Setting your hero up

When you plan on writing a story, you need to give your hero a background. Where do they live? How do they get by? What kind of work do they do? Do not underestimate the importance of their financial or social setup, because it can and will have an influence on the story at some point.

If you look at comics and pulp stories, where serialized heroes are fighting crime, you will find an abundance of main characters with what they call ‘independent wealth.’ Tony Quinn and Jim Anthony from my own past reviews, Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne, and many others. Secret Agent X has twelve rich men backing him up and making sure he’s never short on funds for his war against crime. Brother Bones from my latest review is an odd one out, but only because he’s a zombie and has no need for creature comforts. He merely waits until he’s needed again.

So why are all the others wealthy or even outright rich? Because they need to be. For their stories, they need to be able to disappear or travel at the drop of a hat, something a person with a nine-to-five job can’t do. Clark Kent can only hold a steady job, because he’s a reporter - one of the few jobs were he can disappear with the excuse of following a story. If he were an accountant, he couldn’t be the Man of Steel at the same time.

In addition, many vigilantes work during the night, whereas most jobs are done during the day. That means a person doing a regular job and being a vigilante wouldn’t have time to sleep. Sleep is, however, necessary for human beings (zombies not included).

And even Brother Bones would have a problem, if his driver and sidekick Bobby Crandall didn’t work night-shift as a Blackjack dealer at the Gray Owl Casino. He might not need to sleep and rest, but his human helper does. Luckily, Bobby sleeps during the day, because he works at night - which is when most of the criminals Bones hunts down are active, too.

A few crime hunters, like Dan Fowler or the Germans Jerry Cotton and Larry Brent, do their work full-time. They are employed for it, so they get paid regularly. And, of course, they can travel whenever and wherever they need to.

This is something which will and should play into your story at some point, if you choose to write something in that direction.

If your character has to juggle their night-time hunting with a day-time job, there will be ramifications eventually. Falling asleep during work, for instance, which leads to trouble with the boss or even getting fired. Being that fraction of a second too slow to catch a criminal or avoid a bullet during the hunt, which leads to injuries or unwanted deaths.

On the other hand, someone with independent wealth also has problems to work out. Like having a certain standing in society. Bruce Wayne has to keep up the impression of being a playboy. Tony Quinn, working as a lawyer despite his wealth, needs to pretend he’s blind in public. Secret Agent X has far too many different identities to juggle.

Jane from my own Knight Agency series was set up in high society as the daughter of a rich man, because both her specialities, assassination and breaking and entering, may demand quick disappearances from her. She grew into her position more firmly that expected and has really become a member of high society through her friends and acquaintances.

When you set up your hero, think about how their position in society, their work, their family, or other parts of their background might hinder or help them on their adventure. A lady from high society in a Regency or Victorian period piece can’t act the same way a gentleman may. A man with a lot of family can always be threatened indirectly through them. Someone struggling to get by will be challenged by suddenly needing additional money or having to cut back on work for personal reasons. On the other hand, a well-connected socialite has all information about high society at her fingertips, because of her many acquaintances.

That’s usually not the main plot of your story, of course, but it can create a bit of additional friction. A little additional problem to spice things up. And if it is the main plot point of your story, then all the better: make sure the main character’s background and their ambition or current situation are as much at odds as they can be.

On the other hand, if you’re writing a series, you need to keep notes on the complete background of your main characters. You need to know who their friends and enemies are, whom they have dealt with in the past, where they live, how they live. You need to keep in mind when their background clashed with the story in the past. Did something change because of a past story? Did they make or lose friends? Did their wealth change one way or other? I admit I had to list who calls Jane what (Jane, Miss Browne, Agent Browne), so I got that straight as the series advanced.

Setting up your characters, especially the lead of your story, is very important. Some things might be obvious to you, because they’re part of the plot from the beginning, but others will become interesting or important over time. The sooner you are aware of who your character is and where they come from, the better for the story, because you can tailor it to fit with your lead much better that way. If you can create additional conflict through your character’s background, it’s all the better.

Sometimes, you might think you know the background, but during the writing process, it turns out you actually don’t. The background you’ve picked doesn’t fit at all with the story and always clashes with it in a bad way. The sooner you realize it when that happens, the better. Try to figure out what is easier to change: the background or the part of the story which clashes with it. If you’re writing a series, of course, you have to make changes in the story, because you’ve already introduced the background. But the better you know your character, the less likely it is for such problems to happen.

Setting your hero up is an important part of your writing process and you should not do it too lightly. Yet, if in doubt, go with your gut instinct, because it will help you create a character you can rely on and understand blindly. Try to use the background to make things more interesting, but don’t try to force that too much.