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Construction of a Heroine
by Jo Sparkes
What makes a great heroine?
Oddly enough, it’s not a question I ask myself when I’m writing. But I do reflect on it while reading from time to time. And that’s never a good sign for a book, by the way.
A book offers the audience an amusement park ride, and the characters are the carts in which we travel. All good carts invite you in, make you want to sit, and then rivet you in place when the journey twists and turns.
A heroine must appeal. That doesn’t mean she needs to be beautiful, especially if her inner beauty shines through in the end. What’s important is that we identify with her – and oddly enough, that means we appreciate her flaws. A good story has an outer problem she must solve – but a great story also has an inner problem.
She must grow as a person, and we get to grow with her.
Yet in great literature, we don’t have to necessarily like everything about her. Only – a part of her.