Character & Archetypes

Part IV of IV

One of the most important parts of a novel is to ensure that your characters are believable, natural and true to type. It is therefore worth spending a good deal of time up front developing your major character's identities and behaviour patterns.

If you allow your character to take a totally unexpected action that goes against the identity that you have built up for him, you will agitate your readers who will lose faith in you and your writing.

A useful tool to help maintain consistency in your major characters is the archetypal model. Knowing more about character archetypes - blueprints for building well defined characters - will enable you to relate to the nature of the changes a particular character type could go through in your story. This is known as the character arc. Archetypes are a valuable tool which will enable you to dig deeper into your characters. You can dig down and uncover the motivations, fears and cares of your hero, so that you reader is drawn into the very psyche of your main character.

Do not confuse archetypes with stereotypes. A stereotype is often presented as an archetype, but a stereotype is an oversimplified generalisation of a personal trait, usually from a single very prejudiced viewpoint. On the other hand an archetype is formed from the view of the majority of people's experience of people of that type. There are neither assumptions nor judgements about the relevant archetype.

For example, describing someone as a typical nerd, asks you to agree the assumption that all nerds are unsociable, studious bookworms. This stereotype is just a small piece of a very much bigger and deeper picture. Using stereotypes limits the character's growth and possible outcomes in your story. What are the hidden secrets and fears of this character? What motivates him? What are his strengths? What are his weaknesses? An archetype will help you to answer these questions.

Determining which archetype model needs answers to questions such as;

• Does he solve problems by instinct, emotions or logical thinking?
• Is he introverted or extroverted?
• Does he want to change the world?
• What type of friends does he have?
• Is he a control freak?
• Is he serious minded or happy-go-lucky?
• How does he relate to family?

Any good book store will stock books giving the attributes of archetypes. A good one is 45 Master Characters by Victoria Schmidt.

There is much to be learnt about writing a novel. I hope that these notes have stimulated your desire to learn more and to write the novel that has been sitting in your mind for so long.

Common Attributes of Plot

Part III of IV

Common attributes of Plot

A plot needs tension to keep its readers interested. Lots of tension. Without tension, there is no plot.

Using your antagonist, create tension through opposition and make this tension grow as the opposition increases. As your protagonist faces more and more barriers, his crisis deepens. His hatred for his antagonist intensifies. Then something happens to change his whole character. This is the turning point of the plot and has to be a major change, but one that is credible.

The causes in your plot should not be obvious They should appear in a casual and natural way. Don't make 'luck' a cause or effect in your plot. No-one wants to read a story with an anti climax of luck solving the main problem.

Remember that the climax in the plot is the point of no return. Your main character must be the one to perform the solution in the final climax. He can't just fade into the background while someone else takes action to provide the solution.

The two major Plots

As far back as the days of Aristotle, there were two major recognised plots.

The first is the action plot. This is the adventure story, the thriller that relies on a fast and furious roller-coaster ride of action, dominating anything to do with Character. The main character's thoughts, feelings and morals are hardly discussed and are overridden by the action of the plot.

The other major plot is Character driven. Here we are concerned with the deep inner workings of the main character's mind. We examine his beliefs, motivations and attitudes and, whilst there is certainly some action in the plot, these internal mechanizations override the action and form a major part in the climax solution.

Serious literature is more likely to be character driven rather than plot driven.

Before you start writing your novel, you need to decide which of these two forces will dominate your work, and, whilst you can certainly mix them, there needs to be a clear dominance of one over the other.

Where to next?

In my next article I will look at Character.

Plots and Stories - Are they the same?

Part II of IV

What about 'Plot'?

You need to know that famous experts in story writing say that there are only 'X' master plots that have ever been written, and that the plot of each story ever published, is merely a variation of these master plots. So, what is the magic number 'X'? Rudyard Kipling said there were only sixty-nine plots. Karlo Gozzi said the magic number was thirty-six, but that was a long time ago, and, as some of his plots are hopelessly out of date, this number has been narrowed down to eighteen. Aristotle said there were only two plots - action plots and plots of the mind.

Who is right? All of them, to some extent. Don't believe anyone who says there are only 'X' number of plots in story telling. How do you compartmentalize the range of human emotions and possible reactions? There is no such magic number as 'X'.

What is the difference between a Story and a Plot?

In days long gone, when the masses were relatively uneducated, a story was told from narrator to listener, and so went from mouth to ear, repeatedly. This story consisted of a number of events narrated in the sequence in which they occurred. It didn't say why something happened; just that it had happened. A Plot, however, is a pattern of action and reaction; a cause and the effect thereof. It answers the question 'Why?'. 'Why' did this happen? It is thus more than just a sequence of events. It is a pattern that in one form or another is found in any plot.

There are three stages to a Plot.

The first stage is the beginning. This stage generally set up the nature of the problem that must be solved. It introduces your main character, (the protagonist, and possibly the antagonist as well) his nature and belief system, and his wants or needs that require satisfaction if he is to be happy and contented. It is good to set up some form of conflict in this first stage.

The middle stage follows on from the events of the beginning stage. Your main Character pursues his goal and meets with serious barriers, events, or great adversity, which set him back in his course of action. This causes tension and conflict as he attempts to achieve his purpose, while his welfare seems to be in serious decline. Only at the end of this middle stage is there some emotional change in the main character/s. This is called recognition.

Finally, we have the end stage. This contains the climax or final solution where all is revealed and clarified.

By now you will realize that the plot needs a structure, and there is a craft to writing which needs to be studied and understood.

Where to next?

In my next article I will look at some of the major common plot attributes as well as the two major types of plots.

So, You Want to Write a Novel!

Part I of IV

How serious are you about writing?

It sounds easy to do doesn't it? I mean, you have a great story to tell, and you're bursting to get it out. It's got everything going for it; humour, drama, excitement that will keep your readers on the edge of their chair, and great human interest.

Well, what are you waiting for?

Pardon? You haven't got time at the moment. You have a full-time job. You're tired when you get home. You have to do all your chores at weekends.

Those aren't reasons; they're excuses!

If you really wanted to write your novel, you would have found the time. Take some of the time that you watch TV at night and use this for writing. What about the commuting time to and from work? You could sit with a notebook and jot down ideas, while the scenery flashes by the train window. Or, if you commute by car, you could record your ideas and thoughts in a recorder. Or even improve your writing skills and listen to experts on writing skills via your car CD. Even taking ten minutes a day to write, will get you started.

Everyone at some stage in their lives, feels that they have a story to tell, and that they could write a novel, but most people never get further than thinking about it. Of course, in this modern world of ours, anyone can write a book. They can put together any bunch of words into a word processing program on a computer, in any logical or illogical sequence, print it out, slap on a cover and have it bound by any small printer. Presto! You have a book! And then they will call themselves an Author. The fact that it is incomprehensible garbage is irrelevant. It's still a book. Albeit a bad, unsaleable, junk book.

Writing a good book or novel requires something that most people are not prepared to put in - a lot of hard work! In this technological age, many wannabe authors want to be able to put a few ideas into a program, press a button so that the program does all the artificial intelligence work, and have the software then spill out a best-selling novel! Of course it doesn't happen like that in real life.

The truth of the matter is, that if you really are serious about writing a novel, you need to understand that there is a great deal of work involved. Your efforts will be ten percent inspiration and ninety percent perspiration. It takes a lot of hard work to learn the required writing skills, to do the basic research, to write, edit and rewrite the novel, and then to find a publisher who is even prepared to read your masterpiece.

You may have heard that 'Writing can't be learned. Writers are born!' Don't believe a word of it! It is utter nonsense! Writing is a skill and all skills can be learned. However, you do need to have a strong desire to become a successful writer. You will never make it if you are half-hearted about your writing.

Where to next?

In my next article I will talk about the difference between 'story' and 'plot' as well as the nature of 'plot'.

About Me

Hello! My name is Neil Campbell. I have started this site so that I can help you to choose a good electronic reader and to show you all the accessories that can be purchased for it.

Enjoy!