Archetypes

• Archetypes


  The "blueprints for building well-defined characters, be they heroes, villains, or supporting characters"
• Archetypes help writers avoid creating several characters who act exactly like the writer himself
• In using archetypes, the essence of a character is narrowed down so she jumps off the page at the reader instead of blending in with all the other characters
• Stereotypes


  Oversimplified generalizations about people usually stemming from one person's prejudice
• Stereotypes may be used to describe an archetype but a stereotype is only a shallow imitation, a small piece of the bigger picture you can use to create your characters
• Archetypes aren't formed from one individual's view of people but from the entire human race's experience of people. Judgment and assumptions are absent
• How to use archetypes

  1. What does your character care about?

  2. What does she fear?

  3. What motivates her?

  4. How do other characters view her?
• What a character cares about

  Tells us who she is and creates obstacles by placing the thing she cares about most in danger as she tries to reach her goal
• Character's fears


  Come from the psychological aspect of their archetype mixed in with their past experience
• Character motivators


  • Survival
  • Safety and security
  • Love and belonging
  • Esteem and self-respect
  • The need to know and understand
  • The aesthetic
  • Self-actualization
• How other characters view the protagonist

  Reveals how the protagonist's clothes, desires, and actions fit with their archetype, and whether others have an accurate view of them