Stop Holding Out For a Hero
Ever hear the advice your story needs a hero? It doesn’t.
The recent trend on Twitter is to write a thread on a given topic. The ones on storytelling always catch my eye. Each somehow begins with the same advice. And it’s wrong:
“Create a hero. Great stories require the unsung heroes we root for.”
Your story doesn’t need a hero.
We Are Rarely Cast As The Hero
Life is messy. It’s full of problems, challenges, and complications. We move forward unsure and making our best guess at the time. People may be rooting for us, but we don’t always emerge as the hero.
We frequently fail more than we are victorious. We tumble in the spin cycle of challenges and stumble many times before sticking the landing.This doesn’t make us bad people. It makes us relatable.
We are human, make mistakes and hopefully learn from them. Our path to success that isn’t linear. The role of hero isn’t one we are cast in often. And that doesn’t make our story any less interesting or worth exploring.
The Flaws Are The Good Stuff
We are wonderfully flawed. There are so many stories nestled within those flaws. Life is a series of small moments. Most of those don’t involve a hero. They include confusion, mistakes, and whoopsies. It’s refreshing to learn about others who also stumbled and struggled. Yeah, these moments are often awkward and uncomfortable, and they are also human.
The opening story of my TED Talk involves Walt Bettinger, the CEO of Charles Schwabb. He failed the last exam of his university career because he didn’t know the answer to the single question on the test: “What is the name of the person who cleans this room?”
You experience his shame, embarrassment, and growth. And he isn’t a hero in this story. Yet you come away wondering if you would have passed the exam and who you need to get to know. His vulnerability in sharing an uncomfortable moment helps create awareness for you.
These stories about flaws, missteps, and recognition take away the shame and embarrassment that others feel in similar circumstances. They make it ok to talk about mistakes and help others learn from these moments.
This also applies if you are selling a product or a service. Describe the problems they were designed to solve. Help us understand the struggles of those who seek them out. My friend Samantha Hartley calls this, “Punch them in the bruise.” These create the recognition: “Oh, I’m not alone in experiencing this!”
Make Your Characters Relatable
Stories are rich because they are messy and complicated. Show the realization and awareness of the character because of their mistakes. Make your characters relatable. What doubts and confusion do they face? What is the reason for their actions? What are their flaws, insecurities, and discomfort? How do they feel when they realize their mistakes?
We want to understand their mindset and actions, even if we don’t agree with them. This connects us to them and the story.
Stop holding out for heroes. Make your flawed characters shine. We’ll cheer for them even if they never become a hero.
p.s. If this put the song “Holding On For A Hero” by Bonnie Tyler into your head, I apologize. It’s been stuck in mine.
p.p.s. I submit the first complete draft of my book to the publisher on Tuesday. It goes through a big review and I have some test readers lined up. While it is over a year away from being published, this is a big milestone. My thesaurus is working hard this week.
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