Heroines Who Go Against the Crowd: The Strongest Characters of All

When I was working in my most recent corporate job, it was noticed by my coworkers that I liked to spend a lot of time reading. Actually, this observation was probably made by almost everyone that I worked with at one time or another, that I preferred to spend time others used to catch up on their gossip burying my nose in a book. Always one to look for music to inspire my writing, it was at this particular job that I became a little obsessed with the soundtrack from Beauty & the Beast, the musical. I’d seen the play when I was a child but it wasn’t until more than 2 decades later that I began to see just how truly romantic the story is and how much the heroine, Belle, who loves books, and is believed by the people in her town to be a most peculiar person because of it, reminded me of myself.

It takes a great deal of courage to think for oneself and to challenge the crowd when your opinion differs from the majority. Though I’m not one to openly disagree and in fact often prefer to keep my opinion to myself, I often find myself disagreeing with the crowd, at least in my mind. In fact, this has happened to me so frequently throughout my lifetime that I’ve developed a personal mantra: If the crowd’s in favor of it, it probably isn’t good. That’s not to say that I always disagree with the majority, but I’ve found myself in this position enough times that I couldn’t help noticing my likeness to the character of Belle, both as someone I connected to and admired. Wonderful as books are, Belle’s strength doesn’t come from her passion but from her ability to stand up against the crowd in its battle against a wrongfully accused underdog. Though at first she shares their opinion of the initially-arrogant Beast, she’s willing, after much consideration, to take a different opinion on matters and challenge hard opposing forces for the sake of what she believes is right.

When I was first learning to write, I was given a lot of good advice. One particular suggestion that stuck in my mind, particularly with regard to romance, is that the heroine ought to be strong. Readers are looking for a strong heroine to relate to and admire, as I did with Belle. The advice might sound vague at first but I’ve come to define a strong heroine as one who makes things happen, as opposed to one that things happen to. Yes, there are external forces at work in every story and naturally, things are going to happen to our heroine, as they happen to everyone. But it’s how our heroine reacts, and how she chooses to act on her own, that make the difference between a weak heroine and one we can all come to love.

If you’re new to writing, and concerned about crafting a strong heroine, you may feel you need to break out the big guns, really make your lead character every bit as tough as she can be, throw everything you’ve got at her and show she has the ability to resist it too. But, every character has her vulnerabilities. And in fact it is those vulnerabilities and what our characters learn from themselves when they are at their lowest points that make them strong. Just like people, it is when our characters face their greatest fears and learn from those dark places in their hearts when they become those strong characters readers love. As writers, there is an infinite number of ways in which we can do this. At a time when groupthink is prevalent in society, I’m feeling especially inspired to create a heroine who challenges the opinion of those around her and comes out stronger as a result of it.