*bicep flex*

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

I hope you’re excited to see where this series takes us—I know I certainly am. There’s a lot for us to discover, when it comes to character creation. None of us ever get it perfect, but I really believe it's a lot of fun to try. People are just so complex...

So today, here’s another common character you really ought to think through, before you include her in your story: (you guessed it: I'm focusing on female characters this week... and I honestly didn't intend for it to coincide with women's day. Didn't even know that was a thing, and I'm a woman.)

#2: The Strong Woman

If the girly girl is everywhere, then the strong woman is her sister. She’s everywhere too, even in reviews. And some people will tell you that she’s the character you should be making, when you make female characters. Why? Because for some unknown reason, it’s the only things most people can think of that makes a good female character.

Well, I think that’s bunk. It’s dumb. It’s stupid. Don’t believe what they tell you.

Women don’t always have to be strong, to be a good character. Women aren't just strong. Sometimes we're weak. Sometimes we struggle. Sometimes we're annoying. Know why? 'Cause we're people. 

Digressing again, aren't I?

All right, so let’s look a little deeper into this character...

Who is she?

Well, the strong woman is Arwen from the Lord of the Rings movies. She’s Katnis from the Hunger Games, and Jean from X-Men. (I'll admit it right now, I've never read the Hunger Games, so forgive me if I lumped her in the wrong place). 

She’s the woman who’s one note, strong, and that’s it. She doesn’t know how to be anything else, doesn’t know how to exist as anything else. All she is, is strong. And she's the main type of female character you'll ever see on the big screen, because she's what a lot of writers think of as a good female character.

She stands up for a fight, she puts up with nothing, and she deals with everything in stride.

And you know what? Sometimes, she can be really boring, and very overdone.

So here’s those last three questions, for our consideration:

Why should we read her?

What’s her draw, for the reader?

What’s her main purpose, within the story?

And you have to think through each of those, in order to make a strong woman that we actually want to read. Because she’s done in every other book, we really have to work hard with her, to make her into something dynamic and interesting—and these questions will really help with that. 

We need to have a reason why she's strong, something that defines her as more than just strong. Readers need to feel a draw to her, something that pulls them in time and time again. And she has to have a purpose, other than just being strong when nobody thinks she can be. 

Why? Because real people are dynamic, and our characters long to be real. 

If you ask me, there’s another character who will work a lot better for you. I’ll tell you about her next Wednesday.

Yeah, I’ll be leaving you hanging a lot this week. It’ll be worth it, trust me.

[love]

{Rani Divine}