Writing Romantic Fiction — A Heroine/Hero Must be Flawed to be Perfect
Don’t bore your readers to death!
Perfect people who make no mistakes, always do the right thing, and fulfill our every desire are guaranteed to bore a reader to death!
For me, this truth is an oxymoron. Why? Because I’d personally love to be such a perfect person and have my life filled with them. But, as a reader of romantic fiction, I can’t get past the first ten pages of a story whose characters are cookie-cutter perfect.
Why do the majority of those who love to read romantic fiction feel the same way? It’s really simple.
Readers of romantic fiction want conflict of some sort on every page. They want to join the obstacle-filled journey of the protagonist as she/he struggles toward the ultimate goal of finding true love. And the harder this quest, the more likely they’ll stay with the story, turning each page with keen anticipation.
As a writer, I like to create this conflict through external issues, but most especially, through the flawed personalities of my characters. This path creates tension and contention between my couple that puts their hearts at risk and floods them with emotional hurdles to leap.
Let me make it clear that I’m not talking about horrific flaws, as in a serial killer…
