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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

Why Flawed and Pathetic Heroes Are the Best

by Chautona Havig · 9 Comments

When this week’s topic, “My Ideal Romance Hero,” popped up in my planner, I laughed. Okay, so first I gagged, but then I laughed.

Look, some blog on marketing for romance writers came up with this blog challenge, so now and then, I have to expect that there’ll be something from the sap and drip department. I can’t get away from it completely.

You know how I always say I don’t get writer’s block? Oh, yeah. I found out how. Tell me I have to get all mushy and that wall comes up. I don’t do the sap and drivel well. We all know this.

So there I sat, cursor blinking—taunting, inexorable. It’s the digital and literary equivalent to foot tapping. Trust me.

Why Flawed and Pathetic Heroes Are the Best

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How do I give an opinion about something that I don’t even write—not really?

Trust me. Their idea of a “romantic hero” and my guys who happen to have a romantic element within an otherwise unromantic story—not simpatico.

They’re all about tall, dark, and handsome. I’d rather write about a short, prematurely graying man with an anger problem or a guy with more tattoos and piercings than I’d initially be personally comfortable being in the same room with—especially that spider web on his neck. Just sayin’.

But just as I was tearing out my hair trying to figure out who I have for a “tall, dark, and handsome” guy when my Dean is rather blond and not particularly handsome—certainly not dark or brooding, The Good Old Summertime came to mind. If you haven’t seen it, it’s one of the precursors to You’ve Got Mail. Better than Shop Around the Corner. (Shh… don’t tell Jimmy Stewart I said that. He’d remove me as chairman of his fan club).

Anyway, picture it:

Anne of Green GablesThere’s Judy Garland, sitting around in her underwear, and wearing more than most modern women do while doing it, brooding over the young man she corresponds with every week. When asked what her young man is like, she says, “He’s tall, dark… and handsome… and sort of sad.”

Gag.

But how often do we hear that same line in some form or another? Let’s face it, even Anne Shirley clung to that ideal. Diana teases her about it in the movie version saying, “Tall, irresistibly handsome, proud, and melancholy.”

And it’s true. She did think that’s the sort of man she wanted. You see it in Roy Gardner (books) / Morgan Harris (movies). He’s what the writing books warn you of—the “Mary Sue” of men. The “Marty Stu.” An overly perfect, seemingly flawless guy who, eventually, end up looking rather pathetic when the girl realizes that she’d rather have the flawed guy who “gets her” in ways that guy never could.

Speaking of flawed and pathetic heroes… Why do we all love Anne Shirley? Because she embodies everything we ever wanted to emulate in a character or because we empathize with her flaws? Even Gilbert Blythe—he wasn’t perfect. He teased her, called her names, got mad, took off. He, though a bit more idealized than Anne, was just as flawed as the next fellow.

And besides, in the movie, he has the one line that can make me swoon.  See, there is a romantic bone in my body. It’s one of those tiny bones in the ear, but it’s there.  That line?  This one.  Start at 12:14 if you just want the best part. It ends at 12:19. Once she starts talking, the swoonability dies.

But that’s not the only reason I create flawed characters. There’s another one.

We all remember that girl (or guy) in school—the “perfect” one. Even homeschools have them—they just call her the “perfect” sister. The one who always had his homework done. The one who never forgot to turn in anything. Remember how parents said, “Why can’t you be more like…?” Yeah. That one.

Look, it sounds arrogant to say it, but trust me it’s not. I was that kid. And guess what? I was just as flawed and as messed up as the rest of the kids. Instead of caring what my peers thought, I cared more about hiding my flaws from those in authority.

Why? Well, I didn’t like to get in trouble. I didn’t like to make my parents mad or disappointed. I kept hoping that if I did the right things all the time, I’d feel them. I’d become that person. It’s Pharisaism at its finest. And I was the chairman of that not-so-fan club too. The “chief of Pharisees” so to speak.

What, you thought kids like me were just paragons of godliness? Yeah, I didn’t think so. I was a living, walking, wanna-be Mary Sue. And let me tell you a secret—a big one.

Every day I felt like a fraud.

And I annoyed everyone around me. Well, I still do, most likely, but at least now it’s because I am annoying rather than because I’m acting annoying.

Now, at least, I’m not that wife whom other wives want to sabotage just for one day. The one they’re sick of hearing, “Joe’s wife gets all the laundry done, the homeschooling done, cooks a perfect dinner, and looks like she’s never had a baby—with twelve! She’s eight months pregnant and can still fit into her wedding dress!” about.

And really, as an author, do I want people to feel that way about my characters? Not hardly!

So here’s why I think flawed and pathetic heroes are the best.

Because we are. Even those of us bought with Jesus’ blood and washed clean of all that. We’re still flawed and pathetic. We’re just covered. So, like a table that has all kinds of gouges, Sharpie markers, and a broken leg, Jesus covers us with a spotless linen cloth—ironed to perfection. It’s beautiful. Because of Him.

Not a WordAnd that’s how characters should be. Real. Sure, they should have things we should emulate. That’s always a fun thing. I want to have Willow’s work ethic, but not her dismissal of others’ ideas and preferences. I want to have Keith’s strength and dedication to the Lord and his work, but I don’t want to become so “strong” that when something goes terribly wrong, I flounder because I’ve become dependent upon my own strength. I want Mac’s ability to love and forgive—to allow the Lord to work out injustices. But I don’t want to be blinded by love. And he is. Often.

That’s what I mean by pathetic, you know. When we allow our weaknesses to control us. We all do it—all of us. At some point, every last human rolls over and lets weakness kick us in the gut instead of fighting it.

So my ideal heroes (and heroines) have flaws—some more than others, of course. And with each flaw, they learn something new—something beautiful. They learn from their mistakes just in time to make new ones.

And I learn from them. Sometimes I learn what to do and others, what not to do. I’m good with both.

An odd jusxtaposition just hit me though. The Ultimate Hero is not flawed or pathetic.  Hollywood critics would probably brand Him as a Marty Sue.  Weird.

I just want a fun story with characters who feel real rather than like an illusion.

Hmm… That reminds me of another movie—another scene. In the remake of Sabrina (one of those rare times that I prefer the new one to the old one), one character, a French woman named Irene, says to Sabrina,

“He sounds, perhaps, like an illusion… Illusions are dangerous people. They have no flaws.”

That defines why I like nice and flawed characters—preferably with a dash of pathetic here and there.

Because when a reader says, “I wanted to slap him/her,” I cheer. Seriously. I do the whole fist-pumpy thing and everything. Why? Because then I know I created someone who feels authentic—like you could meet them on the street or in the spot next to you at church instead of only in the pages of a book.

Yeah, give me flawed and pathetic heroes every day and twice on Sunday. Especially twice on Sunday.

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Comments

  1. Flo says

    May 15, 2017 at 6:34 am

    And yet another post explaining why I like your style, because you don’t like sap and slop. And when you do the “romantic” thing, it’s deliberate, always in good taste, sometimes with a little humor. We aren’t ALWAYS having to read about the tingles and “electricity” between the leading lady and leading man and the pit of the stomach feelings, EVERY time they see each other. I get tired of that. Thanks for making romance and the “physical” side of a relationship seem better than just biological reactions.

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      May 15, 2017 at 11:46 pm

      That is o insightful! “…better than just biological reactions.” THAT is what I’m going for!

      Reply
  2. Heather Day Gilbert says

    May 15, 2017 at 5:46 am

    Girl! I was just checking out your gorgeous blog, and I found this post. I, too, often feel my leading men don’t look or act super-swoony, but honestly, those are the men I enjoy reading the most. Men who don’t always say the right thing–sometimes they’re brutally honest (a la Mr. Knightly in Emma or Farmer Gabriel Oak in Far from the Madding Crowd). Sometimes they’re just a silent, loyal presence. Quite often, I write married heroes–and trust me, my married characters don’t always get along swimmingly. Because marriage is about smoothing OUR rough edges and growing TOGETHER, you know? That’s the ultimate “romance” to me. All this to say, I hear what you’re saying and keep doing what you’re doing. There are definitely plenty of readers who appreciate that and relate!

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      May 15, 2017 at 11:51 pm

      Right? I get it. I want real people who are believable to me. And when I meet the rare natural romantic… I don’t trust him. Which is my issue, poor guy.

      Reply
  3. Diana Nesbitt says

    May 13, 2017 at 4:06 pm

    Since I’ve started following your blog I’ve gained hope that I’m not the only person in the world who likes old movies! Or who doesn’t love sap…One time after reading something online that talked about developing your relationship with Christ like you would someone you were dating, I tried making a list of things that you would do to in a dating relationship and I started feeling sick to my stomach so I quit and decided I’d have to pursue my relationship with the Lord some other way. ? I like some romance in stories but I feel like a complete idiot when I try to write anything even slightly romantic.

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      May 13, 2017 at 7:26 pm

      They say “write what you know” but I don’t know romance. By most people’s standards, it doesn’t exist in my life. So… I quit trying to write what I knew and I wrote what I knew other people lived. I watched for things they considered romantic and tried not to sound mocking (for some reason it sometimes comes out that way). I MADE me write a book that dripped with sap. I cut half out (nd there’s still about 75% I’d remove if I could) but it’s one of my more popular books. Anther time when people MISSED the big kiss in a series because I’d been THAT discreet… I made me write a book with 31 kisses in it. One for every day. It broke that ice.

      Just write what you love but push yourself once in a while, you know?

      Reply
  4. Courtney says

    May 12, 2017 at 8:32 pm

    Sometimes I think your characters are a little too real! We live in an apartment complex and our maintenance staff is a little lacking. I drove through the parking lot the other day thinking, “they need to hire Luke” and then feeling like an idiot for thinking they should hire a character from a book. 😉

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      May 12, 2017 at 9:55 pm

      BEST compliment ever. You aren’t alone, though. A friend said something similar about William one day. I talked bout it here: https://youtu.be/dZPjsJZH8Gk

      Reply
  5. Susan (DE) says

    May 12, 2017 at 4:33 pm

    Okay, I’m mystified. Your swoon-worthy line is “Hello, Anne” — ?? Or maybe “Whoa. Whoa.” ??
    I’m not getting it. 🙂
    Thank you! Susan

    Reply

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The Because Fiction Podcast

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Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 155: Chatting with Heather Day Gilbert & Jen Cudmore
byChautona Havig

To Love a Viking by Heather Day Gilbert and Jen Cudmore has been released, and I got to chat with them about it last week. Guys, this series!  If the Christian influence on Viking history isn’t enough, what about adventure, fight scenes, and romance that won’t make you blush? How about that a damsel is in distress and… gets rescued by another woman instead of the stereotypical DUDE! Listen in!

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

Are You Ready for an Exciting New Viking Series from 2 Great Authors?

 

One of the biggest surprises I recall from researching books by different authors was that the cozy mystery and suspense author I liked and respected, Heather Day Gilbert, had also written historical Viking books! I made the erroneous assumption that they were romance and skipped them (for the time being… I knew I’d read them some day), and then something happened.

A few months ago, I saw this cover.  With Heather’s name on it.  And some other gal I hadn’t heard of–Jen Cudmore.  What is this deliciousness?  The cover was AMAZING… not stereotypical nor was it inauthentic.  It was just GOOD (not to mention gorgeous) and with the Celtic frame (the Vikings did go over to Scotland/Ireland after all), I just felt like it hit all the sweet spots.

Well… the book is here, folks.  And I’ve got a copy in my hot little hands.  No, really. It’s July. And I live in the desert.  My hands are totally hot and in totally all the wrong ways. Just throwin’ that out there.

Anyway, Heather and Jen chatted with me about To Love a Viking, and oh my!  This book sounds fabulous. We know Viking women were strong. Even those that weren’t warriors had to survive Nordic winters. Ergo, strong.  But what about strong enough to build a new society with people they’d once fought against. Oh, and rescue a damsel in distress #BecauseYeah!

I’m ready to dive in to To Love a Viking myself, and I hope you’ll grab a copy, too. It promises to be incredible.

To Love a Viking by Heather Day Gilbert and Jen Cudmore

Get swept up in an enthralling new romance series featuring women who rule the hearts of Viking men.

ELLISIF Forced into a financially advantageous marriage that spirals into a nightmare, Ellisif cannot help but imagine what might have been and ache for what was lost. The only lights in her life are her daughters and the friendships she’s forged with the household servants.

Though seven years have passed since Ellisif wed another man, Dagar still cannot forget the woman who captured his youthful heart. As the Viking warrior battles for his country’s future, he finds himself entangled in a personal war for Ellisif’s freedom that could cost his family their reputation and standing with the king. If he risks all, can he save the woman whose face still haunts his dreams? And if given another chance, will she choose him?

INARA Escaped slave Inara is determined to start a new life. Under the guidance of warrior and shipbuilder Håkon, her sword skill grows, as does her confidence that the Viking men will accept her as a warrior in her own right.

When she is selected to lead a perilous rescue mission to protect Ellisif, Inara finds herself blindsided by feelings for Håkon…and by threats to her freedom far closer than she feared. As dreams and desires collide, she wrestles against the lies holding her captive. Can she conquer her doubts before all that she’s hoped for slips from her hands?

Written by award-winning historical author Heather Day Gilbert and fresh voice Jen Cudmore, two love stories entwine in this sweeping Viking-era romance, the first novel in the Tavland Vikings series.

You can find out more about the series and the authors on Heather’s WEBSITE.

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Episode 155: Chatting with Heather Day Gilbert & Jen Cudmore
Episode 155: Chatting with Heather Day Gilbert & Jen Cudmore
July 1, 2022
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June 28, 2022
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