What is a hero? For the sake of this post, when I say hero or he, it also means heroine and she. Let me answer the question with more questions. How is a folklore hero different from the modern hero? How do you write a traditional hero into your historical story without compromising a realistic portrayal of the hero and alienating your history-buff reader at the same time? Trying to find this balance was the biggest headache I had when I was writing 'The Monk Prince'. [ Click this link to watch the video that mirrors this post. ] Let's start by looking at traditional folklore itself. These tales usually focus on how gifted the hero is or how strong and magnificent he looks. The physical aspect is sometimes used as a metaphor to show the hero's character. For example, in The Romance of the 3 Kingdoms, the Chinese hero Liu Bei is described as having earlobes so long that they touched his shoulders. This is a symbol of benevolence and virtue, and it is a physical trait tha
An indigenous writer who writes in English.