Creating a Hero

This week I am brainstorming characters and plot ideas for Book 3 in my Secret Society of Spinsters series. Things are a little easier with an established series, since I have a good feel for the setting and the heroine. However, I’m bringing in a new hero character, and I have a very blank slate. Initially, all I knew was that he was going to be a new schoolmaster brought in by the school board because they believe it would lend the town prestige to have a man oversee the school. Martha (our heroine) is none to pleased, as you can imagine, seeing as how she’s been running the school just fine for years. It doesn’t help that this interloper will be paid a significantly higher salary.

As I started to play the What if game, I tossed around options for a nerdy hero vs. an arrogant hero vs. an ultra intelligent & socially awkward hero. But I didn’t want him to be what readers expected. No, I take that back. I didn’t want him to be what my heroine expected. That’s when Harrison Ford crossed my mind. (He randomly pops into my mind when I’m not brainstorming, too, but that’s a post for another day. Ha!)

What if I created an Indiana Jones type character. Nerdy and scholarly in the classroom and adventurous and rugged in the wild?

Now, I was onto something. OK, so leaning into my heroine’s misconceptions, I needed to give him a pretentious name so she would form a negative opinion of him when she learns he’s been hired. I asked my Posse to help me with names, and I received a TON of fabulous options. One person suggested that I use a play on “read” and give him the last name of Reed. I loved that idea! One piece down.

I also started thinking of the meet cute I would have for these characters. One where Martha meets him out “in the wild” where he doesn’t look or act like a school teacher. I wanted him to be able to give her a name that she wouldn’t recognize. A nickname. I tossed around cowboyish nicknames like Roper or ‘Tana (short for Montana, playing with the Indiana idea again), but I just couldn’t picture those nicknames being used as his POV identity. So, back to the drawing board.

I needed a pretentious name that could be shortened to something that had a western feel but my heroine wouldn’t recognize. Then it came to me. Rutherford. Long and pretentious. Even the name of a former president that would cause Martha to think the hero had a high opinion of himself, especially if he used a middle initial like Rutherford B. Hayes did. And best of all, he could go by Ford, which would not be immediately identifiable.

At first I loved Ford because it made me think of John Ford the great director of western classic movies. Until another of my Posse Pals pointed out that it could be a tribute to my original inspiration – Harrison Ford! Of course! How perfect.

There is still much character building yet to do, but Ford Reed is starting to feel real to me, which is an essential first step in bringing him to life on the page.

What do you think the T in his name should stand for?

So far, I’m leaning toward Theophilus. It keeps to the fancy name style and hints at the Bible as the one who received Luke’s gospel and the Book of Acts, likely a patron who supported Luke’s writing. The name means “lover of God” or “friend of God” which I love.

Other names that have been suggested include:

• Tiberius (a nod to Captain Kirk)
• Thoreau (famous author)
• Thaddeus (apostle)
• Thomas (another apostle)
• Theodore (though, I did have a cat named Theodore in one of my books – Ha!)

I hope you enjoyed this peek into an author’s mind. We can get bogged down on the smallest details, but it’s all part of the creation process.