10 Steps To Hero

by Sacha Black

  Let me explain. To fly a jumbo jet, you need two forces: lift and thrust. Without one, your plane can’t take off. Without either, all you got is a hunk of rusting metal. It’s the same for your story. Without a hero and a slice of conflict, there’s no pace or tension to keep readers hooked: it’s flatter than week-old roadkill. Let’s move on.

  I’m going to assume you have a bad guy. The villain should be the primary source of problems for your hero. However strong your hero’s motive is for taking down the villain, your villain needs a motive that’s just as strong for taking down your hero. Finally, to make your villain rounded, it’s essential that you give him one or two positive traits. No one is ‘pure evil’. Okay, there are real-life examples of pure evil. But the point I’m trying to make is that we’re all the hero of our own story. Just because we’re doing something wrong in the eyes of society, doesn’t mean we think what we’re doing is wrong. Like stealing bread to feed children. What’s the bigger evil? Starving children or stealing food to feed them?

  The final reason why your villain needs a softer human side is that it makes killing him a harder, more moralistic challenge for your hero. Winning must be difficult on all levels for your hero, and having a villain with heart, or a villain that appears, in part, ‘good’ makes the act of murder all the harder for your hero. The last point to make about a villain is that your hero should be the one to make the final blow that defeats the villain. It doesn’t matter how many allies or groupies your protagonist has, he should be driving the story forward and therefore needs to make that final hit. If he doesn’t, it’s like you slaving over the thousands of words in your WIP and then letting your spouse write The End. Let your hero have his cake. He deserves it.

  Crafting the Archetypes - Myers Briggs

  Until now, I’ve avoided giving you archetype-boxes to slot your muscled heroes in. I wanted to push the web of connectivity concept because, well, it’s my book and I think it’s fascinating. However, I appreciate that while blue sky concepts might be thought-provoking, they’re less than helpful for getting down and dirty and crafting the ultimate hero. Welcome, Myers Briggs.

  I’m not a qualified Myers Briggs expert, just a mega-fan. That said, I do have a background in Psychology including six years of study, a first-class degree and a Masters. So, before you send me angry letters, note, this chapter has also been checked by a qualified clinical psychologist.

  What is Myers Briggs?

  The official serious bit…

  “The purpose of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) personality inventory is to make the theory of psychological types described by C.G. Jung understandable and useful in people’s lives.” Myers Briggs Website.

  Created by family team Katherine Briggs and Isobel Briggs Myers in the 1940s and 50s, the tool is useful for categorizing particular types of personalities. The reason I find it useful is twofold:

  It’s the most accurate personality typing tool I’ve seen after six years of studying psychology.

  The information provided in the personality typing is useful for character development.

  The tool has eight preferences grouped into four dichotomies (or continuums). Each person, after testing, will have one preference from each dichotomy, giving them a four-letter code that creates a personality type. One of the tool’s benefits is that it shows you how each personality type reacts under stress — something that our heroes will be put under significant amounts of. Likewise, it demonstrates the ways certain types of personality communicate — or not, as the case may be.

  It’s worth noting at this point, that while you come out with a ‘preference’ for one or other of the dichotomies after testing, that doesn’t mean your behavior is fixed. Humans are complex beasts. We all behave out of character at times, and typing someone using Myers Briggs doesn’t preclude them from behaving differently.

  Why is this useful for writing? Because at the start of our story we have to establish the hero’s ‘normal’ personality in his ordinary world. That way, when he faces obstacles and problems successfully overcomes them by changing or adapting his behavior, we recognize that changed behavior as part of his character arc. For the reader, change is only satisfying if they can see the work the hero has to do to make it happen.

  Myers Briggs can help you identify both how your hero would act in his ordinary world and how he would operate under the pressures of your plot obstacles and his character arc.

  The dichotomies

  E-I Dichotomy

  (I) Introversion - not to be confused with shyness. Someone with the preference of introversion has a preference for focusing inwards. They gather their energy by reflecting on their world, life and thoughts. They often think silently and require time to process information.

  (E) Extroversion - not to be confused with talkative, loud people. Those with the extraversion preference will focus their energy on the outer world. They will receive energy from interacting with others and a world of activity and often need to bounce ideas rather than think in silence.

  S-N Dichotomy

  (S) Sensing - people with this preference like to take in real information that is tangible. They’re observant of the details in the world around them and particularly adept with practicalities.

  (N) Intuition - people with this preference like to see the big picture, preferring to focus on relationships, connections and patterns.

  T-F Dichotomy

  (T) Thinking - those with the thinking preference are logical and like to remove themselves from situations to evaluate the pros and cons. Often problem solvers, they aim to find a principle or pattern that will apply in similar situations.

  (F) Feeling - those with the preference for feeling will make decisions by considering what is important to them and the others affected by the decision. They will place themselves in the situation and make decisions based on values and people. Their goal is to create harmony.

  J-P Dichotomy

  (J)Judging - those who like to live in a planned, organized way, seeking to regulate and manage their lives in a structured and logical manner.

  (P) Perceiving - those with the perceiving preference like flexibility and spontaneity. They aim to experience life rather than control it and are energized by adapting to life’s demands.

  Myers Briggs in Action

  Harry Potter is an ISTP - someone who is tolerant and flexible and often a silent observer who will work hard sifting through facts and logic to find practical solutions.

  Hannibal Lecter from Silence of the Lambs shares the same personality type as Draco Malfoy: INTJ. They will see patterns in their external surroundings and develop long-range perspectives. They are organized and see goals through to completion. They are skeptical and fiercely independent with extremely high standards of performance for themselves.

  For more information, you can visit their website here: www.myersbriggs.org or see the reference section for further reading.

  STEP 4 - The Function of Archetypes Summary

  Archetypes are masks worn by characters to serve a particular function at a particular time to move the plot forward. In other words, archetypes are a function of the story rather than a hero or character persona.

  Story is human because it endures the same path we do.

  Archetypes are a function of the story rather than a hero or character persona.

  The Friend

  The friend serves multiple functions and is, therefore, the reason why it is one of the most frequently seen functions in a story.

  Most frequent uses include: companion, motivator, conscience, problem solver.

  The Guide

  The guide is an analogy for the relationship between parent and child.

  The primary purpose of the guide in story is threefold: Teach the hero, protect the hero and bestow gifts on the hero.

  The negative mentor manipulates the hero and leads them toward the dark side.

  The Obstacle

  Their function is to test the hero to e
stablish whether or not he is ready (and by ready I mean has learned enough or changed sufficiently) to pass onto the next part of the story.

  What better test to create than one that tests the hero’s very weakness he’s trying to overcome?

  Hermes

  The Hermes function brings vital information to the hero. Often the information they share leads to a change or plot development, the most significant of which is usually the ‘call to action’ for the hero in the first act of your story.

  The messages themselves tend to fall into three categories:

  Good news, i.e. help is coming; I’ve found the location of the sword of destiny

  Bad news, i.e. winter is coming

  Prophecies, i.e. the prophecy Professor Trelawny gives Harry about his destiny with Lord Voldemort.

  The Sly Fox

  Their purpose is to feed doubt into the plot and, specifically, into the hero’s psyche.

  The Joker

  The joker is the character that brings mischief, play and fun to the story. Symbolically, it can represent the need for change within the story. They will usually sprinkle your plot with banter and slap the arrogant characters into shape. Their wit can call attention to hypocrisy, deceptions and dishonesty.

  The villain

  The villain’s story purpose is to prevent the hero from achieving his goal. In functional terms, the villain creates conflict and tension, thereby injecting pace into your story and forcing the hero through the plot to defeat him.

  Myers Briggs

  The purpose of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) personality inventory is to make the theory of psychological types described by C.G. Jung understandable and useful in people’s lives. It helps you type and categorize your characters and, in particular, gives you an understanding of how they will react in certain situations.

  Questions to think about

  What archetypes do you see most commonly in your genre? Are there any patterns or tropes that appear?

  What functions do you need in your plot?

  6

  STEP 5 – Cutting To The Core

  Motive is the bread and butter of character. If you want your readers to understand your character’s choices and you want your story to move like a hurricane, then the character driving it — your hero — must be sufficiently motivated to do so. Which means motive is vital to your hero, and the reason why is basic psychology 101.

  Humans have a ‘why’ for everything. Whether it’s hunger or emotions driving them to shovel food in or the need to pay bills driving them into the slavery of the rat race every day, there is always a reason why. We’re rational human beings (for the most part). We take actions for good reasons and we don’t make irreparable decisions unless we have to.

  ‘Why’ is your motive, and your hero needs bucketloads of it. Without it, readers see through a hero and your plot points seem forced. If there’s no reason why your hero needs to go to a certain building where he just happens to find the bomb he needs to defuse to defeat Sir Villainalot, then all your reader is going to do is raise his eyebrow so high he snaps it clean off his brow. There should be no coincidences. Actually, I’ll rephrase that: there should be no coincidences that get your protagonist out of trouble. Getting him into it is fine. But without a solid reason why, or journey to proving himself worthy, anything that benefits your hero is a no-no.

  Basic definitions

  It’s easy to confuse motives and goals. They aren’t the same, and your hero needs both.

  The goal is what a hero wants. The motive is the reason why he wants it.

  Example: In The Shawkshank Redemption, the protagonist is Andy Dufresne. He’s wrongly imprisoned for the murder of his wife.

  His goal - escape from prison

  His motive - he’s innocent and wants to live the free life he’s owed

  Motive is important because it creates conflict. I said this in 13 Steps To Evil, but I’m saying it again because it really is that important.

  No motive, no conflict. No conflict, no story.

  Motive drives conflict. If it weren’t for the fact Andy was innocent, he wouldn’t be as compelled to escape.

  Up the ante, baby!

  While a goal can change, a motive is less variable because it’s linked so closely to the hero’s core values and beliefs. Once a motive is created (after the hero is given the call to action) it’s like a parasitic virus. It takes hold of the hero’s squidgy innards and doesn’t let go until the end of the story. That said, a motive can deepen. And, in a way, it must deepen as your plot develops in order to keep pushing the hero on to the end of the book.

  Your hero’s motive will deepen during your story’s key plot points. They serve as a sort of motive rocket fuel. When a hero is presented with an obstacle, he has to fight to defeat it. Think of a child. When you say no to their request for a cookie, they’ll often try and find a way to subvert your decision. Putting barriers in the way of your hero does the same thing: the act of resistance makes the hero question what he wants and whether he’s willing to fight for it, which he inevitably is, and so it deepens his resolve to continue.

  What this shows is that while a character’s core motive is unlikely to change, through the course of obstacles and interactions with antagonistic characters, his motivation does increase as the plot progresses. Right up until your hero’s dark moment.

  Motives and dark moments

  This concept is synonymous with the famous adage ‘it’s always darkest just before dawn’. If you use a standard three-act structure for your story, then roughly three-quarters of the way through your story there will be an ‘all is lost’ dark moment for your hero.

  The purpose of the dark moment is to show your reader the hero has lost all hope. In this scene, there should be no obvious solution to the hero’s problem. This heightens tension and urges the reader on to find out whether the hero will find the light and make it to the end.

  Example: In Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding, we venture through the ups and downs of Bridget and Mark trying and failing to get together. Near the end, they do get together and Bridget invites Mark into her flat. She disappears to get into something less comfy for their evening together. But, while she’s changing, Mark reads her diary and the not so nice things she said about him during one of their arguments. Mark disappears, and when Bridget comes out of her bedroom she’s distraught. Her motivation to be with him shoots sky high. She’s desperate to find and explain away the nonsense she wrote. So much so, she leaves her flat in snowy conditions in just her underwear to run and find Mark. This is Bridget’s dark before the dawn moment.

  Goals change, motives don’t

  While we’ve established that the core motive doesn’t change, goals often do. Your protagonist’s goal might start as a desire to take his wife for a long-awaited child-free date, but then she’s kidnapped, so the goal becomes contacting the police. But when they don’t help sufficiently and the kidnapper contacts him, the goal changes to finding her, and so on. Plot points and new information will inevitably push the hero towards new goals, and that’s okay.

  Surface goals and inner motives

  One way to create depth in your hero is to add layers to their character. While that sounds complicated, it’s easier than you think. As a species, we’re complex because what we say and what we mean are often different, which is compounded by the fact we’re able to feel conflicting emotions simultaneously. For now, let’s focus on the inner and outer journey.

  The inner journey is what happens to the protagonist emotionally, mentally and spiritually during your story.

  The outer journey revolves around their behavior and the actions they take.

  Outer goals

  While they don’t have to be, goals are often linked to the protagonist’s outer journey, for example robbing a bank or saving the princess. Sometimes the symbolism of that goal (and related journey) is slap-you-in-the-face overt, like the physical journey Frodo Baggins takes from the S
hire to Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings. Other times it’s less physical and more task-based, like Michael Scofield in the series Prison Break. He’s trapped inside a locked-down prison and can’t go anywhere. His goal is to break his brother out of jail.

  Think of the outer goal as the story goal, which is why external conflict is linked to the story’s conflict.

  Inner goals

  Inner goals are linked to your protagonist’s emotional journey. Depending on the genre and type of story, a physical journey or achievement of the outer goal might be sufficient for an engaging story. But creating an inner goal deepens your hero and develops his character arc by giving him an emotional journey.

  “Events without emotion are just flatly narrated facts… Characters without an emotional journey, who do not change and transform throughout the course of the novel, won’t earn a reader’s sympathy and concern.” Jordan Rosenfeld, Writing The Intimate Character, pp.48-49.

  Your hero won’t always be consciously aware of either his inner goal or his inner demon. But that’s the beauty of fiction. The reader can be aware of something without the hero knowing. For example, you could show your reader a memory of a teacher shouting at the hero. Maybe the teacher says he’ll never amount to anything. Or perhaps another memory of a boss telling him he’s not good enough. When your reader comes across a scene where your hero self-sabotages by not going for an audition, they’ll infer the cause — he’s got low self-esteem because no one ever believed in him.