45 Master Characters (4 page)

Does he take life seriously or act like a kid most of the time?

Where would she spend a Sunday afternoon? By herself in the bookstore? At a luncheon party with friends? Looking over files for work?

Now you have basic answers to help you see which archetype your character fits into most. As you review the archetypes in the following chapters, you'll begin to see which archetype seems “right” — it will be the archetype that matches your character's traits and will help you grow your character in new ways. Later you'll be able to see if you have character elements that don't “fit” the archetype. Consistency is what makes a character feel alive to a reader. For example, we expect a Father's Daughter to have some trouble in a room filled with children. If she were to embrace such a situation and be perfect at it, she wouldn't feel real at all.

Think of J.C. Wiatt (Diane Keaton), the Father's Daughter, in the movie
Baby Boom
. It took her a while just to figure out how to change a diaper. Also think of Detective John Kimble (Arnold Schwarzenegger), the Protector, in
Kindergarten Cop
. He has major headaches when he's with children. He treats them as if they were in military school, and it takes him a while to learn how to deal with them properly.

N
ow that your hero stands drawn before you, she needs to have her personality colored in. Along with a character sketch and insight into archetypal psychology, the following chapters provide the tools to help you answer these questions for each master archetype: What does your character
care
about? What does she
fear
? What
motivates
her? How do other characters
view
her?

In a general sense all characters care about something. Traditionally writers are asked the following questions to define a character — “If your character was stranded on a desert island what are the three things he would want to have?” or “What would he miss the most if his house burned down?” Each archetype has a different set of values that dictates what these things are. In some cases what the hero cares most about isn't a material object or person but a way of life. An Amazon woman would rather die than give up her independence, like the heroes in
Thelma & Louise
do. A King would abandon his children if they refused to obey his rules.

You want to know what this character cares about not only to tell us who she is but to create obstacles by placing the thing she cares about most in danger as she tries to reach her goal. While a character cares deeply about reaching her goal, she may care more about saving a friend's life and will let the goal slip out of her reach to save her friend. Think of Xena (the Amazon) from
Xena: Warrior Princess
. The plotline may take her to a village she has to save from an evil warlord, but suddenly Gabrielle, her trusted friend and soul mate, is kidnapped. Xena will drop everything to save her even if it means destroying the village.

Don't let archetypes dictate the plotline to you. Because a character cares deeply about getting married like the Matriarch, it doesn't mean you're a slave to writing a plot that deals with marriage if you choose this archetype. Whatever plotline you place your character in, this desire will filter into the dialogue and subtext of your scenes and chapters.

What would give her nightmares? If she heard a noise in the dead of night how would she react? What would she envision is making the noise?

The best tests a character can come up against stem from fear. It's much more suspenseful to see a character who is deathly afraid of water jump into the ocean to save a loved one than it is to see an Olympic swimmer do the same thing.

The fears a character possesses come from the psychological aspect of their archetype mixed in with their past experience. For example, the Businessman prefers city life and civilization. Combine this with a fear of wild animals due to a camping accident as a child and you have a character terrified of the outdoors. Perhaps he confines himself to his home in the city and the four walls of his office. One day his boss asks him to travel to a remote country area for an account he's working on. Since his job is what he cares most about, he is forced to face his fears.

Ask yourself what happened to this character at a young age to create this fear. You can then sprinkle this information to the reader along the way.

Linda Segar's book
Making a Good Script Great
outlines the seven character motivators that “explain what drives us, what we want and what's at stake if we don't get it.”

They are:

Survival —
The basic need to live and survive.

Safety and Security —
Once basic needs are taken care of we need to feel safe, secure and protected.

Love and Belonging —
Once we have a home we desire a sense of family or community or connection. Unconditional love and acceptance.

Esteem and Self-Respect —
Is earned love and respect for what you've done in your life, to be looked up to and to be recognized.

The Need to Know and Understand —
The search for knowledge. We have a natural curious desire to know how things work and how things fit together.

The Aesthetic —
The need for balance, a sense of order in life, a sense of being connected to something greater than ourselves. Can be spiritual.

Self-Actualization —
To express ourselves; to communicate who we are; to actualize our talents, skills and abilities whether or not we are publicly recognized.

Each archetype resonates with one of these motivators in a special way. Archetypes themselves are very connected to these motivating forces — they drive characters to do the crazy things they do, as you'll see in the coming chapters.

How do your character's clothes and desires fit in with her archetype? How would we recognize this archetype on the street? For example, an Amazon woman would prefer to wear comfortable clothing like sweatpants while a Businessman would choose a plainly designed suit.

What do other characters say about him behind his back? How do they read his actions and opinions? Are they afraid of him? Are they jealous of her? Do they have an accurate view of him? Will this character allow others to get to know her or does she hide her true self?

Be creative when using the archetypes. They are merely meant to be guides. For example, when I say the archetype known as the King — a man who loves to be in control, who's neat and organized, who leads others, gives advice, etc. — it would be easy to think of someone like Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) from
The Sopranos
fitting in with this archetype, but Jerry Seinfeld from
Seinfeld
fits this archetype as well. Everyone comes over to his house and seeks his advice; he's always in control; he's neat and organized. His character is a comedic twist to this archetype.

Think of the Amazon archetype; Xena, Nikita (Peta Wilson) in
La Femme Nikita
, and Lieutenant Ellen L. Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) in
Alien
all fit this archetype but so does Gracie Hart (Sandra Bullock) in
Miss Congeniality
. She's an Amazon woman who's forced into entering a beauty pageant yet knows nothing about hair, makeup or style. Be creative with the archetypes.

If you've developed your story already, consider how different it would be with each of the different archetypes in the lead role. Pick three archetypes and write a one-page outline of your story for each type. You may be surprised at all the new twists and plot points you come up with based on an archetype's fears and desires.

Remember to pick an archetype that has room to grow the most as a result of the obstacles he faces in your story. Put a King into a story where he loses control of everyone. Put a Father's Daughter into a story that takes her into the woods and the wilderness. Archetypal characters must learn something from the experiences you give them so they become more than just their archetype.

To begin, select an archetype that interests you and see if using his fears against him would be fun and challenging. It may even be comedic.

Essentially we may have many archetypes within our personalities but one is usually dominant. Within each archetype I ask ‘What happened at an early age to cultivate this archetype in your character?’ There is usually an event during the developmental years that causes us to adapt to survive, the way we adapt shows our dominate archetype.