So I've been working on the new story and the original snippet of the idea started with my heroine. I was sitting in Debra Dixon workshop at RWA Nationals in Orlando and she challenged us to write an opening line for a story. Out of the blue a heroine came to me almost fully formed. 

Likewise, the path she would need to undertake to grow came around not long after. I can see her story in my mind and know how she should begin and end. The plot too has been swirling around in various forms.

 

What I don't have is my hero. 

I've been drawing a big goose egg when trying to flesh him out. Who he is and how exactly their stories come together just isn't coming to me. 

I even forced myself this weekend to write the meeting scene between them. And you know what? The guy who appeared was flat. Also, totally not the type of guy I'd been thinking my heroine needed. 

He wasn't an alpha. 

Can you do a non-alpha hero in a paranormal? LOL! Scratch that question. I'll try to stay on one topic first. :)

 

So I have...a beta hero I can now see rising up to alpha status when the story calls for it. 

But he still feels flat. 

So my dear crew, my questions for you today are: 

 

When you've fully formed your protagonist, how do you manage to make the love interest equally compelling? What happens when the character that starts to write themselves isn't what you had in mind at all? Besides character worksheets (because we all know I'll never get past filling them out in order to actually write) do you have any suggestions for rounding  out my poor flat hero? 

*Note - This song came to my mind for this post, but after listening to it again and looking up the lyrics I think it might have totally inspired me.

 

I'll admit it, I've done the online dating thing before. And because technology is so wonderful, the internet knows this about me. So, the internet wants to help me out by showing me internet dating site advertisements ALL THE FREAKING TIME. Not that this gets bothersome or anything. I love all the false hope, empty promises and unrealistic portrayals. Love 'em.

What I've noticed lately about all these ads is these couples look freakishly alike. Have you noticed this? And don't pretend you haven't seen these ads. I can't be the only one who has ever reached this level of desperation. And if I am, humor me and pretend you've been that desperate.

Anyway, it's starting to freak me out how much these people look alike. Because if I'm supposed to find the man that looks exactly like me, I'm in trouble. That is going to be one very unattractive dude. These people could be brother and sister they're so similar. And I'm not about to go there. ICK!!!

But this made me think about our heroes and heroines. How do we know when these characters pop up that they are right for each other? How do we pair them up? Many authors write a series of connected books in which they take one character from a current book – say the hero's best friend – and make him the hero of the next book. Usually, that means the author then has to *find* him a heroine.

If he's Alpha, he'll need someone to stand up to him and perhaps smooth out his rough edges. But the last thing he needs is a woman who won't challenge him at all. If he's Beta, he'll need someone to give just the right kind and amount of encouragement to find his Alpha moment. A woman to balance out his sensitivity and love him just the way he is. This works in the opposite direction as well.

If a heroine is timid, she needs a man to bring her out of her shell. But a man who will see the woman hiding inside. If the heroine is bold and outspoken, she'll need a man who can appreciate her, not try to hush her up and most certainly, not let her walk all over him. Now, this all sounds perfectly logical, but then you have to create them – height, hair, eyes, laugh, wit, intelligence, attitude and overall personality. Here's where I'm thinking it gets tricky.

What if you've created these two you think are perfect together and at the 2/3 point of writing the book, they tell you they are absolutely wrong for each other? What then? So far, my characters have gelled together quite well. No complaints, no tantrums, no "I can't work with this person!" moments. But it could happen. *cue duuuuummmmm dad um dum music* I think the Captain's paranoia is rubbing off on me.

Is it just kismet that these characters show up together or the right one shows up at the right time? Or do we make them fit together? Is there a character fairy who comes to us writers in the night, sprinkles character fairy dust on our heads, and gives us these wonderfully compatible people? Or is it a crap shoot?

If you're a writer, how did you create your characters and how did you know they were meant for each other? If you're a reader, have there been couples that you've thought didn't work together? Any that you think are perfect and you couldn’t picture them with anyone else? And if you have a significant other, do people tell you you look alike or are they usually amazed that you two are a couple?



PS: I obviously stole the above picture from eHarmony but I've given them a great deal of money in the past and got not one date in return. I think we're even...