Is you or is you ain‘t a Hero………..

Hi all,

So, there’s been a lot of discussion among various authors whose blogs I read about what constitutes a hero. Or for those of us, like me, who write unconventionally, an anti-hero.

And really, after some thought I came up with two things that sort of draw the line between hero and not. First, I think that the hero/anti-hero should never rape his lover. Well, unless, he’s not in his ‘right’ mind. And then, yeah, that’s an entirely different set of circumstances. But I do believe ‘no rape of loved ones’.

The second ‘rule’ that I tend to follow when writing my heroes/anti-heroes is also not to have them be physically abusive (not talking S/M, B/D stuff here) to their lover. Maybe it’s me but when a hero strikes the person that he/she loves, I personally feel that they have crossed some ‘magical’ line and cannot be considered heroes anymore.

So, I guess these are the two simple guidelines that I go by write heroes. Reading fiction, if the hero violates the two above ‘rules’, yeah, I usually am turned off by the book and don’t purchase the next in the series.

Now, as I’ve said, anti-heroes have much more leeway when it comes to rape/abuse, etc. But while they may rape, pillage and burn houses to the ground, label me a softie but I still want the characters to go home at night and kiss their wives/kids. And go “Hey, honey, what a really bad day I’ve had.” Well, not quite, but I think you get the picture.

I’ve read many a piece where the main character has violated one or both of the above rules. And well, while the character may be well-written, unfortunately, I can’t see them as a hero. Good character, check. Strong character, check. But hero? Um nope. Don’t believe that.

I hope then my short entry here will have you consider just what you think a hero is when you go off and write your next piece. Or you can just go listen to the Bonnie Tyler song. Awesome song. And true. Very true.

Take care all,
Chris