I Think My Novel’s ‘Hero’ May Look Like Bill Hader

Shelton Bumgarner

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

I really hate it when people in the so-called “writing community” on Twitter and Instagram preen about how many words they’ve written or what their hero looks like. Fuck that. Serious novels, at least in my experience, have far more intangible metrics. A novel needs some serious development before you worry about things like that. While I have the utmost respect for “pantsers” who just dive into writing a novel, I’ve discovered that I’m the exact opposite. Because my internal editor is a vicious, brutal and sadistic taskmaster, I’ve spend a year in breach-birth development hell. But things seem to be stabilizing — maybe — so I thought I’d allow myself to indulge in a bit of preening of my own.

The thing about Hollywood actors — who I’m using for inspiration for my characters’ physical appearance — is the guys I like, like Daniel Craig — are way too old. My Hero is 40 when the story opens and as such I need someone about that age to study to use as inspiration. One issue is my Hero is Southern. So the ideal person to play him in my mind is Matthew McConaughey, but he’s 10 years too old, just like Craig. Given what I imagine my Hero looking like, I think Bill Hader is just the right age and has the right countenance to be who I think about when I am writing my Hero. Hader is also from Oklahoma, so he might have some sense of Southern life and where the character is coming from. But, again, that statement is more a testament to my personal daydreaming than anything connected to reality.

But that’s simply a general guide in my mind. I *am* writing a *novel* and *not* a screenplay. While I may write a screenplay at some point, I want to write a novel because I have absolute control and I can simply sit down and start writing without worrying about buying Final Draft. The real issue for me at this point is establishing tone. I, by nature, want to write an early John Irving novel. But I need to read Gone Girl and Girl On The Train to hone closer to the tone needed and expected in the type of novel I’m developing.

Wish me luck.

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