8 ½ Character Archetypes You Should Be Writing
Here’s the thing about character archetypes: everybody’s got his own take. Do you run with Joseph Campbell’s gazillion and one Jungian archetypes? How about Dramatica’s double quad of eight archetypes? Or maybe screenwriter Michael Hauge’s simple offering of four main players? Nothing wrong with running with all of them. The fact that archetypes are both universally applicable and yet endlessly varying provides authors with both structure and flexibility. Today, we’re going to explore my take, which is primarily based on Dramatica’s eight characters. 1. This one doesn’t need much explanation. The main actor.The person most greatly affected by the Antagonist.The person whose reactions and actions drive the majority of the plot.The person with whom the readers will identify most strongly.The person whose inner journey, as influenced by the outer conflict, will be the most obvious manifestation of your story’s theme. Examples 2. This one’s also pretty clear. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Mr. 8 ½.
Screenwriting.info: How to Write a Screenplay
Monomyth
Joseph Campbell's monomyth, or the hero's journey, is a basic pattern that its proponents argue is found in many narratives from around the world. This widely distributed pattern was described by Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949).[1] Campbell, an enthusiast of novelist James Joyce, borrowed the term monomyth from Joyce's Finnegans Wake.[2] Campbell held that numerous myths from disparate times and regions share fundamental structures and stages, which he summarized in The Hero with a Thousand Faces: A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.[3] A chart outlining the Hero's Journey. Summary[edit] In a monomyth, the hero begins in the ordinary world, and receives a call to enter an unknown world of strange powers and events. The 17 Stages of the Monomyth[edit]
297 Flabby Words and Phrases That Rob Your Writing of All Its Power
You’re not stupid. You know what writing is truly about. It’s a never-ending battle for your readers’ attention. Every sentence is a link in a taut chain that connects your headline to your conclusion. And you are just one weak sentence away from losing your reader forever. So you take your craft quite seriously. You ignore all but your best ideas. You work on each piece of writing for exactly as long as necessary to get it right. And you edit until your words are crisp and clear. But what if that isn’t enough? What if weaknesses remain that are almost impossible to spot? The Subtle Attention Killers That Hide in Plain Sight No matter how carefully you scrutinize your writing, subtle problems will remain. Certain words and phrases are so commonplace – and so seemingly benign – that they glide unnoticed under your editing radar. But these words and phrases can silently erode your reader’s attention. They don’t stand out. But they weaken your writing and dilute your ideas. So bookmark this post.
20 Terrifying Two-Sentence Horror Stories That Will Keep You Up At Night. #7 Gave Me Chills
If you're looking for a horrifying story that will keep you up tonight, don't waste all that time watching a horror movie. Here are twenty terrifying horror stories wrapped up in two sentences or less. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12." 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. Share this with your friends by clicking below!
60 Awesome Search Engines for Serious Writers
June 20th, 2010 Finding the information you need as a writer shouldn’t be a chore. Luckily, there are plenty of search engines out there that are designed to help you at any stage of the process, from coming up with great ideas to finding a publisher to get your work into print. Both writers still in college and those on their way to professional success will appreciate this list of useful search applications that are great from making writing a little easier and more efficient. Professional Find other writers, publishers and ways to market your work through these searchable databases and search engines. Writing These helpful tools will help you along in the writing process. Research Try out these tools to get your writing research done in a snap. Google Scholar: With this specialized search engine from Google, you’ll only get reliable, academic results for your searches.WorldCat: If you need a book from the library, try out this tool. Reference Need to look up a quote or a fact? Niche Writers
A Guide to Fantasy and Fairy Tale Fiction for Self-Published Authors - danieladorno.com
The TV show, Once Upon A Time, has become popular in the last few years and established a large fanbase. The show takes well-known fairy tale characters like Peter Pan, Cinderella, Snow White, and many others and plants them in a modern setting with a very fantastical feel. Recently, the insanely popular Elsa and Anna from Disney’s Frozen were added to the show’s long list of characters. I’m not a fan of the show, but I can easily see its mass appeal. Fairy tales are making a strong comeback in mainstream movies, shows, and fiction. CLICK HERE to get 10 tips on writing fantasy & fairy tales! Fairy Tales Defined Fairy tales have been around for hundreds of years and most people are familiar with stories penned by the like of Hans Christian Andersen, the Brothers Grimm, Carlo Callodi, and others. Another defining aspect of fairy tales is that they tend to be regional. A Fantastical Contrast When we examine fantasy fiction in comparison to fairy tales there are numerous similarities.
HOW NOT TO OPEN A SHORT STORY | Fantasy Author's Handbook
I generally don’t like this kind of negative approach: lists of what not to do. I prefer to encourage you to do things, not discourage you from doing things, but back to the subject of short stories, I can’t help but point out some very common pitfalls that I’ve seen over and over again for years—decades, actually. So here goes, in no particular order, half a dozen things you should never do in the first page of a short story: Too Many Ideas in a Sentence Especially in the first sentence of your story, limit each sentence to one idea. Example of what not to do: I woke up that morning wondering when I would stop having visions of the future when all of a sudden a flying saucer landed on my front lawn. Is this a story about a guy with precognitive abilities, or UFOs, or both? Example of what to do instead (from “Enchanted Village” by A.E. van Vogt): “Explorers of a new frontier” they had been called before they left for Mars. This is a story about a voyage to Mars. The Newspaper Lead Ms.
