Getting Inside the Hero’s Head––Part I

Contrary to popular belief, the male is the key to any romance. The female is usually the “lead” character. The male, (alpha or beta) is the key to the romance. We’re not writing same-sex romantic fiction, here. If that’s your goal, you won’t get much out of this. Most readers of romance are women. Women identify with the heroine of the story. A woman who just wants to be loved like the hero loves the heroine. #InsideHerosHead #donnalhsmith #almostanauthor #writingromance101 Click To Tweet

Two Points of View

Romance is usually written through the two main points of view (POV). The feelings and thoughts of each of the two lead characters is the bulk of the romance.

The male’s reactions and feelings are revealed through scenes from his POV. Which means we get inside his head to know what he’s thinking.

Let’s take the contemporary romance we’ve been working on lately between Tovah and Judah. What we want to do in this series is get into Judah’s head and find out what he’s thinking. We’ll look at everything concerning Judah.

What’s Inside Judah’s Head?

What he thinks. Why he thinks it.

Being in the hero’s head is all about mastering that POV. The tension in the scenes between Tovah and Judah is what will define this romance. We’ve established that every scene must create that romantic tension.

Why Get Into the Hero’s Head?

Getting into Judah’s head will ramp it up. That’s why most romance is only two points of view. We’ll talk more about that in the next few posts.

The reader of a romance wants to know what the hero is thinking, feeling, and hiding. The male's feelings and reactions generate the readers’ responses even more than the heroine’s. Why? Every woman wishes she could elicit in the man she loves what the hero brings out of his heroine, just by loving her.… Click To Tweet

A Kansas prairie girl transplanted to Lancaster County, PA, Donna L.H. Smith has been married to a wonderful man for 30 years. She is a graduate of Christian Writer’s Guild Craftsman program and holds two college degrees in mass communications. HShe’s been a freelance journalist, and a radio reporter. She wouldn’t think of slowing down, preferring to use her time to blog, and speak at workshops and retreats. Recently, she took on the role of Assistant Managing Editor of Almost an Author.com, and serves as ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) Mid-Atlantic Zone Director. Meghan’s Choice, Her first novel, was a 2018 Selah Finalist and recently finalled in the Will Rogers Medallion Award.