Glory to the empire and to this video's sponsor Skillshare! Uh-oh. None of the hunky male characters have a shirt
on. This must mean that Terrible Writing Advice
is finally covering Alpha Males. No, not the kind that pickup artists claim
they can make you into if only you buy their book titled Gaslighting and Negging for Dummies. No. The other kind of fictional Alpha Male, the
one frequently featured in romance novels. You know, the one women are actually interested
in. Now, some may wonder why an author like myself
that specializes in cheese-ball speculative fiction has any right to barge in and tell
romance writers how to do their job. Well you see, since I’m the alphaest of
all alpha males, It is clear that I can offer writers key insight in the character of a
hunky, take charge man. And as such I have descended from on high
to humbly share my boundless wisdom with the lesser romance writers. Yes. Those little romance authors with their tiny
tiny share of the market. Such a small slice of the pie, not like the
piece of humble pie I’m going to have to wolf down when I see their sales figures. Now with my smug dismissal of an entire genre
out of the way, let’s dig in to making our hunky alpha male! We should start with something interesting
and meaningful that speaks to the core essence of the character as a starting point. Something deep and thoughtful. And by that I mean his looks. The rest we can figure out later. It is important to describe the attractive
appearance of the alpha pretty much constantly as well as come up with increasing contrived
reasons for him to never wear a shirt. He oils his abs for hobby for some reason. His abs are so important that they frequently
take up the entire book cover. Remember, in the alpha club no dad bods are
allowed! Now eventually a writer might find themselves
struggling to come up with good descriptive prose for the alpha. When this occurs, the romance writer should
ratchet up the descriptions to the next level with purple prose! If the reader couldn’t guess the alpha from
the ten paragraph long description when everyone else got a sentence, then I’m sure they’ll
be able to spot him when the story starts battering them in the face with metaphors
and similes. What other attractive features can we give
our alpha? Well according to some romance novels I’ve
read, the most attractive quality a man can have is to be a domestic abuser with control
issues. Did the heroine leave the room for 5 seconds,
well our alpha should throw a temper tantrum because she was out of his control for a few
precious moments. You see, he loves her so much that he can’t
stand to be without her. At least that’s the version he will use
at his court proceedings. Even when part of the story is told from his
POV, every waking thought should be focused his love interest even as his multi-billion
dollar company’s stocks plummet to neglect. His singular drive to possess the love interest
should be glamorized even if it crosses the line into creepy harassment. I mean it’s okay when he does it because
he’s attractive. Another completely positive and healthy behavior
that should be tolerated from our alpha is a his drive to control every aspect of the
love interest’s life. He should use his power and authority as leverage
to get what he wants in spite of the love interest’s obvious protests. This extremely healthy and positive behavior
should never be commented upon by all the other side characters. Blackmail? It’s okay because he’s attractive. Threatening violence? It’s okay because he’s attractive. Just out right abducting her and dragging
her down into his dungeon? It’s okay because... wait that really happens
in these books? Any and all reprehensible actions the alpha
takes can be dismissed either by his good looks or a really good round of grovelling. A good alternative is to justify his jerkish
behavior with a traumatic backstory. See, if I robbed a bank, all I would half
to do is to explain to the police that I was bullied when I was younger and all would be
forgiven. That’s exactly how that works. Past trauma should be wielded against the
love interest in order to pacify their criticism, not be used as a way to explore a character’s
traits. Why use trauma to explain behavior when we
can use to excuse behavior? Or, you know, just ignore the alpha’s bad
behavior completely with no explanation whatsoever. I think I’ll do that. Okay. What do we have so far? Our alpha is a compulsive blackmailing stalker
with control issues, a short temper, and equipped with near unlimited resources at this disposal
that he will utilized to harass and manipulate the love interest until they fall into his
clutches. Um. You know, let me the check the episode title
again just to be sure. Nope. Still alpha males. I was worried I got this script mixed up with
one on villains. Maybe I just need to focus on the fact that
this alpha is a bit of a fixer upper. I am sure the affection of the love interest
will be far more effective at treating these deep seated flaws. Even the ones that require a physician to
diagnose, are likely genetic, and need a highly specific drug dosage for proper and effective
treatment. Yeah I think true love with substitute for
all of that. Now the love interest being a positive influence
in the alpha’s life is a powerful form of wish fulfillment. And like all wish fulfillment, it works best
when used in excess and without thought. Yes people normally have to marshal the willpower
to change themselves and other people in their lives can act as a catalyst for change, but
no our love interest is so special that the alpha will do a complete 180 in personality
just for them. The love interest is so special that he will
instantly stop sleeping around and forgo his rakish exploits. Does he have a reason to stop this highly
rewarding negative behavior that he has suffered no repercussions for? What special quality does the love interest
have that could make our alpha settle for a single partner? Well the love interest has a special quality
that is more priceless than anything else in the setting’s fictional universe, the
power of the author’s favoritism! But is author favoritism enough for a convincing
story? No. We need to add a bit more to our alpha to
make him a bit more believable. I know. We’ll make our alpha a billionaire highlander
werewolf sheikh. And um, I guess I’ll give him a noble title
as well. I’m sure all those will substitute for an
actual personality. Does our alpha have any hobbies? Does he have any thoughts that are not about
the love interest? Does he have any internal life at all that
doesn’t revolve around the romance plot? We can’t delve too much into the alpha’s
internal life though because it would spoil his mystique of dangerous mystery that I am
using to veil the lack of details I actually have written on him. Mystery can be a good hook for an audience
and painting the alpha’s actions in broad strokes can allow a reader to project whatever
they want onto him. That’s why I’m going to leave him so brooding
and mysterious that there is just nothing solid for a reader to get a hold on. Because if one cracks open an alpha male and
the only thing inside is a bunch of fulfillment then the writer can feel good about a job
well done. Why flesh out an actual character when we
can make our alpha a real man who takes what he wants because he knows what he wants. He is a giant among men and has the best of
everything. Lesser men are cowed at the mere presence
of an alpha, his natural charisma making all those around him fall into line. He is truly like an alpha wolf that takes
the best and leaves scraps for the rest. He always gets what he wants because he doesn’t
care about how other people feel. Like a sociopath! Um. I mean it’s not like the entire concept
of an alpha male was based on shaky research conducted on captive wolf packs and that wild
packs have much more complicated pack dynamics more closely resembling a family unit with
the alphas as caretakers ensuring the entire pack prospers, not just the alphas. But hey, we don’t have to worry about any
of that. It’s just the romance genre. We don’t have to think critically about
it. Just stuff the alpha with so much wish fulfillment
that he becomes a bloated monstrosity. Kind of like most romance author’s sales
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Actually, though, the part where u were talking about the 'alpha male's' need to control every aspect of Mary Sue's life gave me an idea for a character. He sounds very yandere.
Heeyyy, I like the Bad Boy Alphas series by Renee Rose! My favorite is Alpha's Prize.
1.40 and 5.55 made me laugh. He forgot about the Stockholm Syndrome though. The key to being a rabid alpha romance fan is the ability to ignore red flags and to convince yourself that a massive jerk can transform himself to a faithful, loving and caring husband and father when he meets the heroine.
Many authors do not give readers a chance to miss the alpha-ness of the character...
"She felt a shiver run down her spine as the pure alpha appeal of his presence filled the room."
It really do be like that sometimes. Also, the Fated Mates podcast JUST did an episode on alphas.
I love JP's videos and I'm actually really proud that the alpha hero in my series doesn't fall into any of these tropes.