Feisty, Sassy, Snarky, or Just Obnoxious?

I recently read a paranormal anthology that I won’t name because I’m going to say some negative things about two of the stories. In both of them, the kick-ass werewolf heroine has to work together with the hero in a crisis against her wishes. In each case, the heroine takes an instant dislike to the hero and shows it with outspoken rudeness. These reactions appear motivated only by snap judgments based on first impressions. In the first story, the hero is a vampire and the heroine doesn’t like vampires in general; in the second, the woman’s aversion comes from a quick decision about what type of man the character is. In other words, the characters’ initial dislike for the heroes springs mostly from prejudice, not an attractive quality for a protagonist to exhibit. The guys might actually be arrogant jerks, but we see no real evidence of that hypothesis before the women preemptively jump to that conclusion. Any not so gentlemanly behavior displayed by the heroes could just as well be a response to the heroines’ hostility.

Of course, the “slap, slap, kiss” motif (as TVtropes.org labels it) has been around in romance since at least Shakespeare. Sparks flying in a spirited argument often ignite sexual sparks. Also, the feisty heroine who stands up for herself to everyone, including the hero, has become one of the most popular character types in current romance fiction. Few readers would accept a timid, submissive heroine these days. But there’s a difference between feisty or “kick-ass” and plain insufferable. To me, a character who goes out of her way to pick fights with a man she’s just met comes across as the latter. Hostility between hero and heroine needs to have a believable motive. That’s a case where “show not tell” is vital—the author should demonstrate in action that there’s a good reason why two sympathetic characters we’re rooting for nevertheless interact like the proverbial cat and dog.

Margaret L. Carter
Carter's Crypt