A Man to Believe In: Writing Realistic Male Characters

In mainstream fiction, we don’t need to like a protagonist. We merely
need to find him believable and interesting enough to follow for three
hundred and twenty pages. In heterosexual romance fiction, the female
protagonist is often just a placeholder for the reader. But in M/M
romantic fiction, we not only need to believe in and care about the main
character, we need to fall in love with him. Chances are you’re already in
love with your protagonist. Unfortunately, you love everyone you create,
so you’re no judge.


You need to think objectively about why readers would want to spend
time with your brainchild instead of someone else’s. What is it about your
main character that will engage a potential reader’s heart and mind?
Traditional — cynical — wisdom is that men look for beauty and women
look for earning potential. I don’t think that’s true. I think humans,
being human, are equally attracted to success, and equally susceptible
to good looks — and both of those things are pretty much de rigueur
in romance novels. Your characters must be attractive (at least to each
other) and they must be successful in a way recognized by readers (even
if not by themselves). But hopefully it goes without saying that your
main characters need to be more than their physical descriptions and
their carefully researched professions.

The demands of the plot may well determine that your protagonist
be a mage or a cop or a fur trapper or an artist or a prostitute or a CEO
or a nurse or a geologist. But if you haven’t figured out what he does for
a living, think long and hard. In fiction, at least, people are what they do.
Give your character something interesting to do, something that tells us
about him, something that gives the potential for subplots.

What does he like to wear? His clothes should say something about his
personality. What does he like to eat? Does he have to think about his
weight? What music does he listen to? Are his parents alive? Is he allergic
to dogs? Does he have his tonsils? Does he sleep in the nude? (No, all
guys do not sleep in the nude.) Does he believe in God? Does he have
any hobbies? Any particular skills?

One useful tool is the character interview. There are a lot of versions
of this floating around. I think it’s best to make up your own questions,
focusing on the stuff that’s of most interest to you, and then answer
the questions in your character’s voice. Start with the obvious stuff like
where he was born and keep digging until you feel like you know this guy
inside out.

A typical character interview question is: what do you fear most in the world?
It’s good to know what your characters fear most, because they should be
coming face to face with it in your story.
A well-written character — no matter how handsome — is not necessarily
the same thing as a lovable character. Remember that.

Now, what do you find lovable? We’re talking personality and character
now, so put down that copy of Men’s Health and focus for a minute.
Think about the qualities you prize in a lover. Not that! We’re talking
about disposition, individuality. What would you look for in a mate? What
are the traits you value most highly in friends? What do you think your
own strengths are as a person? Are you loyal? Conscientious? Are you
imaginative? Good at duck calls? We all know that traditional romance
novel protagonists are supposed to be brave and über-competent, but
M/M fiction allows us more versatility. Take advantage of that. Pick
three qualities you really admire or look for in a lover and gift them,
good fairy-like, on your still damp protagonist. Let these be his defining
characteristics.

Beware the test tube baby — the perfect protagonist. You know him;
he’s cloned from the traditional heterosexual romance hero. Handsome,
brave, generous, successful, charming, honest, self-controlled… He’s
got it all. Even his faults are society-approved: he’s too take-charge, too
masterful, too brave, too driven to succeed, too…whatever. Okay, maybe
he has a secret tragedy in his distant past, but that just makes him more
interesting and attractive. He laughs at danger, he scoffs at vicissitude,
he’s really annoying.

Sure, you want your protagonist to fulfill the role of hero, but these
paragons aren’t fantasy so much as chimera. Maybe they’re attractive.
They have many attractive qualities, but they’re not real. They don’t even
vaguely resemble real men, and, as such, they aren’t lovable. Readers don’t
love perfection. They don’t identify with it. They know instinctively it
would be unpleasant to live with.

Readers love characters they can identify with, and in order for readers to
identify with a character, the character must be multi-dimensional, fully realized,
human — and, therefore, flawed.

Yes, flawed. To go along with all those virtues there’s got to be a chink
in the armor, an Achilles heel, a weak spot. You don’t have to make him
a miser or a kleptomaniac, but a few moments of insecurity, of jealousy,
of failure will make your protag more appealing, not less.

The difficulty is our egos are often tied up in our fictional creations; it
can be difficult to permit imperfection and ugliness in the embodiment
of our romantic ideals. Even if you manage to come up with a few minor
flaws — jealousy or possessiveness being the most popular — they don’t
add any depth to the characterization. Remember, growth of characters
usually comes via their flaws.