Pink Think: “No nice men are good at getting taxis.” – Katherine Whitehorn, journalist
I am in the process of rewriting a historical novel and I’m having trouble with the scene where the hero meets the heroine.
For his grand entrance, he is giving her a puppy and saying nice things to her.
Ick. Boring.
I need him to do something outrageous. To do something that would irk the heck out of her. To make her sit up and take notice.
He’s too nice.
***
I first met my husband at a college club meeting the fall of my senior year at Utah State University. He had just returned from a church mission and had that look: clean-cut, cropped hair, no stubble. Just overall, nice.
And I remember thinking to myself, “Ho-hum. Boring.”
That was about it until months later, when we met again. I had a cast on my leg from ice skating, eating a chicken dinner in the international student office when he walked in. The first President Bush had just declared war on Iraq over Kuwait (ah, the good old, innocent days) and Drew wanted to see what international students (like myself) thought of the situation.
The longer we talked, the more I was intrigued by him. He wasn’t boring after all.
I’m glad I gave him another chance.
***
There’s reality, and then there’s fiction.
When I make my characters play “nice”, hero or heroine, the scene is flat, not exciting. I love conflict.
I wish there was some way to introduce them nice, then discover there is more to them than meets the eye, but I’m afraid by then I’d have lost my reader. Not to mention I’d lose interest as a writer.
Too bad for nice guys.
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My main character is a nice guy, patterned after a nice guy I know well.
Nice guys are involved in a lot of conflict, but it’s all internal. That’s what allows them to be nice. It hasn’t been easy to write, but I think I’ve had some success.
If your character meets a guy who is nice and boring, the conflict can be between the rational, intellectual interest in someone like that, and the irrational, emotional desire for someone a little more “exciting.”
I can understand what you’re saying. However, sometimes I like to read a book to just drift along in someone else’s world. I (a reader) don’t need as much excitement as you might think. …
(P.S.) Woodsie, from AW. 🙂
Maybe giving her a puppy is overkill nice, but nice guys can be great characters if you handle them well.
Don: Mmm. Internal conflict would be worth exploring. Good suggestion.
Serena: Hi, thanks for stopping by! I told my husband that I need them duking it out from the get-go, and basically he said it is a cliche. And maybe it is.
Q: That puppy thing is a little cutesy. Author-me was thinking ‘horse’ but the hero showed up with a basket :-). Heroine looked in, and there, to my surprise, was a puppy.
(I don’t know why dogs are always showing up in my stories, when I probably would never have a dog if it weren’t for my hubby.)
I’m sure nice guys figure in some stories, but I know personally the movies that catch my fancy, sparks fly when the couple is onscreen. That’s part of the fun, to see who wins.
i seem to be having the opposite problem. My MC is a handful, stubborn little guy who just seems to brew contention with everyone he meets. I TRY introducing a “nice” person to the story, and he irritates the tarr out of them until they pack up and leave! Goodness.
i had a thought: maybe your nice guy needs a “nice” characteristic that ends up being bad for him. Like this show i’m watching, the “i’d never hurt anyone” nice-hero ends up getting trashed on/beat up, cuz he refuses to use his fists for harm. That’s interesting to me. (especially being that he’s a really big strong guy)
Paulette: Many times, I have a character just like that: stubborn…a troublemaker! They don’t play nice, and after a while, I just let have them have a rip at it, and hold on for dear life on the wild ride…
Great idea, about a “nice” characteristic that becomes a liability. A movie that comes to mind is “The Incredibles.”
Cute!
Ho-hum for the nice guys! 🙂 So make him a nice guy for one chapter or a couple pages…then make him get that Taxi. hehe
Good idea, Autumn. Mmm, since this is a historical novel, he’ll have to flag down a horse carriage :-).
Latest update: My hero starts out nice, but omigosh, he’s actually…
You’ll just have to read the book someday now, won’t you?
I mulled this over a bit, Jewel, and I agree with everyone’s comments. (I obviously have serious vacillating issues with this.) I think all characters should be unique with a degree of mystery. The mystery could be his nice guy traits or not, but either would work. (The TV series N.C.I.S is very good at this.) If you really want him to be nice & not boring, you could give him a genetic defect that repulses the girl (Beauty & the Beast & The Hunchback of Notre Dame come to mind. I like Don’s insight too. An internal struggle is the fuel for a great many successful plots & sub-plots. (Han Solo deserting Luke & Leah so he can be around to spend his reward.) For me, the creation of a character has to be within my scope of feelings and understanding, too. Perhaps that limits me too much, but I fear that if I stray outside that scope that I will not be able to create 100% believability – and that is important to me. I like the puppy-gift idea, but I can see how it would have to be carefully packaged to work. The guy could be portrayed as a suspicious stalker (when later on you reveal that the suspicion is only circumstantial & untrue). Anyway, it sounds like you are having some fun, and I think fiction writing is about that. Ultimately, if you like that way you portray your character, then so be it. There are books I dislike, but some of them are very popular. My opinion & preferences are not everyone’s.
I have a nice guy in one of my romantic-suspense stories. The conflict there is actually with the female MC. She’s the one who has commitment issues & does her best to be in the opposite place as the nice guy . . . which means nice guy has to find creative ways to get her attention – which also leads to some very funny scenes! Good luck!
Davis – thanks for your comment. You brought up some interesting examples. I think what is particularly effective is a “nice” guy who is flawed in some way, kind of in a “simmer,” like Don said. Although I would have to say the Beast and Han Solo are not your sweet, nice types :-). (And yes, I love their characters!)
I AM having fun right now with my story. It’s a novel set in 18th century Philippines about a princess who has to reclaim her father’s throne from a former flame. It is unabashedly romantic, which is a departure from my last story (which is less sentimental, darker fiction with a male protagonist).
Gives me something else to think about while I wait to hear back from queries….
Danyelle: That sounds like a great story. I love romantic suspense, too!
I’ve never met a guy – no matter how nice – that didn’t have his moments of being an absolute jerk! Usually, they have a good reason (at least in their mind). So he’s having a bad day when they first meet – he’s just got a speeding ticket, got a puppy that he didn’t want dumped on him by his roommate who left without warning, slammed his elbow on the car door and then bumps into her – chances are, he’s not going to be overly charming. But hey, he can give her the puppy to make up for his swearing at her in the first scene…
Weston: You’re right; just like it is boring to have a villain who is one-dimensional and always wicked, it would be boring to have the nice character be nice all the time. My husband says, when I introduce these nuances in my stories’ characters, “Be careful you don’t go off in a distracting subplot!” And I assure him that this way, my story has more depth.
Your plot sound awesome, Jewel! What is your title?
Its working title is “Girl From Gurian” (emphasis in ‘Gurian’on the second syllable).
Your title sounds creative and catchy.
Thanks Davis. I kind of like the sound of it, but it might be hard for non-Filipinos to pronounce or to wrap around in their mind. We’ll see how I feel about it by the end of this rewrite.