I ask my students a simple question: Who are your heroes?
Most say what you’d expect—YouTubers, bands, maybe a pro gamer or two. But recently, one quiet student, just 13 years old, surprised me. She’s one of my music students, not someone I expected to name a writer.
“Bonnie MacBird,” she said. A mystery writer.
I was surprised and delighted by her answer. Because when someone chooses a thoughtful creator as a hero, it says something not just about admiration, but about intention.
The truth is, who we admire quietly shapes who we become. That’s especially true for writers. The stories we love, the artists we emulate, the values we champion—they become the scaffolding of our creative voice.
Write Boldly: The Heroes We Choose Matter
Once upon a time, before we were saturated with celebrity culture, society held different icons in high esteem. Albert Einstein. Mark Twain. Marie Curie. People whose ideas changed the world. Today, those spaces seem filled by reality stars, pop icons, and the hosts of dating shows or the stars of streaming thrillers.
We may not know who developed the surgical techniques that saved our father’s life, but we can easily recognize the voice of a pop singer from a single lyric. I’m not condemning those celebrities. It’s just a question worth asking: Who’s getting our attention, and why?
As I began to reflect more personally on the question, I found myself asking: Who have my heroes been? How have they influenced me over the years? And who are they now?
I can’t change who society celebrates. But I can reflect on who I’ve admired and how that shaped me.
The Heroes Who Made Me
Looking back, I realize how quietly influential my heroes have been, not just in what I admired, but in the person I was becoming.
As a kid, I was drawn to fictional loners like MacGyver and Luke Skywalker. I couldn’t have told you why at the time. I just thought they were cool. But now I see it more clearly: they were capable, resourceful, and striving toward something bigger than themselves. They had a purpose and they kept showing up for it, even when things got hard.
Later, my heroes began to shift. I remember my mom bringing home a weathered copy of The Silver Chalice by Thomas B. Costain from a yard sale. I didn’t know it then, but that book would shape my future. It opened a door to deeper worlds. Soon I was reading Jack London, Margaret Atwood, and others who not only told powerful stories but challenged the way we see ourselves and the world.
They weren’t just people I admired. They were people I wanted to become—thoughtful, creative, and capable of creating works that inspired other people to think more deeply.
Writers like George R.R. Martin’s get it:
“I’m a huge fan of Tolkien. I read those books when I was in junior high school and high school, and they had a profound effect on me. I’d read other fantasy before, but none of them that I loved like Tolkien.”
That admiration illustrates how a hero can ignite our ambitions, showing us new possibilities while challenging us to find our own voice beyond imitation.
Write Boldly: What the Research Say About Heroes
All of this got me wondering: what does it mean when we admire someone? Is it just admiration from a distance, or something deeper?
Research in psychology tells us that the people we admire have a measurable impact on who we believe we can become.
A study by Lockwood and Kunda (1997) found that when people are exposed to successful role models—especially ones they identify with—it can significantly boost their motivation. If someone believes a hero’s success is attainable, it makes them more likely to pursue similar goals with renewed purpose.
Psychologists call this aspirational influence—the way admired figures shape our beliefs about who we can become. The stronger our emotional connection to a hero, even a fictional one, the more likely we are to reflect their values or habits. These one-sided “parasocial” relationships are surprisingly powerful.
Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory showed that people learn by observing others, especially when they admire them. When we see someone succeed in a way we find meaningful, it helps us mentally rehearse the behavior ourselves, increasing the likelihood that we’ll try it.
Recent mindset research also supports the idea. In one study, researchers found that reading about a role model’s struggle can boost persistence and growth mindset in learners, illustrating how stories of admired figures can influence our own resilience.
Other studies have shown that admired figures influence everything from the careers we pursue to how we respond to failure. When we admire someone’s resilience, courage, or creativity, we’re more likely to practice those traits ourselves.
That’s why it’s worth asking: Who do I admire? And what does that admiration reveal about what I value and where I’m headed?
Write Boldly: Curating Our Constellation of Heroes
Today, my constellation of heroes still includes those master storytellers and fictional characters, but it’s evolved. The person I most admire and want to emulate now is much closer to home: my mom.
She is neither famous nor fictional. But her daily devotion to living fully—whether coaxing mama goats through their pregnancies, leading her Rebekah lodge group, or making sure my stepdad has a nutritious lunch for his next drive in the big rig—reminds me what true perseverance looks like for any endeavor, including writing.
When writer’s block hits or a rejection stings, I think of how she recovered from a serious hamstring injury in her seventies and came back stronger, or how she nursed my dad through lung cancer until he passed. She’s now 80, still laughing and full of life. That quiet strength nudges me back to my desk, helping me push through drafts and doubts better than any TED Talk ever could.
Heroes do that. They loan us courage when we’re running low. They remind us of who we’re trying to be.
Choosing Rather Than Drifting
Our heroes are deeply personal because they mirror slivers of our possible selves. That makes choosing them both intimate and powerful.
Here are a few ways to reflect on how you’re choosing your heroes today:
- Notice the Pattern. Who lights you up? What traits do they share?
- Ask Why. Are you drawn to visibility or depth? Style or substance?
- Upgrade as You Evolve. When a role model no longer pulls you forward, thank them, and invite in someone who does.
- Become One. Someone’s already watching how you navigate life. Be the kind of example you once needed.
Heroes aren’t just childhood fixations. They’re lifelong scaffolding, reminding us of who we are and who we could be. Curate yours with the care you’d give to mentors, role models, or friends, because in a very real way, they are all three.
Write Boldly: Take Action Today
If you’d like to explore this further, pause for a moment and, with your writing life in mind, try the following:
Identify One Hero. Choose a figure, real or fictional, whose qualities resonate with the kind of writer you aspire to be. Perhaps it’s a novelist whose storytelling taught you empathy, or a poet whose courage in voice inspires your boldness.
Reflect on Their Influence. What specific habit, mindset, or value of theirs can you invite into your daily practice? Maybe it’s the persistence of your mom, the imagination of Tolkien, or the honesty of a contemporary writer you admire.
Embed Their Presence. Write a brief note or journal entry addressed to that hero: thank them for showing you what’s possible, and commit to one concrete step that honors their influence in your work this week.
Share the Journey. Consider telling a fellow writer about your hero choice and why.
If you try even one of these actions, you’ll find that your heroes move from distant lights in a constellation to active guides lighting your creative path. Later, as you write, let their example remind you of who you are striving to become. You might find that it helps inspire you to keep showing up for your story.
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Featured image by stockking via Freepik.