I've had it with my hero. Standing in front of me, a smile tugs at his lips. An earnest longing emanates from his soft brown eyes. Eager to share the day's events, his muscular arms are outstretched ready for a loving embrace. Lips parted, he is anxious for a long, seductive kiss. And yet, I want to smack him upside the head!

I've written him all wrong. Sure, he's a Scottish laird, as tall as a tree, fearless, deft with sword, caber, and pole ax, and stunningly macho outfitted in a plaid skirt. He can skin a deer in twenty seconds flat, bravely lead men into battle, and run an entire clan. But he's a...wimp

What kind of hero do women want? A man who will love them? Cherish them? Support them? No! No! No! Women desire men they can tame. Men who are a little bit naughty, rough around the edges, uncouth, bad mannered, a swashbuckler, a strong but silent rouge who they can domesticate.

Albeit, by the time the first baby arrives, most of us are looking for an accountant with a steady bank account, safe driving record, who can cook a mean casserole. Until then, women are attracted to troublesome, wayward, willful, rebellious, and bad otherwise how can our heroine cultivate him? Okay, maybe not bad, but a guy she can fashion into the man she deserves. If he's already perfectly charming and polite--well what fun is that?

In the movie Star Wars, who were women more captivated by? Luke Skywalker? Or Hans Solo? Most of them would say Hans because he was a man who needed a little work and we all wanted to get our hands on him!

Ashley Wilkes or Rhett Butler?

In Top Gun do women want to fly with? Maverick? or a guy named Goose?

In Pride and Prejudice who was the hottie? Bingham or Darcy? Darcy. Because Bingley's manner and appearance oozed charm, polish, and gentleness. Darcy bristled with self-centeredness, pride, and a snobbish air, which created longings in us I'm sure Jane Austin never intended. We wanted to fix him.

According to Deb Dixon's book, Goal Motivation and Conflict, we can make our heroes as bad as we wish if we show the motivation behind the behavior. If we know what's important to him we sympathize. Women want a male protagonist who is wild and fierce, but they want to understand what has made them that way.

So wipe that smile off your hero's face and read him the riot act. Take away those manners, those acts of kindness, those chivalrous deeds. Rewrite him with flaws, obnoxious habits, a self-centered attitude, bad temper and ill manners. Then blame it all on his mother.

Now your heroine can get to work.

Take him from Mel Gibson's Braveheart to Mel Gibson's, What Women Want, and then you'll have a well-crafted leading man you can take home to your editor.