First things first, there is no such thing as a perfect heroine. What you should aim to create is a believable and relatable character - not perfect, just believable. There are no clear cut rules on what the ideal heroine should look like since every plot will require her to have different attributes. The worst mistake many new authors make is attempting to create a perfect heroine or a perfect hero. There is no such thing as a perfect person and since your characters should be as close to reality as possible, they should never be portrayed as perfect.

Here are a few tips on creating that ideal heroine that draws readers into her story.

Make Your Heroine Believable: Making the heroine feel real means the reader can easily identify with them and understand their thoughts, emotions, and actions. This does not mean portraying her as someone the reader can be, but rather giving her a persona the reader can easily picture and believe. Once your reader can clearly picture the heroine, they can easily follow her journey. This does not necessarily mean that the reader can imagine the character existing in the real world, but rather in whatever setting you created in the novel.

Realistic Emotions: Make sure your heroine's feelings and actions make sense and are in tune with the changing circumstances. If her reaction to certain situations does not make sense to the reader, then the story will not flow.

Sow The Seed Of Conflict: No matter what genre you are working with, the best way to draw the reader in is by using emotional conflict. Even if the reader has never experienced whatever the heroine is going through, they can easily identify with the emotions and that keeps them locked in.

Give Her Identifiable Traits: Describe your heroine in such a way that the reader can picture her. Give her attributes, both physical and emotional, that are detailed enough for the reader to vividly picture her.

Give Her Some Complexity: No one wants a one-dimensional heroine. Giving her some complexity makes her more interesting. Make her multifaceted enough so different readers can find something in her that they relate with. However, be careful to not lose who she really is in an attempt to make her character versatile.

Allow Her To Have Imperfections: The ideal heroine embodies the concept of perfect imperfection. The best heroine is one that is strong but with flaws. No one wants a perfect heroine or a perfect character of any form for that matter. A flawless character is seen as too good to be true and hence not believable. However, be careful not to make her a bundle of insecurities and flaws. With all her flaws, she still needs to embody the persona of someone strong, intelligent and admirable.

Give Her An Appropriate Name: There are really no rules to what name a character of any form should have. However, make sure the name you give your heroine fits the theme and setting of your story. It is very unlikely that an editor will turn your manuscript down because of a name, but a name that fits the story makes the reading flow better.