....do you want your romance heros and heroines to be? I'm referring particularly to physical imperfections, since we all know they have to have inner struggles to overcome. Obviously we want to read about characters we can identify with, but to what extent?
In my first book, Table for One, the hero is a nerd with thick glasses and little sense of style. Of course he undergoes a transformation during the book, more so in the eyes of the heroine than on the outside, although he does that too. But I don't think this is the norm.
Let me probe into your head for a minute. Would it turn you off to read a book with a short hero? (Not that I have one in the works, but I'm tossing out an example here!) What about a heroine who didn't have long tresses and a firm shape?I'm sure it's a bit more acceptable in women's or general fic, but I'm wondering about romance in particular.
Thoughts?
5 comments:
Wouldn't bother me in the least, unless the author harped on it. It's really what's inside that grabs me to read on. The physical aspects take up so little of the story usually, just enough to allow to get a picture, so whether their short and stubby, tall and lean makes no difference to me, but how the character handles their physical state does matter to me as a reader.
I agree with Eileen. A short character or overweight character or super-skinny-no-figure character or whatever doesn't really matter - its more about the inner growth of the character.
As for publishers, though, not sure what they would say. They know what their readers like and might ask for revisions if the "unattractive" element was over the top.
I think it is all in how the character views themselves and if the reader can connect with them. The beast in Beauty and the Beast, the Phantom of the Opera, examples of less than beautiful heroes, but ones that people rooted for and sympathized with.
Dick Francis has a hero, Sid Halley, who is short. But Sid uses that to his advantage. He looks harmless and is easy to discount, but he's really tenatious and intelligent. While this isn't a romance, I think it's a pretty good example of taking what might at first glance be a shortcoming, and turning it so that the reader is actually glad that Sid is the way he is. That he also has a crippled hand just makes me root harder for him. And he must be a favorite of Dick Francis's because he's written four books about him, more than any of his other heroes.
Whew, that got long winded!
That's the first short hero I've heard of. Wonder if it would work in a romance? Just thinking out loud.
Great comments, ladies!
As a tall woman, I don't like short heroes. Most of my heroes are patterned after my father, who stands 6'4".
Other than that I really don't care.
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