Use Archetypes to Create Literary Characters

Use Archetypes to Create Literary Characters Use Archetypes to Create Literary Characters Use Archetypes to Create Literary Characters By Mark Nichol In essence, any literary character is drawn from one or more archetypes. An archetype is basically the pattern for a character, associated with a trait or a concept. Archetypes are most easily recognized in genre fiction science fiction, fantasy, horror, thriller but they are applicable to any fiction, whether of high or low literary aspiration. The key is to select one or more archetypes as just the first step in character building. But there are many types of archetypes from various belief systems and other sources. Try, for example, associating a character with one of the figures from the Chinese zodiac boar, dog, dragon, horse, goat, monkey, ox, rabbit, rat, rooster, snake, and tiger each of which is endowed with a complex array of both positive and negative traits (which I’ll let you research for yourself). For that matter, what’s your character’s (Western) astrological sign? (You don’t have to believe in astrology or any other belief system to derive characters from it.) Alternatively, draw on mythology, legends, fairy tales, or folklore, or existing literature, including Shakespearean characters, or on Tarot cards, for that matter. (The noncharacter cards can inspire you to develop the plot, too.) Here are some classic archetypes, including some based on Jungian psychology, to get you started: Child Guardian Herald Hermit Hero Hunter Judge Mentor Sage Shadow Shaman Sidekick Trickster Wanderer Note that there are often multiple subtypes. Heroes are especially variable: They can be loners, or collaborators, they can be willing, or unwilling, they can be comic, serious, or tragic, they can be cheerful, or cynical. Combinations of archetypes are easily achieved, too; a mentor can be a guardian, a hermit, a judge, a sage, a shaman, a trickster, or a wanderer as well, or two or more of the above. The personality enneagram, a nine-pointed array of personality types, might also be a useful reference for character building. The nine types follow: Achiever Enthusiast Helper Leader Loyalist Mediator Observer Reformer Romantic You can research enneagrammatic types further to identify their typical desires and fears, virtues and vices, and the like. Consider these psychological types based on the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator psychometric assessment: introversion/extroversion, sensing/intuition, thinking/feeling, and judgment/perception. (Everyone is a combination of both types in each pair, but in different ratios.) Also, evaluate your character on their relative affinity for other people, for things, and for information. Again, everyone has an aptitude for interpersonal relationships, for working with objects or devices, and for receiving, processing, and sending data, but they possess these talents to differing extents. What does your character’s people/things/information pie chart look like? Marketers, mechanics, and mathematicians are primarily people, things, and information oriented respectively, but their personalities include amounts of the other two elements as well. Have you employed any of these strategies to create characters? What are some others you can think of? Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Fiction Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Handy Expressions About Handsâ€Å"As Well As† Does Not Mean â€Å"And†Writing Styles (with Examples)