Writing the Anti-Hero

As an author, I am fascinated by the anti-hero, the man that doesn't fit into the stereotypical hero status. Face it, in most romance novels of yesteryear, the hero was an alpha male who took charge and conquered the bad guy, rescued the damsel in distress, and lived happily ever after. But heroes have changed over time. Take the anti-hero for example. He doesn't necessarily have to be an alpha male. He may not be muscle bound and drop dead gorgeous. He might even be a little bit bad.

Drawn to the Darkness

Why do readers fall for the bad guy? It happens. We become enamored of that anti-hero and want him to change, to grow, to become the hero we need him to be. This is why the demon or his brethren in crime, the werewolf and vampire, have become such popular fictional heroes in the romance genre. They're not supposed to be heroes. They're not supposed to be the ones we fall in love with. They're not the guy you'd want to take home to meet your parents. Such lovers are forbidden and have been taboo for ages. Could it be the reason readers love them so is that they are not supposed to?

Who is the Anti-Hero?

I find it a challenge to write that kind of character. Maybe he is misunderstood. Or maybe, just maybe, he isn't misunderstood at all. He really is a bad guy that the heroine should not get with. Love tends to throw together the most unlikely of bed partners. An ending featuring an anti-hero is unlikely to end with wedding bells or a happily ever after. He lends himself to the tragic ending.

My advice to authors who are drawn to this type of character in their own work would be to go with it. In this day and age, the old cliche' hero is not as popular as he once was. Many readers want something new, not the same old pat plot that I talked about in Writing Romance 101. Take that anti-hero and really challenge the heroine to fall for him. Imagine the tension between them. Imagine his inner struggle to do the right thing when his very nature orders that he do what is wrong.

Character Building

What makes your anti-hero tick? Does he have a shady past? A terrible curse that keeps him in the proverbial darkness? Is he the mortal enemy of the one he is destined to fall in love with? So many troubling issues have made him what he is. Never forget to show that to your readers as the story unfolds. Make him mysterious; reveal only small amounts of why he is a baddie. Write backstory so you know the answers to those questions before you begin.

Be True to His Nature

In order to truly not be the tried and tested hero, an anti-hero needs to do things his way, not the way a reader would expect. He will rebel against the norm, and even shrink away from it, preferring the darkness he has been thriving in for so long. A demon is sure to tempt; a vampire is sure to take life or at least blood, and a werewolf will be tortured by the other half of him, the beast within that cannot be denied even if it rears its head at the worst possible time. Be true to that side of the anti-hero you write, and you will succeed in creating a dynamic anti-hero that will leave a lasting impression on readers.

The anti-hero has an important place in literature today. He challenges the ideal, and he offers readers that forbidden fantasy of a lover from the dark side who has the smallest of chances at entering the light. But don't count on him doing so.