authorplblair.com
  • Home
  • Blog
  • The Portals Series
  • About P.L. Blair
  • Other Authors & Books
  • Contact
  • Reviews

Strong Female Characters

6/1/2013

12 Comments

 
Picture
  One of the Amazon discussion groups raises an interesting question: What constitutes a strong female character, and … Have you, as an author, created one?

Well, okay … That's two questions. But still …

I think – I hope – I've created a strong female character in Kat Morales, the human protagonist in my Portals series. She's a cop, equally capable of facing down gun-wielding human criminals and magic-wielding wizards.

But in my mind, that isn't the core of what makes her strong. True strength, to me, comes not from what you do but who you are – whether as a character in a book or a living, breathing human being.

Strong characters, like strong people in the real world, possess an inner sense of right and wrong, an awareness of themselves. Strong characters are capable of being weak; that's part of being human. They just don't let weakness get in the way of what they perceive as “doing the right thing.”

For me, not only as a writer but an observer of human nature, “strong” doesn't equate with fearlessness. If you don't know fear, if your stomach doesn't churn at the thought of, say, facing down a fire-breathing dragon, then charging into a cave to kill the beast isn't an act of strength or courage.

It may well be the most stupid idea you've ever come up with …

Strength, and courage, is being scared all the way down to your toenails – where your stomach has crawled into hiding – and still seeking a way to slay the beast because … well … somebody has to, and the responsibility has fallen onto your shoulders.

Strength isn't always about saving the day with a gun or sword, either. Strength is the single mom on a limited income, working to support her children while helping them grow into responsible – and, yes, strong – adults themselves.

Strength is the ordinary person we see on TV after he (or she) has rushed in to pull someone away from a fiery car crash – not because he's fearless, but because someone needed help and he (or she) was there.

All of which is to say that strength in a character, male or female, is more than physical. Sure, you can create a kick-ass female protagonist who can chew nails, and fears nothing. But without weaknesses to play her strength against, without that touch of what makes us all human, she's a cardboard cutout – and she probably won't engage your readers.

Okay, that's my opinion. What about yours? What kind of protagonist – male or female – do you write? Or enjoy reading about? I'd love for you to share your thoughts.


12 Comments

    Author

    Full-time writer of fantasy, sometimes newspaper person, perpetually a highly opinionated broad.

    Archives

    February 2018
    July 2015
    June 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013

    Categories

    All
    9/11
    Alfred E Neuman
    American Fur Company
    Aragorn
    Archaelogical
    Arvandus
    A Writing Career
    Bald Mountain City
    Banshee
    Bard
    Become The Professional Writer You Dream Of Being
    Big Apple
    Big Horn Mountains
    Billy The Kid
    Canvas-skies
    Cassidy Jones And The Secret Formula
    Cassidy Jones Series
    Chkara Silverwolf04d13f5337
    Clearmont
    Corpus Christi Texas
    Council Of Elrond
    Create Characters Readers Care About
    C S Lewis
    David-c-cassidy
    Dayton
    Deathtalker
    Desolation-of-smaug
    Detective
    Double Helix
    Dwarves
    Elf
    Elise Stokes
    Elves
    Elyse-salpeter
    Eru Illuvatar
    Facebook Fantastic Reads Event
    Fairy Forts
    Fairy Mounds
    Fairy Raths
    Fairy Tales
    Fantastical Reads Event
    Fantasy
    First Person
    Folklore
    Forensics
    Frodo
    Galdar
    Gandalf
    Gimli
    Gold And Gold Mining
    Goldberry
    Harley
    Hemingway
    Hercules
    Historical Fiction
    Hunt-for-xanadu
    Illya Kuryakin
    Irish And Scottish Mythology
    Jade Kerrion
    Jean Kilczer
    Jesse James
    Jim Bridger
    Joseph-r-lallo
    Jrr Tolkien
    Kat Morales
    Kili
    La Pondre
    Legolas
    Linda Walker
    Linell Jeppsen
    Lord Of The Rings
    Los Angeles
    L W Browning
    Maiar
    Make Characters Real
    Mala
    M-e-lord
    M E Lorde
    Middle Earth
    Napoleon
    New York
    Nibelungen
    Old West
    Omniscient Pov
    Pangaean Supercontinent
    Perfection Challenged
    Perfection Unleashed
    Picasso
    Pixies
    Plblair
    Point Of View
    Police Detectives
    Portals
    Portals Urban Fantasysuspense Series32a7165374
    Pov
    Prime Directive
    Ranchester
    Riddle Wrapped In A Mystery
    Rk-ryals
    Romance
    Russia
    Sam Gamgee
    Sauron
    Science Fiction
    Scribes-and-mages
    Scribes-of-medeisia
    Sean Quinn
    Second Person
    Sept 11 2001
    SF/fantasy
    Shadow Path
    Sheridan
    Sheridan County
    Sister Hoods
    S-l-wallace
    Star Trek
    Stormcaller
    Strike On World Trade Center
    Strong Female Characters
    Studio See Publishing
    Tempest
    Tevis
    Tevis Elf Detective
    The Brothers Grimm
    The Dark Lord
    The Fae
    The Hobbit
    The Job Of Writing
    The Morrigan
    The Muses
    The One Ring
    The Professional Writer
    The-rise-of-the-red-shadow
    The Sheridan Press
    The Sheridan Scene
    The Well At The Worlds End
    Third Person
    Thranduil
    Tinker Bell
    Tolomays World
    Tolomays World And The Pool Of Light
    Tom Bombadil
    Urban Fantasy
    Urban Fantasy/detective/romance
    Velvet Rain
    Wagner
    Warlord's Honor
    War Of Odds
    Wedge Tomb
    What's Your Villain Doing
    William Morris
    Winston Churchill
    Wizard
    Writers Living In Two Worlds
    Writing From The Heart
    Wyatt Earp
    Xanadu
    Ya Novel

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.