Hi Forum,

To begin with, I don’t think Mr. Welch meant “hero” as in protagonist in a literary work.  But as a subject for a forum discussion it’s an excellent topic.

When a writer decides to make his main character a villain, the amount of work put into this character is doubled.  The villain’s character must be described in more detail and to greater depth.

It is not necessary for the reader to identify with the main character, but it is vital that the motives and the fine tuning are clear.  I sometimes run across a story where the author tries to justify the actions of a villain protagonist.  This derives from the mistaken notion that the character would not be liked.  I say – on the contrary, a villain is what he is and as long as he/she holds the readers’ interest, that is fine.

I would also say that the word HERO as used in everyday language is not what it means in literature.  A hero(protagonist) in a book can often be a despicable man or lacking any attributes which will stand him above standard people.

As to discussing Tom Cruise and Arnold  Schwarzenegger or any other celeb of the kind – I can’t and won’t regard them as heroes in any capacity.

I’ve read an interesting book which teaches how to build your characters from scratch, how the relationship between them works and what gives the story a kick when the book has progressed and became complicated.  The book is called:

Dramatica: A New Theory Of Story
By Melanie Anne Phillips and Chris Huntley

I found it useful in my novel and I always recommend reading it when you have a lot of characters in your book and sometimes more than one main character.

Hanna