The different kinds of women it s possible to create never seem to stir the same fervor that the men do. After spending hours with my critique group discussing romance novels and movies and TV shows, we came to a startling discovery. Heroines are as important to a good story as heroes. And there are clearly defined differences in many heroines. Enough that one or two categories just didn t suit.
Heroines generally fall into eight clear archetypes.
And this fact crosses all genres - romance, mystery, science fiction. The eight heroine archetypes are instantly recognizable to most writers. They just haven t been defined and talked about the way heroes have. After much discussion, we labeled each archetype and went on to write a book about these heroines, as well as the eight hero archetypes we found in our journey of discovery. By defining and describing these archetypes, we were able to pick and choose characteristics that helped us create exciting protagonists.