Category Archives: Writing

August 24, 2011 · 5:00 am

Creating the Perfect Man- Bad Boy Syndrome

We’ve covered a lot of topics as we’ve designed the “perfect” romance novel leading man.

I’ve been fascinated by your responses and by your ideas of what’s appealing. Your comments will certainly help me when I’m working on character development!

So, for this last installment, I’d like to address something we haven’t touched on yet–vices.

Every girl has her moment of attraction to the bad boy, right? Something about the whole unlovable, dangerous, carefree personality draws us into believing that we can redeem him somehow. I’d venture to say that some of you have even lived this out in real life.

But are there any qualities, vices, or “sins” that you consider unforgivable? Is it possible for a character to do something that would cause you to see him as unredeemable?

I once had a reader tell me that one of my characters didn’t show enough remorse for his “bad boy” ways to be redeemed. She was obviously turned off by his philandering, and I can understand that– it’s her preference.

But besides BIG no-nos, are there little vices that gross you out, or turn you off in such a way that our hero becomes not-so-heroic?

And why are motorcycles an automatic bad boy cliche?

Share with me: What vices could turn you off of a leading man and flush the romance, plot and all, straight down the tubes? Are there any sins that you would consider “unforgivable” for a leading man to commit?

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Filed under Writing

Tagged as romance, sin, vices

August 22, 2011 · 5:00 am

Behold the Power of the Nap

I took a nap yesterday.

That doesn’t happen very often, but when it does, it’s better than winning the lottery.

But even as I was about to fall asleep, I kept thinking about all of the other things on my ‘To Do’ list that I was neglecting by being selfish enough to take a nap.

And then I thought, ‘Scuse me, what? For Pete’s sake, even God rested!

And I didn’t feel so bad.

See, life has recently been running me ragged. I have gotten to the point where I am so physically tired that I am unproductive, unmotivated, and unhealthy. Have you been there?

So, I went to the 11th Commandment– Thou Shalt Take a Nap.

Well, that should be the 11th Commandment.

I’m certain that Jesus condones napping. It rejuvenates, restores, and in the case of my boys, helps them find entirely new personalities as they sleep.

And I’m not the only one who believes in the power of the occasional nap. In his book, 40 Days Without Food, Russ Masterson mentions that a short nap helped him change his entire outlook on the 40 day fast he was undertaking, “which only further confirms my strong belief that napping is, in fact, a path to godliness.”

Don’t neglect yourself. If God saw the importance of resting after hard work then occasionally we need to do the same.

Share with Me: Do you make time for the occasional nap? How do you best “recharge” when your batteries are all but dead?

7 Comments

Filed under The Christian Walk, Writing

Tagged as nap

August 17, 2011 · 5:00 am

Constructing the Perfect Man- Occupational Hazards

Time for another installment of Constructing the Perfect Man.

Remember, we are talking about creating a hero that readers will love– one that reaches out of the pages of the novel and grips the hearts of readers. We authors want our readers to fall in love. And that’s why I need your input, readers.

So today I want to discuss the job of our hero.

Let’s generalize the occupations of the cliche romance novel hero. He’s usually “rugged,” which involves working with his hands or being employed in a “dangerous” profession.

The farmer. The cattle driver. The athlete. The firefighter. The warrior. For historicals, there’s an overflow of knights, soldiers, and wealthy aristocrats with nothing else to do but seek adventure.

These “rugged”, hard labor jobs are appealing to most female readers. But not all.

But what if the leading man was a dancer? Or a chef? Or a teacher?

The teacher poses an interesting occupation for a leading man because there’s a marked difference in the perception of the personality of the character (and sometimes even the physical traits) if he’s a college professor, high school teacher, or elementary teacher.

For example, the college professor should probably be more serious, right? And the high school teacher can get away with being the “funny man.” But if our guy is an elementary teacher he had better be compassionate, kind, and even (dare I say it?) in touch with his feminine side occasionally.

The occupation of our hero (and heroine) can push the story forward, and sometimes drive the story all together. Because of this, let’s pretend that the occupation of the hero has nothing to do with the story itself, just so that you can attempt to be impartial.

Think about it this way– what occupations do you find attractive for a leading man?

Do you prefer a hero who’s in an exciting job, like the CIA agent or the war correspondent journalist, or something more earthy like a farmer or rancher? What about the guy who works with his hands, like a carpenter or artist, versus the office guy who might work on computer systems, etc? Or do you like the paranormal dude- the vampire, werewolf, wizard kind of guy?

All this leads me to my next question in this series and it’s all about the occupation of our man.

Share with Me: Do you prefer a hero who is more or less like your real-life with his occupation? What occupations do you prefer your leading man to have? Can you find excitement in a story about an insurance agent as easily as you can a CIA agent? What one occupation would immediately kill an interest you could potentially have in a hero?