Humanising Heroes
February 19th 2009 20:28
The God Of Writing
Relating to the hero or heroine of a novel is vital for readers. This is one of the basic rules of successful storytelling: after all, if the main character is too distant from the reader in terms of motivation or psychological make-up, it becomes almost impossible to understand or sympathise with their actions. If there's no empathy, the hero's journey through the tale becomes uninteresting and unimportant.
Villains are another matter, as their motivations are usually extreme or distorted. Take the film Se7en, for example: although the viewer can attempt to understand at least a little of the serial killer's method and madness, the true depth of depravity and mental disturbance is way beyond a 'normal' person's comprehension. Bad guys are generally a lot more fun to write than good guys...
There are many tricks to humanising a story's hero. Giving them basic values in common with the average reader is a very easy beginning: a desire for love, for truth, for justice or to hold to their personal beliefs. Setting them against a villain who wishes to do them harm or to hurt their loved ones is another solution: the natural human desire to protect that which is dear communicates well and provides a very understandable driving force. Stepping slightly to one side (metaphorically speaking) and having them affected by the fallout from a villain's activity can give them a starting push in the right direction, after which the need to repair their damaged life by discovering the bad guy's plans can lead them further into the plot.
Once the basics are laid down, the lead's personality can take centre-stage. Defining a rounded character is not absolutely essential, but adds depth and can have immeasurable value, especially in stories based around a single person. Simple things like a love of chocolate, a hatred of driving, a fear of snakes and other such human foibles often strike a chord with readers, give extra possibilities for a bit of humour or even just add colour to the mental picture of an individual.
In one of his anthologies, Roger Zelazny (the guy in the photo above who, as you may know, is the single most important inspiration for me as a writer) talks about one of his methods for rounding out his main character. For every novel, he would write an extra chapter that would never be published. In that piece, he would detail something that the hero had experienced, something important which made him who he was. In the final product, he might even refer to this event, but he would not include it. By producing a 'back-story', he created a more complete past for his hero but, just like in real life, the reader might never discover what had happened. It's a darned fine idea if you ask me.
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Comment by Chris Champion
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I think all good writers must have back stories for their characters - a history that informs their behaviour and personality. Otherwise, he/she is bound to come out as very one-dimensional. It is really interesting to hear writers talk about their characters which, to them, are real people.
Was/is Roger Zelazny a science-fiction writer?
Comment by Spike 2
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Zelazny was (he died of cancer in 1995) a science-fiction writer, yes. He often melded it with fantasy or modern life, or even historical stuff. He was also a poet, though I haven't read any of that yet (it's a b1tch to find). He was pretty impressive: won tons of awards (often competing against his own work!) and wrote some seriously freaky stuff. The amount of research behind some of his books is scary (Lord of Light springs to mind).
My love of his work stretches back over about 25 years. It's just the style of his writing: nothing else can do the same things to my brain that his work can.