Wednesday, 3 February 2010
I'm going to review another one of my recent Amazon purchases today. 45 Master Characters by Victoria Lynn Schmidt
The book talks about using character archetypes to create three dimensional characters. You can find a lot about archetypes on line but this uses archetypes based on the Greek Pantheon, inspired by Jungian philosophy. Have I scared you off yet? Despite the sound of it, the book is very accessible and very easy to read. The first chapter explains the concept of character archetypes as being a way to understand your character's motivations and basic nature. There is one thing the author says in the introduction that I think every writer should have indelibly etched into their monitor or type writer or the first page of their journal, wherever it is they sit to write - "A character doesn't decide to go into a burning building because that's what your plot point says he should do - he goes inside because it's his nature to do so."
The first chapter finishes with an exercise where you close your eyes and envisage your character and his basic personality and appearance and then answer certain questions about him or her. Then it shows you how to use those answers to decide which of the archetypes your character most closely resembles.
I admit when I went into this I was very sceptical. I abhor generalisations in general. I don't write my characters as female or male, black or white, gay or straight. I write them as individuals and the idea that there are 16 basic archetypes that I can fit a main character into struck me as ridiculous (I know it says 45 but there are 7 male, 7 female, with 'hero' and 'villain' versions of each, a messiah archetype for each gender which doesn't come from the Jungian model, and then several sub-characters as well, so for your main character there are 16 main archetypes), but surprisingly it works. As you think about your characters you should be able to pick an archetype for each of them pretty easily. As a fan fiction writer as well as a writer of original fiction I was surprised and pleased to find that some of the characters I have trouble writing, I could match to an archetype easily and it helped me understand their motivations much more easily. As an original writer I'm finding it's helping me thing about motivations and goals and how they conflict in my story.
The book is more complicated than just a list of archetypes, with an entire chapter for each archetype, explanations of motivations, lists of examples from television, film, and books, writing exercises, and chapters on the masculine and feminine journeys in fiction. I heartily recommend buying it.
Obviously I can't cover everything in it in the space I have here so I'm just going to list the archetypes the author uses and give a couple of examples of each one.
Aphrodite: The Seductive Muse and Femme Fatale
Samantha Jones Sex & the City
Vivian Ward Pretty Woman
Sally Bowles Cabaret
Rizzo Grease
Cleopatra
Mary, Queen of Scots
Scarlett O'Hara Gone with the Wind
Artemis: The Amazon and the Gorgon
Buffy Summers Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rise DeWitt Bukater Titanic
Lt. Ellen L Ripley Alien
Joan of Arc
Queen Boudica
Jo March Little Women
Scout To Kill a Mockingbird
Lucy Chronicles of Narnia
Athena: The Father's Daughter and the Backstabber
Captain Kathryn Janeway Star Trek: Voyager
Dana Scully X-Files
Lt. Jordan O'Neil G I Jane
Matilda, Countess of Tuscany
Beatrice Much Ado About Nothing
Lady Macbeth Macbeth
Clarice Starling The Silence of the Lambs
Demeter: The Nurturer and the Over controlling Mother
Daphne Moon Frasier
June Cleaver Leave it to Beaver
Dorothy Boyd Jerry Maguire
Florence Nightingale
Meg March Little Women
Mary Poppins Mary Poppins
Hera: The Matriarch and the Scorned Woman
Roseanne Conner Roseanne
Monica Geller Friends
Joan Crawford Mommie Dearest
Gertrude Hamlet
Viviane Mists of Avalon
Mrs Bennet Pride & Prejudice
Nurse Ratched One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest
Hestia: The Mystic and the Betrayer
Phoebe Buffay Friends
Willow Rosenberg Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Annie Hall Annie Hall
Beth March Little Women
Blanche DuBois A Streetcar Named Desire
Isis: The Female Messiah and the Destroyer
Monica Touched by an Angel
Leeloo The Fifth Element
Trinity The Matrix
Erin Brockovich Erin Brockovich
Lady of the Lake Arthurian Legend
Lady Godiva
Morgaine Mists of Avalon
Hester Prynne The Scarlet Letter
Galadriel The Lord of the Rings
Persephone: The Maiden and the Troubled Teen
Cordelia Chase Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Lucy Ricardo I Love Lucy
Rachel Green Friends
Sandra Dee Grease
Antigone
Guinevere Arthurian Legend
Princess Sleeping Beauty
Dorothy The Wizard of Oz
Dolores 'Lolita' Haze Lolita
Juliet Romeo and Juliet
Ophelia Hamlet
Apollo: The Businessman and the Traitor
Drs. Frasier and Niles Crane Frasier
Lt Columbo Columbo
Commander Spock Star Trek
David Levinson Independence Day
Edward Lewis Pretty Woman
Dr Egon Spengler Ghostbusters
Dr Alan Grant Jurassic Park
Hercule Poirot Agatha Christie
Mr Darcy Pride and Prejudice
Ebeneezer Scrooge A Christmas Carol
Ares: The Protector and the Gladiator
Lt Worf Star Trek: The Next Generation
Sonny Crockett Crockett and Tubbs
Michael Knight Knight Rider
Han Solo Star Wars
Sonny Corleone The Godfather
Det. John McClane Die Hard
Little John
Superman
Zorro
Lancelot Arthurian Legend
Hades: The Recluse and the Warlock
Angel Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel
Fox Mulder X-Files
Rick Blaine Casablanca
Crash Davies Bull Durham
Beast Beauty and the Beast
Hamlet Hamlet
Daniel Boone
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Heathcliffe Wuthering Heights
Philip Marlowe Raymond Chandler
Hannibal Lecter The Silence of the Lambs
Hermes: The Fool and the Derelict
Joey Tribbiani Friends
Warren 'Potsie' Webber and Ralph Malph Happy Days
Xander Harris Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Jay Men in Black
Austin Powers Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
Don Quixote Don Quixote
Peter Pan Peter Pan
Tom Sawyer The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Puck A Midsummer Night's Dream
Dionysus: The Woman's Man and the Seducer
Sam Malone Cheers
Chandler Bing Friends
Harry Burns When Harry Met Sally
Johnny Castle Dirty Dancing
Will Shakespeare Shakespeare in Love
Jack Dawson Titanic
Count Dracula Dracula
Porthos The Three Musketeers
John Willoughby Sense and Sensibility
Osiris: The Male Messiah and the Punisher
Jonathan Smith Highway to Heaven
Luke Skywalker Star Wars
Neo The Matrix
Charles Foster Kane Citizen Kane
Ulysses
Ghandi
Robin Hood
Malcolm X
Superman
Poseidon: The Artist and the Abuser
Jim Stark Rebel Without a Cause
J.D. Thelma and Louise
Vincent van Gogh
Tristan Arthurian Legend
Stanley Kowalski A Streetcar Named Desire
Othello Othello
Prospero The Tempest
Zeus: The King and the Dictator
Tony Soprano Snr. The Sopranos
Captain James T Kirk Star Trek
Ricky Ricardo I Love Lucy
Don Vito Corleone The Godfather
King Mongkut of Siam The King and I
King Arthur Arthurian Legend
Julius Caesar
Captain Ahab Moby Dick
Marc Anthony Anthony and Cleopatra
King Lear King Lear
The book talks about using character archetypes to create three dimensional characters. You can find a lot about archetypes on line but this uses archetypes based on the Greek Pantheon, inspired by Jungian philosophy. Have I scared you off yet? Despite the sound of it, the book is very accessible and very easy to read. The first chapter explains the concept of character archetypes as being a way to understand your character's motivations and basic nature. There is one thing the author says in the introduction that I think every writer should have indelibly etched into their monitor or type writer or the first page of their journal, wherever it is they sit to write - "A character doesn't decide to go into a burning building because that's what your plot point says he should do - he goes inside because it's his nature to do so."
The first chapter finishes with an exercise where you close your eyes and envisage your character and his basic personality and appearance and then answer certain questions about him or her. Then it shows you how to use those answers to decide which of the archetypes your character most closely resembles.
I admit when I went into this I was very sceptical. I abhor generalisations in general. I don't write my characters as female or male, black or white, gay or straight. I write them as individuals and the idea that there are 16 basic archetypes that I can fit a main character into struck me as ridiculous (I know it says 45 but there are 7 male, 7 female, with 'hero' and 'villain' versions of each, a messiah archetype for each gender which doesn't come from the Jungian model, and then several sub-characters as well, so for your main character there are 16 main archetypes), but surprisingly it works. As you think about your characters you should be able to pick an archetype for each of them pretty easily. As a fan fiction writer as well as a writer of original fiction I was surprised and pleased to find that some of the characters I have trouble writing, I could match to an archetype easily and it helped me understand their motivations much more easily. As an original writer I'm finding it's helping me thing about motivations and goals and how they conflict in my story.
The book is more complicated than just a list of archetypes, with an entire chapter for each archetype, explanations of motivations, lists of examples from television, film, and books, writing exercises, and chapters on the masculine and feminine journeys in fiction. I heartily recommend buying it.
Obviously I can't cover everything in it in the space I have here so I'm just going to list the archetypes the author uses and give a couple of examples of each one.
Aphrodite: The Seductive Muse and Femme Fatale
Samantha Jones Sex & the City
Vivian Ward Pretty Woman
Sally Bowles Cabaret
Rizzo Grease
Cleopatra
Mary, Queen of Scots
Scarlett O'Hara Gone with the Wind
Artemis: The Amazon and the Gorgon
Buffy Summers Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rise DeWitt Bukater Titanic
Lt. Ellen L Ripley Alien
Joan of Arc
Queen Boudica
Jo March Little Women
Scout To Kill a Mockingbird
Lucy Chronicles of Narnia
Athena: The Father's Daughter and the Backstabber
Captain Kathryn Janeway Star Trek: Voyager
Dana Scully X-Files
Lt. Jordan O'Neil G I Jane
Matilda, Countess of Tuscany
Beatrice Much Ado About Nothing
Lady Macbeth Macbeth
Clarice Starling The Silence of the Lambs
Demeter: The Nurturer and the Over controlling Mother
Daphne Moon Frasier
June Cleaver Leave it to Beaver
Dorothy Boyd Jerry Maguire
Florence Nightingale
Meg March Little Women
Mary Poppins Mary Poppins
Hera: The Matriarch and the Scorned Woman
Roseanne Conner Roseanne
Monica Geller Friends
Joan Crawford Mommie Dearest
Gertrude Hamlet
Viviane Mists of Avalon
Mrs Bennet Pride & Prejudice
Nurse Ratched One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest
Hestia: The Mystic and the Betrayer
Phoebe Buffay Friends
Willow Rosenberg Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Annie Hall Annie Hall
Beth March Little Women
Blanche DuBois A Streetcar Named Desire
Isis: The Female Messiah and the Destroyer
Monica Touched by an Angel
Leeloo The Fifth Element
Trinity The Matrix
Erin Brockovich Erin Brockovich
Lady of the Lake Arthurian Legend
Lady Godiva
Morgaine Mists of Avalon
Hester Prynne The Scarlet Letter
Galadriel The Lord of the Rings
Persephone: The Maiden and the Troubled Teen
Cordelia Chase Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Lucy Ricardo I Love Lucy
Rachel Green Friends
Sandra Dee Grease
Antigone
Guinevere Arthurian Legend
Princess Sleeping Beauty
Dorothy The Wizard of Oz
Dolores 'Lolita' Haze Lolita
Juliet Romeo and Juliet
Ophelia Hamlet
Apollo: The Businessman and the Traitor
Drs. Frasier and Niles Crane Frasier
Lt Columbo Columbo
Commander Spock Star Trek
David Levinson Independence Day
Edward Lewis Pretty Woman
Dr Egon Spengler Ghostbusters
Dr Alan Grant Jurassic Park
Hercule Poirot Agatha Christie
Mr Darcy Pride and Prejudice
Ebeneezer Scrooge A Christmas Carol
Ares: The Protector and the Gladiator
Lt Worf Star Trek: The Next Generation
Sonny Crockett Crockett and Tubbs
Michael Knight Knight Rider
Han Solo Star Wars
Sonny Corleone The Godfather
Det. John McClane Die Hard
Little John
Superman
Zorro
Lancelot Arthurian Legend
Hades: The Recluse and the Warlock
Angel Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel
Fox Mulder X-Files
Rick Blaine Casablanca
Crash Davies Bull Durham
Beast Beauty and the Beast
Hamlet Hamlet
Daniel Boone
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Heathcliffe Wuthering Heights
Philip Marlowe Raymond Chandler
Hannibal Lecter The Silence of the Lambs
Hermes: The Fool and the Derelict
Joey Tribbiani Friends
Warren 'Potsie' Webber and Ralph Malph Happy Days
Xander Harris Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Jay Men in Black
Austin Powers Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
Don Quixote Don Quixote
Peter Pan Peter Pan
Tom Sawyer The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Puck A Midsummer Night's Dream
Dionysus: The Woman's Man and the Seducer
Sam Malone Cheers
Chandler Bing Friends
Harry Burns When Harry Met Sally
Johnny Castle Dirty Dancing
Will Shakespeare Shakespeare in Love
Jack Dawson Titanic
Count Dracula Dracula
Porthos The Three Musketeers
John Willoughby Sense and Sensibility
Osiris: The Male Messiah and the Punisher
Jonathan Smith Highway to Heaven
Luke Skywalker Star Wars
Neo The Matrix
Charles Foster Kane Citizen Kane
Ulysses
Ghandi
Robin Hood
Malcolm X
Superman
Poseidon: The Artist and the Abuser
Jim Stark Rebel Without a Cause
J.D. Thelma and Louise
Vincent van Gogh
Tristan Arthurian Legend
Stanley Kowalski A Streetcar Named Desire
Othello Othello
Prospero The Tempest
Zeus: The King and the Dictator
Tony Soprano Snr. The Sopranos
Captain James T Kirk Star Trek
Ricky Ricardo I Love Lucy
Don Vito Corleone The Godfather
King Mongkut of Siam The King and I
King Arthur Arthurian Legend
Julius Caesar
Captain Ahab Moby Dick
Marc Anthony Anthony and Cleopatra
King Lear King Lear
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