What do heroes look like in words?
Let's start with the thriller heroes. And who else is the icon of heroes in the thriller genre? None other than Mitch Rapp. Words tell us he's basically tall, dark, and handsome but not in those simplistic ways. Spread out through descriptions that surface when there's a reason to tell us about his physical status, we form a picture of this man. We know he's multi-lingual and intelligent because to do what he does you have to be intuitive, quick to react, innovative and able to figure out every avenue of getting the job done while picturing every possible escape route. This information usually arrives in deadly situations where the tension is laced with inner thoughts/dialogue happening in a rapid-fire execution because of intense training on how to process in no time flat. We also learn he's not always going to follow the "protocol" or the plan for the operation because, after all, he's the one who has to do it so the authorities who've set the parameters really don't matter to him.
We form a picture of our favorite heroes by the words used. I confess I like the covers showing the back of the heroes either on a street or elsewhere walking, running, etc. Not attaching a detailed face to him leaves him to my imagination, vague but effective as it should be.
We understand the thriller hero because of his actions, his escapes, his methods. Dire circumstances define him. We might shudder at times at what he chooses to do in certain instances, but because we've grown to know and respect him, we grit our teeth and trust his actions to get the needed information to proceed.
Other than in the thriller genre, we learn the emotional idiosyncrasies of these heroes along with their physical appearances, gestures, and perhaps even their tones of voice. The difference in communicating who these heroes are is based more on their internal makeup, personalities, everyday conduct, and visceral responses rather than on their physical reactions under duress and to various situations.
Book covers for these heroes often use pictures of men poised in different settings with or without a female communicating something about their personality and/or emotional content. Can't say I particularly like this approach, but I understand it.
How do you learn about your literary heroes? What do you notice about them from the words?
Father, thank you is never enough for all the "heroes" you've given me in my novels. Apart from you, I can do nothing. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.