tried to do a Bad Boy a few times and I think I can do naughty, but I’m not sure I’ve ever quite captured the quintessential bad boy. The Warrior, I think is the ultimate hero. He’s the guy who fights for everyone else, the ultimate protector, the one who would walk through fire for the heroine. This guy is full of *sigh* creating potential. I did a Professor with Colin in A Study in Scandal and I loved him. He’s different from the average romantic hero, but I think in the end readers have really enjoyed him. But he’s an intellectual and kind of nerdy, in a sexy way, of course.

The options are really limitless with these archetypes and any other system you choose to use. This just happens to be my favorite. It’s a great jumping off point for creating characters. So what types of characters do you like? Feel free to use your own labeling system if you’re not familiar with this archetypal one.