Welcome to the Road to Romance

Creating The Beta Hero

Instructor: Michele R. Bardsley

IDENTIFY THE BETA HERO

Let me begin by quoting from an article titled "Writers' Heroes Romance Their Readers" published in USA TODAY:

For years, the romance hero was an "alpha male"—a leader, a tough guy who had to be in control. Then in the mid-'80s, a more sensitive "beta male" hero was introduced. And now there's a hybrid that some call a "gamma male," an alpha with a sensitive side. "As far as I'm concerned, any good hero is still an alpha male," best-selling author Jayne Ann Krentz says. "No one wants to read about a beta hero."

Source: "Writers' Heroes Romance Their Readers" by Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY

http://www.usatoday.com/life/enter/books/book788.htm

So what the heck are y’all doing here? Maybe you're here because readers DO want to read about beta heroes. But what is a beta hero? Do you know? Let's find out. Answer the five questions at the top of your handouts.

Question One

Beta heroes are:

A. Wimps.

B. Shy, silent, and/or sweet.

C. Easygoing, but not pushovers.

ANSWERS: A. 0 B. 1 C. 2

Question Two

If a heroine starts crying, a beta hero will:

A. Immediately offer comfort.

B. Awkwardly offer to fix the problem.

C. Cry with her.

ANSWERS: A. 2 B. 1 C. 0

Question Three

If the heroine asks, "What are you thinking?" The beta hero will reply:

A. "Nothing."

B. "How beautiful you are."

C. "What kind of beer goes good with Cheetos."

ANSWERS: A. 2 B. 2 C. 2

Question Four

A beta hero's home looks like:

A. The cover of House Beautiful.

B. The inside of a Hooter's restaurant.

C. Dusty, but tidy with garage-sale furniture and a state-of-the-art entertainment center.

ANSWERS: A. 0 B. 1 C. 2

Question Five

A beta hero handles emotional pain by:

A. Using physical activity to exhaust himself so he doesn't have to think.

B. Using humor to deflect how he's really feeling.

C. Discussing how he feels with his best friend or his dad.

ANSWERS: A. 1 B. 2 C. 0

Add up your points. Who got 10 points? Please come to the front and pick up a pin. It says "Beta Babe Alert! I'm A 10—I Know How To Score My Men."

Readers aren't interested in what names authors use to categorize heroes. They want believable, interesting, complex men that they can sigh—and drool—over. Whether it's the tormented hero from Dinah McCall's JACKSON RULE or the lovesick accountant in my romantic comedy BRIDE IN TRAINING, readers want heroes they believe deserve the heroine's love.

In The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes and Heroines: Sixteen Master Archetypes by Tami D. Cowden, Caro LaFever, and Sue Viders, the authors examine eight hero archetypes. Their definition of The Best Friend fits well with the concept of the beta hero. The following information is taken from an article by Tami Cowden posted on the All About Romance website.

The Best Friend: This man doesn't enjoy confrontation and can sometimes be unassertive because he doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. But he'll always be there. We all knew this guy in high school and didn’t appreciate him. If we were smart, though, he’s the guy we married. He's a people person and he'll always put the needs of others first. He's practical … so he'd assess what could be done and get to work. He'll be very determined because he's responsible for the heroine.

Source: "We Need a Hero: A Look at the Eight Hero Archetypes" by Tami D. Cowden

All About Romance Website http://www.likesbooks.com/eight.html

In line with his "best friend" qualities, a beta hero makes a great sudden daddy—he adjusts more easily to than an alpha male. He's also an excellent role model: Women think he's sweet, kids know he'll play catch or tea party, bosses know they can rely on him to get last-minute projects completed, and men know they can trust him with their girlfriends. Within these expectations lie the seeds for potential conflict! For example, in BRIDE IN TRAINING, Ross Cameron, my wanna-be bad boy, falls in lust with his uncle's fiancée—what's a nice guy to do?

Beta heroes need to grow, change, learn. Nice doesn't equal perfect. An easygoing guy who's funny and sweet hides his feelings more effectively and feels pain more deeply than an alpha hero (who will, when angry or upset, stomp around, growl, and hit stuff). A beta hero hides his pain behind a smile, a joke, or a quiet reserve. A beta hero is more likely to walk away from a confrontation or do what he believes the heroine wants than to stand his ground and fight it out. This isn't wimp behavior because he's not afraid for himself, he's afraid for the person he cares about.

CREATE THE BETA HERO

Now that we've identified the beta hero, let's discuss how to create one. According to J. Madison Davis, who wrote Novelist's Essential Guide to Creating Plot:

"[A character] is a set of inherent qualities in the imitation of a human being. What we call a character in a novel, play or movie bears close resemblance to a human being but is not one. People are far more complicated than characters. People are far less predictable than characters. Characters are designed to seem complicated and to act in some surprising ways, but they are actually more consistent than people. The behaviors that seem surprising from characters are based upon a clear conception of their identities. In the simplest sort of story, for example, there are good guys and bad guys. The conception of their identities is very simple, and their behavior is predicted by what the author values as good or bad."

Romance heroes are, in essence, the ideals of the author packaged in a tight pair of jeans and a sexy grin. To create a hero is to create an inherent set of specific qualities. Each hero type has general characteristics that are refined by the author. It's important to remember that your hero may not completely align with all qualities associated with the beta or the alpha or the whatever. He is first and foremost YOUR creation and he doesn't have to fit anywhere but in your story.

Let's look at some qualities for our nice-guy prototype. The beta hero:

So now we have a basic idea about what a beta hero might be like. Let's assess how he got that way.

Davis writes: "People's motivations are very confusing and usually dimly understood. The newspapers are full of terrible stories about kids who grow up in brutal households. One kid grows up to become a killer; another grows up to become a tireless worker to prevent child abuse."

What's interesting about this assessment is that you can create a hero or a villain using the same set of circumstances. Consider, too, that the same set of circumstances can create an alpha hero or a beta hero. In romance novels, a hero's motivations, while not always revealed right away, are not confusing and are understood. There's a clarity about why characters do what they do in fiction that is not evident for people operating in the real world. The background of your beta hero—his childhood, his education, his relationships—is very important in creating his motivations for being the person he is in your book. You have the freedom to create any kind of past that explains his actions and choices today.

There are tools that may useful in helping you create the beta hero. Before I talk about these tools, I'd like to point out that there are a lot of people in the world who try to figure out and categorize human beings. For every technique discovered to determine behavior, there are not only exceptions to the so-called rules, there are other people attempting to discredit the technique. I don't want to challenge your belief systems, but I do want to give you some ideas you can use to create a Beta Hero.

Birth Order

Beta heroes are usually younger siblings—more than likely they are middle children. They can also be only children, but if they are, they probably have strong female influences in their upbringing.

Characteristics of the middle child:

Flexible, Diplomatic, Peacemaker, Generous, Social, Competitive

"Middle children are good mediators and have superior cooperation skills. They don't have their parents all to themselves or get their own way. Therefore, they learn to negotiate and compromise."

Characteristics of the last born child:

Risk Takers, Outgoing, Creative, Sense of Humor, Question Authority

"Youngest children in the family are typically outgoing and great at motivating other people. They are also affectionate, uncomplicated, and sometimes a little absent-minded."

Source: Birth Order Fact Sheet --- http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/5279.html

Occupation

Sure, a beta hero can be a cop or a fireman or a paratrooper, but these types of jobs are difficult fits for him (unless he has some kind of desk job within these types of departments). Possible jobs suited for beta heroes: social worker, Forest Ranger, environmentalist, teacher, artist, counselor, politician, singer, doctor, novelist, nursing home director.

According to a recent study, "a child's place in the family birth order may place a role in the type of occupations that will interested him or her as an adult."

"One of the strongest findings was the fact that only children and first-born children tended to have more cognitive and analytical interests, while later-borns were more artistic and oriented to the outdoors."

Source: Birth Order Affects Career Interests, Study Shows

http://www.acs.ohio-state.edu/researchnews/archive/birthwrk.htm

Names

If you want to be extremely particular in your creation of a beta hero, consider the etymology of certain names. (Etymology is the study of the origins of words.) Beta heroes won't have a name like "Rock." Try for soft-sounding names like Benjamin, Charles, John, Phillip, Seth, and so forth. At babynames.com you can look up names by meaning. I also suggest tooling around on behindthename.com—it has a lot of interesting information and a huge database of names.

You might also consider naming your hero after someone in history or in mythology with whom you want him to be identified. Or maybe, he displays the opposite qualities of that historical or mythological figure … it's entirely up to you.

Astrological Signs

You don't need to be an astrologer to use the traits of certain sun signs as blueprint for your beta hero. I'm definitely not an astrologer, but I think the sun signs are very useful tools when it's time to create the good and bad qualities of a character. It also helps you determine a birth date for your guy. <g> I chose the signs I feel most closely mirror a beta hero's personality. My source for the following information is http://www.astrology-online.com. You might also check into numerology—a fascinating way to determine personality traits. Try Creative Numerology at: http://numerology.freesoul.com/

Taurus (The Bull) --- April 21 to May 21

Traits: Patient and reliable, warmhearted and loving, persistent and determined, placid and security loving

Possible Flaws: jealous and possessive, resentful and inflexible, self-indulgent and greedy

Cancer (The Crab) --- June 22 to July 22

Traits: Emotional and loving, intuitive and imaginative, shrewd and cautious, protective and sympathetic

Possible Flaws: Changeable and moody, overemotional and touchy, clinging and unable to let go

Virgo (The Virgin) --- August 23 to September 23

Traits: Modest and shy, meticulous and reliable, practical and diligent, intelligent and analytical

Possible Flaws: Fussy and a worrier, overcritical and harsh, perfectionist and conservative

Libra (The Scales) --- September 24 to October 23

Traits: Diplomatic and urbane, romantic and charming, easygoing and sociable, idealistic and peaceable

Possible Flaws: Indecisive and changeable, gullible and easily influenced, flirtatious and self-indulgent

Sagittarius (The Archer) --- November 23 to December 21

Traits: Optimistic and freedom-loving, jovial and good-humored, honest and straightforward, intellectual and philosophical

Possible Flaws: Blindly optimistic and careless, irresponsible and superficial, tactless and restless

Pisces (The Fishes) --- February 20 to March 20

Traits: Imaginative and sensitive, compassionate and kind, selfless and unworldly,
intuitive and sympathetic

Possible Flaws: Escapist and idealistic, secretive and vague, weak-willed and easily led

Doshas

According to Health World Online:

“Just as everyone has an individual face or thumb print, according to Ayurveda, each person has a particular pattern of energy—an individual combination of physical, mental and emotional characteristics—which is his or her constitution. This constitution is determined at conception by a number of factors and is the same throughout one's life. … Ayurveda identifies three basic types of energy or functional principles that are present in everybody and everything. All people have vata, pitta and kapha, but one is usually primary, one secondary and the third least prominent.”

Determining a dominant dosha for your hero is another tool you can use to create characteristics. Each dosha has physical attributes, too, that you can use when creating your beta hero, but for now, we’ll go over the basic information and the internal/emotional characteristics.

VATA is movement and it’s represented by the elements of space and air. Vata people are flexible and creative, alert and restless. They walk, talk and think fast, but are easily fatigued. They often feel unstable and ungrounded and lack confidence and boldness. Out of balance, vata people are fearful, nervous, and anxious. Vata types earn money quickly and spend it quickly. They are not good planners and as a consequence may suffer economic hardship.

PITTA is metabolism and it’s represented by the elements of fire and water. Pitta people have many qualities of fire … they have warm bodies, penetrating ideas, sharp intelligence, and good powers of comprehension. Out of balance, they are easily agitated and aggressive and tend toward hate, anger, and jealousy. Pitta people like to be leaders and planners and seek material prosperity.

KAPHA is lubrication and it’s represented by the elements earth and water. Kapha people have strength, endurance, and stamina. They are calm, tolerant, forgiving. They have sweet, loving dispositions and have an excellent long-term memory. Kaphas are good at holding onto their money. Kapha types can become lethargic. When out of balance, kaphas tend to experience greed, envy, attachment, and possessiveness.

Source: Ayurveda: A Brief Introduction and Guide to the Three Doshas © Dr. Vasant Lad

http://www.healthy.net/asp/templates/article.asp?PageType=Article&ID=355

A beta hero’s dominant dosha is kapha. Like the elements of kapha, earth and water, he’s very grounded, but he can also “go with the flow.”

More Information About Doshas

http://www.indianest.com/health/ayurveda/av014.htm

http://www.pulsemed.org/ayurveda.htm

http://www.lifepositive.com/Body/ayurveda/ayurvedic-treatments.asp#dosha

Give Your Character A Dosha Test

http://www.fortunecity.com/business/fleming/1319/minidosh.htm

http://www.naturesformulary.com/doshatest.html

http://www.shreedhanwantri.com/doshatest.php

Schemas

According to SchemaTherapy.com: “Coping styles as normal attempts on the part of the child to survive in a difficult childhood environment. Unfortunately, we keep repeating our coping styles throughout adulthood, even when we no longer need them to survive. … these coping styles lead us to act in ways that end up blocking our development…”

In other words, an emotional schema equals inner conflict for your hero.

SchemaTherapy.com puts schemas into three categories:

1. Surrender (Gives in to schemas and repeats them)

2. Avoidance (Finds ways to escape or block out schemas)

3. Overcompensation (Does the opposite of the feelings created by schemas)

Specific information and a good overview can be found at the Advanced Cognitive Therapy of New York website. The Schema Therapy website also has a specific breakdown at its site that’s valuable. (The websites are listed on the Beta Hero handout.) For our purposes, I’ve taken certain schemas and their definitions from the Advanced Cognitive Therapy of New York to use for creating our beta hero, but chances are you can take any schema and make it fit with your hero. Here are the ones I choose:

Disconnection & Rejection

Abandonment/Instability: You expect instability, unreliability, or loss of anyone you are close to.

Emotional Deprivation: You believe that your primary emotional needs for nurturance, empathy, affection, and protection will never be met by other people.

Defectiveness/Shame: You feel that you are defective, bad, unwanted, inferior, or invalid.

Other-Directedness

Subjugation: You feel coerced to surrender your needs and emotions to other people, avoiding anger, retaliation, or abandonment.

Self-Sacrifice: You voluntarily meet the needs of other people at the expense of your own gratification.

Sources: http://www.schematherapy.com/id30.htm; http://www.schematherapy.com/id71.htm; http://www.emotionalalchemy.com/; http://www.actofny.com/schema.html

EXAMPLES OF THE BETA HERO

Just a note here: Beta heroes are better suited for romantic comedies because their personalities are more capable of handling crazy circumstances and outrageous events. The difference between a beta hero and an alpha hero in a romantic comedy is that the beta hero will laugh at himself and the situation and the alpha hero won't. In other words, the reader laughs WITH the beta hero and laughs AT the alpha hero.

Examples of Beta Heroes From Movies

· Jack (Bill Pullman), the nice younger brother, in "While You Were Sleeping"

Who has seen "While You Were Sleeping"? Give me an example of Beta Hero behavior and explain why it's beta.

Example: He's playing cards with his comatose brother and says, "Whoever gets the high card, gets Lucy." (No direct confrontation.)

· Shane (Keanu Reeves), the kind-hearted ex-quarterback, in "The Replacements"

Who has seen "The Replacements"? Give me an example of Beta Hero behavior and explain why it's beta.

Example: He steps in to protect his deaf teammate from the insults of the team’s former quarterback. When the quarterback hits him, he takes the punch then says, "Had enough?" (Protects his friends; Wants to avoid confrontation; attempts to defuse situation with humor.)

· Robbie (Adam Sandler), the heartbroken romantic, in "The Wedding Singer"

Who has seen "The Wedding Singer"? Give me an example of Beta Hero behavior and explain why it's beta.

Example: First clue he's a beta—he's wedding singer. He takes an underage kid who's been drinking at the wedding outside to puke in the Dumpster. (Taking care of others who he perceives needs him.) This is when he meets the heroine, Julia. Sense of humor to deal with situations: "No one could puke more than that kid. I think I saw boot come out of him."

Examples of Beta Heroes From Novels

· Peter, the lovelorn tongue-tied doctor, from GOOD IN BED by Jennifer Weiner

Who has read GOOD IN BED? Give me an example of Beta Hero behavior and explain why it's beta.

Example: He offers constant support for her without demanding a thing. He doesn't even make his feelings known until almost the end of the book. (Patience, kindness, putting his own feelings/needs aside to meet the heroine's.)

· Ross, the bad-boy wanna-be, from BRIDE IN TRAINING by Michele R. Bardsley

Who has read BRIDE IN TRAINING? Give me an example of Beta Hero behavior and explain why it's beta.

Example: He's a wanna-be bad-boy … so he's already someone who doesn't fit well in the skin of a Harley-riding, leather-jacket-wearing hard case. He takes care of the heroine after she falls ill, despite the fact she doesn't him like him much.

· Race, the thief with a heart of gold, from RACE AGAINST TIME by Justine Davis

Who has read RACE AGAINST TIME? Give me an example of Beta Hero behavior and explain why it's beta.

Example: The heroine leaves out food for the anonymous burglar who's been stealing food from the homes of people living in a small mountainside community. In thanks, he picks wild flowers and leaves them on her dining room table.

And that's the beta hero! Thank you so much for attending the workshop.