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Paula looks at the role of friends
in romance novels.
All my heroines have had best
friends. Jess, in His Leading Lady,
met up with an old school friend who became her confidante, and Abbey in Fragrance of Violets confided in her
sister. Anna in Dream of Paris had
her housemate, and Neve in Her Only
Option had a co-worker who was also her best friend. In Irish Inheritance, Jenna’s best friend
was Charley, and when Charley became the heroine in Irish Intrigue that friendship continued.
Unusually, for me anyway,
Lisa in Changing the Future had a
male confidant as well as a female friend. He was originally her boss, who
became a very supportive friend. No question of any romance between them, it
was a true platonic friendship, and I was especially thrilled by one reviewer
who wrote, ‘Ralph was one of the best
supporting characters that I have read in a very long time. He was very clearly
defined, very likable and sensible and stayed true within his characterization
throughout the book.’
It’s useful for the heroine
to have a friend for various reasons. From a purely practical angle, it means the
heroine can voice her thoughts and feelings in dialogue which is infinitely
preferable to long passages of thoughts and/or soul-searching. A best friend
can also help the heroine to make up her mind about something or someone,
provide a shoulder to cry on when things go wrong, give advice (which might not
necessarily be the best advice), or even (as happened in His Leading Lady) unwittingly give the heroine some misleading
information.
However, my
heroes don’t usually have a very close friend. Is that because men don’t talk to each
other about their feelings? They talk work, cars, sport, and other leisure
pursuits, but none of them, at least in my stories, open up to another male person
like my heroines do with their female friends.
I’m curious to know if any of
your heroes have had male (or female!) friends in whom they confide.
Most of my heroines have friends in whom they confide. Some of my heroes do too, but that's less frequent. Gideon, in A Heart of Little Faith, had a friend he confided in. Nathan, in The Seduction of Esther, did too. The others didn't. I'm not sure if it's because of the stereotypical man thing (which I don't really believe anyway) or just because of the particular characters. Interesting topic.
ReplyDeleteYou're right that it depends on the character, but I do think it's a general masculine trait rather than a 'stereotypical' thing.
DeleteMy heroines and heroes have families, who both support and hinder (as families often do). Interestingly, they don't have friends who serve as confidants. Hmmm, have to think about that.
ReplyDeleteSomeone in the heroine's family can also be a 'best friend' (e.g. Abbey's sister in Fragrance of Violets),
DeleteMy heroes and heroes don't very often have friends either. It's an interesting topic. Maybe I'll think about this for my WIP.
ReplyDeleteI find that my heroine's friends can be 'useful' (for some or all of the reasons I've given above) - and my heroes sometimes have friends of colleagues, but don't usually share 'matters of the heart' with them!
DeleteSince my Corral series is based on three friends, all of those characters had 'built in' supporting characters. Zach provided the main support for Sharlie in her story, and Jake provided the main support for Zach in his story. In turn, both Sharlie and Zach (and their new loves) were there for Jake when his story finally rolled around.
ReplyDeleteI love using a cast of supporting characters. It's so much more effective to dig deep into a character's thoughts and feelings than pages and pages of internal dialogue. I find it's a little trickier to pull off in novellas, just because of the shorter length. I want to keep my main characters front and center as much as possible.
Completely agree that it's more effective for a character to talk through her feelings/worries etc with a friend than agonise on her own!
DeleteMany of my heroines and heroes, too, have friends, sidekicks, or close family members. Having someone close to the main characters helps to reveal feelings they may have but have left unexpressed otherwise. Sometimes they get advice or a well meant reprimand by someone who cares about them. Friends can help lead the main character in the right direction or mislead them as the case may be.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to have an outspoken friend tell the hero he's acting like a jackass or that he needs to up his game.
Good blog, Paula. All the best to you...
Thanks for visiting, Sarah!
DeleteI like your ideas about the role the heroes' friends might play - have made a note of those!
In my romance which has yet to be finished, no.My heroine could probably use someone to fully confide in.In fact, she is rather surprised to realize that she is actually 'friends' with someone she considered an acquaintance.and, not to give a lot away here, but she doesn't realize until the end that she is the one who is responsible for the loss of closeness with her husband, who she feels had been pulling away from her., so she has been in danger of losing HIM as a 'best friend'.
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting twist to the best friend angle, Tonette! Many thanks for visiting :-)
DeleteIn my upcoming release in October, Ring of Truth, my hero has his brother and Grandma as friends and confidents, and my heroine has a co-worker at the beginning of the story.
ReplyDeleteI agree friends are a great way of keeping the story moving.
I agree, Sherry. Friends can add an extra dimension to a story. Thanks for visiting :-)
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