Archetypes Grab Bag Part 2: Mythical Characters

Who are you?  I don't mean philosophically, but how would you describe yourself?  If you were a character in your novel, are you completely unique?  What clique do you fall into?  These are the questions we need to figure out about our characters.

I would fall under the guise of a typical nerd complete with glasses, potbelly, strewn books, pocket protector, and countless references to history, movies or trivia.

The characters I create are anything but nerds, which is why we're going to look at all the various archetypes I have been alluding to lately.

The first three key character archetypes are called many things.  Most commonly though, and depending if you're in public schools or not, they are the Mortal, Devil, and Christ figures.  These three figures are perhaps the oldest archetypes created because they go back to the oldest troubles of mankind.

A Mortal figure is usually in some sort of danger, but he is also the one we identify with, yes, the protagonist.

A Devil figure is usually the one causing the danger, we don't normally identify with the Devil, so they are the antagonist.

The Christ figure is a strange figure, in my opinion.  Ideally, the Christ figure's job is to sacrifice something very important to save the mortal, for example their life and thus the name.  However, the Mortal can also sacrifice something to save people, thus shifting their status from Mortal to Christ.  The Devil may also do this.  Therefore, the Christ figure may not necessarily be a third character and we are now looking at a character trait known as Dynamic.

Dynamic characters are characters who throughout a story change their opinions, ideals, or in some manner or means grow or degrade.  Inversely, Static characters never change.  They are who they are and will forever be.  Ideally, static characters can be a form of archetype, but their entire purpose is to just move the plot, like the red shirt guy in Star Trek.

Moving on, however, some more archetypes to consider.  When we spoke of mythology I provided four god archetypes.  These four archetypes are still prevalent in today's literature.

Trickster: The trickster is very much alive and well in modern literature.  This is your quintessential villain. They lie, cheat, steal, drink, basically any vice you can think of they do it to excess.  In mythological times, these gods (Hermes, Coyote, Loki to name the big three) were used to teach people a lesson through bad behavior.  The trickster was often a shapeshifter character because of his weak ties to the community and the lack of trust his community could put into him. Nowadays, the trickster befriends the hero to trick him, or the trickster manipulates the situation to his whim.  However, his vices always get the better of him, most notably pride. 

Yes, Wile E. Coyote was once a god, some of us
already knew this though.

Earth Spirit (Earth Mother): The life giver and often the one who has, in some sense, set the events of the quest or journey into motion.  Gaea, Mother Earth, and I know i'm missing more than a few of these deities, but their role is generally the same.  These are the spirits which created the world we know.  They are the source of life, and in particular they are usually the ones guiding the hero on their journey.  In mythology, though, these goddesses (and occasionally a god) were sometimes minor gods and sometimes they were pivotal and essential gods.


All Father: Hmm, the All Father.  Odin.  YHWH.  Allah.  Zeus.  The king of the gods in mythology or the king of a kingdom in literature.  He's the one playing puppet master either figuratively or actually.  Ideally, the All Father was an idealistic citizen of a particular society.  In fantasy stories he is either in a state of losing control or he is in a state of becoming evil.  In Greek stories, I think it is important to note that the gods were not benevolent or benign beings, nor were they good or evil (same with the Hindi gods, too, but if I am wrong please correct me) but they were flawed just like humans are flawed.  What later made the gods good or evil in our mindsets were their deeply rooted associations with vices and virtues.  The memes of a culture sort of determined if they were good or bad later.  Thus Odin who would stand tall until the final moments of his time was praised while Zeus would later on become a point of ridicule for being a cruel and philandering father, yet he is not completely hated...interesting food for thought.


Dying God: They dying god is the character which dies and is reborn or recast somehow.  Dionysus, Odin, Baldr, Jesus, and Kali are all ones I can think of and all of these and all of these gods bring about a some massive change to their world with their death and resurrection.  Odin brought back knowledge and divinity, Baldr brought the end of the world, Jesus gives salvation, Kali came back with punishment and torment and the ability to avoid meeting such ends.  Dionysus is a different case.  He was cannibalized during his parties and brought back upon the waves of the sea with the rising sun.  In either case, the death of the god is tragic but it brings about great change.


An archetype which is not officially noted but does appear a lot in mythology and has their representational archetype in literature is the three goddess which make one;  the Moirai (the Fates), the Morrigan, the Wyrd, the Valkyries, the Norns, etc.  Basically, this god motif is a trio of sisters who control the fate, in some sense, of humanity.  Some directly, like the Greek Moirai or the Norns or the Wyrd, but others through choices and situations like the Valkyries and the Morrigan.  Meeting these ladies was usually a sign of your existence on earth coming to an end.

As a note, it is important to understand one of the most essential definitions of mythology.  We commonly use the word "myth" to describe something false or something wrong.  However, a myth is a culturally significant story which attempts to explain the world around us.  A myth is not necessarily false or wrong, in fact many times they can be correct.  Every culture has a flood story but that was considered a joke by scientists of ages until evidence began to turn up, accidentally I might add, that there may have been a world wide myth.  Another fun concept is the flat earth round earth concept.  An early scientist (natural philosopher at the time), Cosmas, ran about declaring that the world was truly flat and the predominant religions at the time (early Christianity for example) were completely false in their ideals of a spherical world.  He created maps and became very vocal on the matter, but the myths of a spherical Earth proved true.  So, do not assume that a myth means false or fake.  That's bad mojo.

Grab Bag of Archetypes Part 1

What are your goals in life?  What do you want to accomplish by the time you're 30?  50? 75?  Do you have a destiny?

All good questions we should be asking ourselves about our characters to help us determine what sort of story we're writing.

The sword in the stone is perhaps one of the best known
quests in literature.

One of the stories I'm currently dabbling with, my main character is attempting to solve a murder which has happened and is completely foreign to his people, while his uncle is attempting to steal the sovereignty of the nation.  So now my hero is on a journey to save his people while ridding his land of danger.

I have made a lot of mention of the various archetypes that have been identified in mythology, literature, film, and general story telling.  Let's first look at quests and journeys.

There are ideally ten different quests and journeys which have been identified.  Other authors will claim more some less, but it all comes down to how we twist our stories.

Quests: 

Identity - The hero is seeking who they really are.  Perhaps this is a coming of age story or a high school drama.  Perhaps the hero has discovered they are adopted or the last remaining member of a forgotten race. Perhaps they fell from the sky in a meteorite.  In any way that there can be confusion about who he or she is, there is a quest for identity.  This is considered a quest because once the hero has realized who they are, going home is extremely hard or in some cases impossible.


Tragic - Tragic quests usually result in the death of the hero or the complete failing of the hero on their quest.  This tragedy has a tendency to also be the point where the hero dies on their voyage, but not entirely.  There are second chances, but in whatever case, the tragic quest is typically a trial of utter torment which ends poorly.


Vengence - This is very interesting because many, many cultures believe that seeking vengence actually alters you into becoming that which you hate, thus altering who you are to the point that you are no longer who you started out to be.

Soldier watching their fire line.
Photo found at  http://militaryphotos.deviantart.com/gallery/
Thank you for allowing me to borrow it. 

To Rid the Land Of Danger - I always wondered why this was considered a quest, and then I sat through a class on Native American mythology.  There are always monsters in our stories, but these monsters are much more powerful than we are as humans.  However, in other cultures, when there is danger and trouble the humans must become powerful enough to defeat this evil, but unfortunately the power that it takes to rid the evil also consumes the hero and they become that evil.  Thus, in order to truly rid the land of that evil they must flee their home and never return.

The Fool's Errand - This is a very interesting type of story because the entire quest is based around the person who is unaware that they are on a quest and being acted upon by all others around them.  These stories can also be journeys, it all comes down to what is learned, how the hero has grown, and what how the situation is resolved.

The Grail - This quest dates back to the age of King Arthur and his round table.  However, these quests are the subject of true Romantic literature.  They are the search for Rome, thus Romantic.  They are a search not for the city, but for the ideal.  Romantic literature is the search for perfection.  Human perfection, spiritual truth, Utopia.  Unfortunately, these quests either end with the corruption of the perfection or the perfection has a horrible cost far beyond what any wish to pay.  For example, Camelot fell, Arthur died, and the round table lay in ruins.  Lancelot and Guinevere never return to the Isle of Britain and Merlin's dream is never realized.

Journeys:

Love - The journey for love is exactly as it sounds.  The hero is seeking love.  This is usually the premise for most chick flicks and the stories are usually very formulaic. Girl meets Guy, Girl refuses to admit her feelings for Guy, Guy is forced to leave Girl, Girl races to keep the Guy.  However, this version is played out differently in a film I really enjoy, Family Man with Nicholas Cage.  Ideally, Cage's character is given a glimpse of what he could have had had he made a different decision.  Once the realization is made, the character's life is forever altered, but not as drastically as a quest.  We usually want to take our dream date home to meet mom...well depends on the kinkiness of that date...



Find the Promised Land - Just as the name suggests.  The characters are seeking the land promised to them in some means.  The story is basically a tale of finding a new home.  For example, the Puritan pilgrims in American history or the tale of Exodus.


Knowledge - There really isn't much to be said here.  The hero is seeking knowledge.  Lately this has come down to some sort of mysticism or science formula in modern science fiction or fantasy, but it could be something as simple as a recipe.  The mundane can be just as exciting as the elaborate and intense.  As a quick addendum, I usually lump the journey for wealth in this same category because there seems little difference in the tales where one person achieves great knowledge and the other achieves great wealth.  Ultimately, the both seem to find trouble and sorrow in their journey and they both accrue something sacred and sought after by all.  I probably should change the name, but then I'd have to give up that lecture time talking to the student who had to ask me the question about the journey for wealth and that helps me to identify my classroom pets.  Only kidding of course, all my students are guinea pigs for literary experiments. (Insert Maniacal Laugh Here) *Crash of Thunder*

Warrior's Fight To Save His/Her People - This is just as it sounds, however it is not the same as the tales of danger or vengence for one simple reasons, the hero returns home as a hero and is praised for their success.  This is a happy story and a great example of this would come from a series of video games, The Legend of Zelda franchise.  Link always goes through a horrific quest to save Zelda or Hyrule or both and always returns home to his uncle, tree, farmland as a loyal servant to the princess.  I've always been intrigued by how Link gets treated in the series.  He is the altruistic white knight, wearing green and we, as the audience, are always waiting for that love affair to get moving.  I am probably wrong, but I have played all the games, not memorized them, but The Adventures of Link is the only time he got a kiss from Zelda and the new Skyward Sword the flirtation is very thick...but I haven't beaten it yet (okay hardcore fans, attack my facts now).

Of course we shouldn't limit ourselves to just one of these journeys or quests as a good novel is usually a twisted rope of subplots along the main thematic plot.  Link is trying to save the princess, struggle with various romantic advancements while being blissfully unaware of his destiny which is revealed as we play our games.  Yet Link also regularly goes through the voyage of the hero discussed in the previous post.

End of Part 1.

The Roller Coaster Begins!

I hate roller coasters.  I have never liked them.  My brother and my father both love them, but I'd rather pull my fingernails off with a pair of pliers than to ride a roller coaster.

the Galaxy roller coaster at Cliff's Amusement Park in Albuquerque, NM
Picture borrowed from themeparkreview.com

Where I spent most of my life, Albuqeuerque, NM, there is only one real theme park, but an amazing water park where I spent far more time of my summers at.  Cliff's, once called Uncle Cliffs, has a roller coaster called the Galaxy, and a newer one called the Rattler, but the Galaxy was my first real experience with roller coasters.  My first experience wasn't so bad.  My father sat with me, my mom and brother behind me.  I wrapped my arms around the bar across my lap and closed my eyes through the entire thing.

From there it only got worse.  My brother used to drag me onto it over and over again. And for some reason I would go with him protesting the whole way, yet I never had to ride with him.  Either way, he was the one who used to tell me tales of this roller coaster riding off the tracks and people dying.  Thoughts that stayed in my mind the entire time I sat in one of those cars, whizzed around corners, climbed the hills, and free-fell to a tight banking turn.  I kept imagining our car launching from the rails and just staring at the pavement climbing up to meet us.

Basically, I hate the heights of the coaster and the belly lurching drops.  I also can't stand log rides, yet I love the rush at the end of them.

So, what on earth does this have to do with anything I've been blogging about?


Well, our beginning is considered and people are entering our theme park.  Our characters are examined and being developed thus creating our theme.  Now we have to create the ups and downs and twists and turns of the roller coasters.


Also, just like characters, these twists and turns have been broken into a series of archetypes and steps.  So let's look at these identified steps as a whole first, and we can break them down into the archetypal quests and journeys and how we can twist and turn them.


Joseph Campbell, the mythologist, was the first published author to note commonalities between the ancient stories the whole world wide.  His books decorate my shelves and the shelves of many authors simply because he noted a common thread which still exists in our stories today.  He found that golden link all people share.


Campbell's work gave way to other authors, one of my favorites, for example is David Adams Leeming.  To break down Campbell's work into more digestible bits, Leeming wrote two necessary books for authors to read: The World of Myth and The Voyage of The Hero.  Okay...so enough plugging other people's works and hoping for free, signed copies, let's break it down here for you.


Mythologically speaking there are four essential gods: The Earth Spirit, the Trickster, the All Father, and the Dying God.


Mythologically speaking there are four essential myths: Creation, Flood, Apocalypse, and After Life.


Well this is all and good, but so what?  I'm not into writing fantasy and I'm no Rick Riordan.  But that's not the point.  All of these myths lead us to the very steps of heroism.


First, all heroes must be born or reborn somehow.  When we're talking about myths, the hero's birth is miraculous somehow.  Some were born from virgins, some were forged from the earth, some were even vomited into being (Bumba is a very strange story).  In books and literature we see this still.  One of the most noted that I can remember is the Matrix.  Neo actually had numerous births and rebirths.  He was first born into the computer generated reality, he was reborn into the true living world, and then reborn again into the One prophesied, after his death and venture to the the underworld (which was the loss of hope for all).


Secondly, their childhoods are plagued somehow with trials.  Learning how to fight, trying to pull swords from trees, some mad king afraid of a prophecy is trying to kill them, or they are trying weighing the truth of their father's evil deeds and trying to keep from becoming that same evil.


Third, all heroes must go into a state of meditation where they make a great and weighty decision.

Star Wars is a prime example through all six episodes

Fourth, their quest or journey begins.  This is a very important aspect.  Most of the time we are told that the books is the quest or journey, and though that maybe true in a few cases, ideally this aspect is the rising action of our roller coaster.  To make matters more complex, and we'll look at this again in the future, but J. R. R. Tolkien, the father of modern fantasy, identified a distinct difference between journeys and quests.  Ideally, a journey makes a great story (and a stand alone book), where as a journey alters and changes the heroes so much that they can never return home happily (a series or at the very least a growth of a character within books).


Fifth, all heroes must die.  Truth be told, they don't have to die as in physically, but metaphorically is just as well.  It is a point where all their dreams just snap.  That's it.  The end.  The finale.  The fat lady is belting it out.


However, while our ears are popping from the song, the sixth step is that all heroes go through a sort of underworld.  Usually it is a form of hell, a point of depression and suffering, but not always.  Russel Crowe's character Maximus in Gladiator kept a constant vigil on Elysian Fields.


The seventh step is the resurrection of the hero.  They have slipped from Tartarus or their depression has ended, some sort of realization has just occurred and the Hero is back on track.


Lastly, the eighth step is the ascension.  The hero finds heaven, or their version of heaven.  Goals are achieved, happiness is restored, order is found.


Let me elaborate.


Perhaps one of my favorite stories of all time is Casablanca.  The plot is relatively simple, people go to French soil, but German occupied Morocco to escape the coming of the Nazis.  However, people need money and papers to get smuggled to safety and freedom.  Straightforward, get papers get to safety.


But this is where we meet Rick, an American who has a past of working for underdogs but has had a change of heart while in Paris before France fell to the Germans.  We find Rick while he is in underworld.  He has no dreams, no expectations, no concerns, though parts of his former self still exists as he helps rig his gambling tables to help people escape the country.


We are only treated to flashbacks and historical references of Rick's past.  His time in Paris, stories of his sympathies to causes and people. These are Rick's trials as they were failed causes he fought for, and I can't help but think of Sam, a constant reminder of those times.

Easy to see why she was Rick's dream girl.

Now enter his hopes and dreams: Ilsa.  Plot twist, she's married to a man who the old Rick would have supported, but because Victor and Ilsa are married, Rick is torn between realizing what he wants and realizing what is best for all.  Once more, we see the moments of Rick's trials but we are directed toward his reason for leaving Paris, which he attributes to the invasion, but he could be hiding something.


Rick's "death" comes when Ilsa leaves him but when she returns to him begins Rick's torturous climb back to life and who he once was, the hero we're routing for.  But there's a twist, he could have Ilsa back at the cost of Victor's freedom.


I won't ruin the film if you haven't seen it, but Rick does resurrect and ascend into glory for those who knew him best.  


Now i know there are tens if not hundreds of blogs out there discussing this very same thing.  Some authors even elaborate on their own adding more steps.  By all means, read some of them and help grow your ideas, but most of all, learn how to identify these steps in your writing as it will give your story the arcs all of us are looking for consciously, subconsciously, and occasionally unconsciously.

Mary Sue, You're A Hero Too?

I don't know where the art came from, if you do
let me know so I can give credit, however the quote
is from the movie Flight of Dragons (1982).

Did you ever want to be a hero?  Sword toting or gun roaring or mystical princess or even a space smuggler with a tall hairy friend.

Of course you did.

When I was back in grade school, middle school and even well into high school...yeah okay even in college sometimes, I always wanted to be the hero of some grandiose fight for justice.  The sort of battle that would keep the bards singing for ages.

I truly believed that women swooned at the sight of heroic deeds and that I could win over any young lass that I wanted simply through my courageous deeds and mysterious ways.

Yeah, I was never that lucky with the ladies.  Just for you literary nuts out there, my favorite and role model for how to treat a woman was Edmund Rostand's depiction of Cyrano de Bergerac.  I wholly, and to a large extent still do, believe in chivalry.  There are somethings that should never have died.

However, like Cyrano, and somewhat due to my affinity for swords at the time, I was awaiting the day a villain would storm my castle (and oddly my high school was nick named "The Castle") and I would have to defend all the fair maidens of my imagination.  To those who knew me best, and to a very select few of my friends, also knew a journal I had poetry, short stories, speeches, poorly constructed French sentences (ZUT!) of the things I would say to the girl who was most important to me during that four year period (my first date, kiss, scores of love letters, and heart break).

Okay, yeah, so my high school years could probably be turned into young adult novel, but that's not why I'm writing this chapter.

I want to bring your attention to a very specific breed of character called the Mary Sue Hero. The Mary Sue hero is not necessarily a heroine (a female hero for those who are unsure, and yes, there are always some).  What Mary Sue is, is a character based on you as a person.  Based on who you want to be.  Based on what you would be like if you were a hero.  And though Mary Sue isn't bad, per-say, Mary Sue  has a tendency to be overly dramaticized, overly described, overly perfect.  So much so that many slush readers are basically standing on guard towers with rifles and searchlights trying to keep these types of characters away from their gatekeepers (another industry term that is wise to know, especially since the slush reader only determines if a piece is worth of progressing and the gatekeeper determines if it is worth distributing).

There are even Mary Sue Litmus Tests: Example 1  - Example 2

Now that I have made my cautionary little note.  Mary Sue characters are not bad things.  In fact they are great at helping you accomplish some pretty important aspects of your writing.  Ever had writer's block?  Create a Mary Sue and drop it into the middle of your novel.  What would you as a hero do?  Would your main character do that?  Oh....look the dam is beginning to leak.   What if your Mary Sue suddenly discovered that it was adopted?  What if the perfection that is Mary Sue were exact opposite values of a new society it has discovered?

What kind of archetypal hero would you be?  I already know mine.  What's yours?

What Would You Say?

So, once a month I meet with the River Valley Writers Group to talk, discuss, craft, critique, and so on so forth that writers do.

For this past week, we had a host of photos to choose from, 20 all together i believe with one of my favorites being the Brooklyn Super Hero Supply shop, and we could select a picture we liked and then create our story.  Well, i like to make things difficult on me, so i flipped the photos over and randomly selected one.  And this is what i pulled from the pile.

So...what would you write?

Here's what I created:

"Sir, the photos have been developed.  You said you wanted to see them immediately."

"Thank you, lieutenant."

the manila folder was promptly plopped and the photos scattered on the captains desk.  He flippantly flittered the folder over his shoulder as he bean to shuffle the black-and-white images taken by an agent somewhere beyond the 38th parallel.

"What in God's green goodness is this?"  The captain growled as he held up a photo.

"Sir, that appears to be a bowl of vegetables.  Sir, I believe it is actually kimchi, a delicacy in Korea."

"I can see that.  Is this some sort of joke?"

"Sir, I don't know, sir."

The captain huffed a sigh and tossed the image over his shoulder as well.  Several terse moments passed in silent disapproval of the spy's efforts.  More photos were tossed over his shoulder before he stopped and began to stare at one photo, a peculiar smirk perched across his ruddy face.

"Lieutenant, where's any carnival in North Korea?"

"Sir, I--don't have a foggy clue."

"Then please, lieutenant, explain this photo to me and how this isn't a joke."

The lieutenant took the image and scanned over the matte finish.  A military officer squatted next to the young dictator of North Korea apparently attempting to explain some aspect of the device while an engineeer tinkered with the throttle and pitch controls.  Their efforts seemed wasted from their supreme overlord's slack-jawed stare.

"Sir, I believe the photo to be authentic, sir.  Not a joke."

"And why is it 'authentic,' lieutenant?"  The captain scoffed.

"Sir, the flying disc shape, we've been working on for a few decades, sir, with some success and a notable failure in New Mexico.  I grant you the craft is small, but the armaments, sir--"

"Yes, the armaments, tell me more about those, lieutenant."

"Well, sir, our own engineers have been working on -- well -- I believe they call them Photon Emitters."

The captain raised an eyebrow, "Photon Emitters?  They look like Buick headlamps."

"Yes, sir.  That would be the tricky thing about them."

"And the two orbs between the Photon Emitters, what are those?"

"Sir, I am unsure.  They maybe the smaller, Pulsating Photon Emitters.  Pilots of various new crafts use these when banking to defend themselves against other crafts."  The lieutenant replied with a calm stoic tone.

"Really?"  The captain admired the photo anew.  "Is this device a real threat to us?"

The lieutenant bit his lip pensively.  "No, sir.  I think not.  We, that is our scientists and engineers are years ahead of the Commis."

"What of pilots?  Any grown man would be too heavy."

"You right, sir.  I believe we have a special select squad of pygmy pilots testing these devices now in controlled rings right now up in Fort Coney, New York."

The captain nodded his head with muddled understanding.  "Very well, then."

Only Moments Before The Rise Of Action

I know it has been a while since I last hopped on here to blog a little, but I actually have a really good excuse.

This past weekend, a new video game was being beta tested.  It is the second one in a series that I first played when it came out in 2005 and have been totally smitten ever since.  The story line is quite interesting and fun to participate in, except that it became a bit strange in the third game Nightfall where you and your team must kill a god and then ensconce a new god...yeah I had a small issue with that.

Concept art for Guild Wars 2

Anyway, the new game is called Guild Wars 2 (TM) and It was beta tested this past weekend and I have been anticipating it for a very long time.  For one key reason, this story has been boasting a player-dynamic event system to create the story line.  Basically, the players all create their own individualized (maybe mostly individualized) story as the game progresses.  Awesome!

*drool*

Okay, so we discussed the exposition and how much is tied up in the first few pages, chapters, minutes, etc.  but before we can go on our little adventure up the plot pyramid we need to stop and look at what creations have been identified in the past so that we may "borrow" these constructs to strengthen our projects.

Character Archetypes!

The Batman Live cast of characters

An archetype is simply a reoccurring type of character.  And a character is defined as the mental, physical, and emotional aspects of a person, or a toaster, or whatever we're writing about.

the first break down of character types are protagonists and antagonists.  Protagonists are the good guys, well not always, but for now we'll use that definition.  Antagonists are the bad guys, usually, but we'll use this definition for now.

Ideally, what truly makes a protagonist and the antagonists is how the audience identifies with these characters.  The protagonist is the character that we, the readers, want to see win.  We cry when they cry, we hurt when they're hurt.  We clench our seats and drop our tea cups when their world crashes down.  Then, of course, the antagonist is the character the audience has trouble identifying with.  We want to see this character fail and be defeated.  We want to see their efforts crumble at that hands of the protagonist.

The reason why I didn't want to completely brush all good guys as protagonists and all bad guys as antagonists is because of the concept of antiheroes and antivillains.

An antihero is a hero which utilizes socially unacceptable means to accomplish good goals, Batman for example is an antihero as a vigilante.  A more broad definition is that of a character who is an unlikely hero, or someone who doesn't fit the typical hero strata, the everyman, for example.  Keep in mind, heroes are the subject of all the good social memes of a culture, therefore they are a force of good within their given culture.  So a hero who ignores the social structure to accomplish goals which support that culture is the antihero.

Anti-villain is just like the anithero, except that they do socially acceptable things to accomplish bad goals, like a lawyer who uses the law to ensure that his drug dealing and pimping clients are found innocent of all charges.  In the US we pride ourselves on our legal system, which has been receiving a lot of criticism for being broken, so a wicked manipulation of tricks and schemes would create the antivillain because he is operating within acceptable social memes to achieve goals which are negative to the culture.

Now, here's the catch to this.  For both protagonists and antagonists there are tens of further archetypes to examine.  Something for us to discuss later, but something definitely worth researching.

Best of luck mi amigos.

Where's John Williams! It's the Exposition.

-Silence- DUUUUN!  Dudadum, dudadum! Du dun dun dadun...More brass and trumpets kick in and I can't keep up with the onomatopoeias without an orchestra of other bloggers helping out.

Well, as promised, I will continue talking about the plot because it is what gives our stories a directed focus.  Plus, I have read so many other blogs and books which have a lot of good information, but there also appears to be somethings missing from many of these books, articles and bloggers. Though I'm sure some, or perhaps many others, have covered these same concepts, but for those like me who haven't found those writers or articles, I hope this helps.

We begin with the Exposition.  The big blue box on the diagram above.  Many articles and books leave the exposition fairly open ended and vague.  For example, this diagram simply looks for the information the author provides at the beginning of a text.  Well that is fantastic, but what information should an author provide at the beginning?

Hmm, what information indeed?

Let us consider some classic movies.  For some reason, "Back To the Future" has been popping up a lot on my radar, and it's the first one that comes to my mind right now.  Well, within the first few minutes we are introduced to Marty McFly, Biff Tannen, Lorainne and George McFly, Marty's parents.  We are told it's 1985, the long running conflict of superiority of Biff over George is presented very clearly in the ribbing and teasing (Man V. Man), and the depression Marty has with his lackluster life and family (Man V. Self/Fate).

So what did we get within 10 minutes?  Setting - the time, the place, even social status.  The key characters, both protagonist and antagonist.  Lastly, we're given the conflicts.  Holy Cow!  That's the whole concept!

More than just the concept, we also have our story, plot twists, complications, climax!  Everything was just foretold in the first ten minutes of the movie, or within the first ten pages.

"Whoa! Whoa, Marty.  You also said that both the protagonist and the antagonist are played in the exposition.  But I want to keep my antagonist a secret so that it's a surprise at the end." You might say.

Well...you can do that.  Some authors manage to do that very well.  Authors of thrillers tend to pull this off in some form, yet their villain is still established early in the form of a dossier, a news broadcast, an assumption tossed around in the homicide division of a police station.  Yet, the big boss isn't disclosed until the end.  The puppet master, which is another form of archetype to discuss, is usually kept secret and hidden.  It's used to create a cathartic sense of humility and hopelessness for the reader who is bonded to the character.

Also, what's more surprising than betrayal?  Your protagonist knows the antagonist early on in the story, or at least knows about them, and then that becomes the person or creature causing strife in their life.  Ouch!  Knife twist...well plot twist.

A plot twist like this is another cathartic device.  It is painful to the readers, because many readers have experienced some form of betrayal.

To provide for you a living example.  In another book I'm writing, I am at a crossroads.  I have an obvious conflict of Man Vs. Man, a young boy trying to solve the murder of three people in a back alley.  However, should it be his uncle who committed the murders so that he could start a feud between the houses of his city and ensconce his power and role as sovereign. Or should it be his adoptive father who is still writhing with anger and revenge for his true son who was murdered by one of the houses.  Do I aim large, or do I am simple?  Plus, which would have the greatest cathartic tug?

Okay, so time to end this with a question or a challenge.  Name some of your authors and their books and see if those authors manage to disclose all three elements early in the book.  Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.  Templates are guides and we as writers are meant to experiment and change with these templates.  So what can you discover?

The Beginnings of Plot

Today, there really isn't a whole lot on my plat to talk about, so I thought about talking about something I know about and maybe helping someone out (ya like that?  A little poetic, well very little poetics, but fun.  I believe that's an assonance).  So let us look at the all exciting and ever crucial yet often misused concept of PLOT.

A very pretty plot diagram

Plot is basically the road map of a story.  The diagram above is about as simple as a plot diagram gets, even though experienced, practical, or hobbyist writers know that very few stories are actually this simple.  However, this also means that covering the basics of plot will probably take me more than a few posts to accomplish.  So hopefully i wont be too boring.

When we consider plot, we first must also consider two other things in our story.  The concept and the premise.  Neither of these items creates the story, they just create the motivation and potential of a story.

The concept is the exigence of the story, the curiosity that gets us moving.  Boy meets girl is a very simple example of a concept.  We know that usually when a boy meets a girl love is in the air. So, to keep things interesting we tend to complicate these ideas more so since the days of Aesop.  These complications help create the premise of the story.  Girl meets magically cursed boy trapped in a hairy and fanged persona or boy meets girl but she's locked away in a high tower guarded by a dragon.  So on and so forth.

As we begin to flesh out the details of our Premise we begin to develop the conflict of the story.  Originally, as we are told, conflicts had three form, Man vs. Nature, Man vs. Man, and Man vs. Self.  All three of these can be found in the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the first known literary pieces written down.

Side note:  It is important to note that much of the literature we have today is understood only because it was written down.  However, there are oral story traditions that date back long before our first writings which have either been transcribed, remain oral, or have been lost to us.

Back on soapbox: Eventually, conflicts got more esoteric and thanks to plays like Oedipus Rex, Antigone, and Oedipus at Colonus.  Thanks to the constant tinkering of the Greeks we managed to add Man vs. Fate and Man vs. Government.  It wasn't until the age of Jules Verne, and very heavily attributed to writers like Ray Bradbury and Issac Asimov, we were able to add Man vs. Technology.

Now, these six conflicts are what we milk into our plots, thus creation somewhere around 35 identified plot conflicts or premises and at least ten archetypal quests.  Topics for another lesson.

So, I know, I didn't even begin to discuss plot.  I know  I chose to write about the things which come before the plot.  The items which we create to investigate using our plots and characters.  Let me explain.

One particular story I have been playing with contains the following:

Concept - Struggling with the loss of someone special.
Conflict - Man vs. Fate, Man vs. Self, Man vs. Nature (arguably).
Premise - A young boy loses his mother to circumstances he doesn't understand and uses his kite to try to find her once again.

Voila, now I begin looking at other key tidbits of my creation as I begin to outline and dabble with my characters, and that is where I'll write more tomorrow.

The Rise and Stabilization of Sophomoric Comedy?

Slap!

Petruchio: Who knows not where a wasp doth wear his sting? In his tail.
Katherina: In his tongue?
Petruchio: Who’s tongue?
Katherina: Yours if it talks of tales, and so farewell.
Petruchio: What with my tongue in your taile?


-Taming Of the Shrew


Naughty jokes, double entendres, bawdy language has been and still is a part of literature and literary style since--well I'm not entirely sure since when, but as far back as there has been literature.  Even holy books utilize these methods to create meanings and secondary meanings.  Just ask Ruth about Boaz's feet; somehow i doubt she finds callouses and sandal toe jam very sexy.


Yet, with each passing year I find myself asking two simple questions: are we at the brink of a cultural collapse?  Or am i just not getting it?


Let me elaborate.  


Bawdy language had always been used to elicit a chuckle, a blush, an "Oh my" moment.  But it was almost always used in the sense where there were more meanings to be had or it was not explicit enough to be brazen effrontery.  The mysteries of the bedroom where alluded to, but kept secret and sacred.  The wiles of males and females were noted but not made public keeping curiosity aflame.


On a tangent, have you ever watched those black and white films where the ladies could heat the room up with a wink, shoulder shrug, or a simple sashay off the screen?  I just love and have always wanted to capture those types of glances and dances in my writing, but creating those details is a difficult matter.


Back on topic, I think it is important to note the basic tenants of a comedic plot.  The tried and true methods which date all the way back to Aristotle himself and are hardly taught in public schools these days let alone understood by the students who so direly need to learn them.

Aristotle is the guy on the...Left!

Aristotle, in his treatise "Poetics" discusses comedy, we assume since the second book is missing but we know of other relative contemporary sources.  A really quick rundown of some of the elements required in a comedy are a suspension of natural laws, incongruous actions or reasoning, exaggerations of behaviors and actions, and lastly that people must behave worse than they normally would (which is direct contrast to a tragedy where the characters are to behave better than they normally would so that the audience sympathizes with their plight).  That last part is where all the sophomoric behavior comes into play, but also as time has progressed the veils which have been so carefully kept have been burned away with a seductive dance of flames, which leave no question about the prancing ladies within, lit with blatantly phallic torches!  


So why have we suddenly ripped away the thin cloud of obscurity and imagination?  Why have we so brutally assailed ourselves and become content with the lack of imagination needed?  And when did pedophiles become a comedic plot device?

College costumes based off an SNL music video
by Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake.  It
perfectly captures the sentiment of gift giving.

A few of the cultural icons that regularly make appearances in my classroom discussions, and people I think could or should have very interesting insights on this topic, are, Andy Samberg and the Lonely Island, Will Ferrell and his many iterate characters, Dane Cook and Kat Williams for their rather crass comedy, Mike Meyers and Seth Macfarlane for their franchise creations.  Also, most recently, Danny McBride after watching his film "Your Highness".  There are some very curious things I'd love to understand, for example the use of language and almost constant references to sex, defiling acts or sex-by-yourself, and what was with the minotaur's-- "horn"? 


To add to my already vast array of questions, I would also like to know how do these antics further the arts?  How does the crass behavior further comedy?  What is the higher value and lasting elements of these pieces?  Or is the only true calling money?

Perhaps, in all of this I am a bit of a prude.  But there are some real concerns attached to my questions and criticisms.  Though there is little scientific evidence, the concept of "sheeple" has become a term discussing the groupthink phenomenon.  People will follow others they perceive are role models.  So this form of demeaning and vulgar comedy may be funny, it may also lead others to be forgetful of what is appropriate.  It may lead people to be disrespectful of their friends, family, partners, and even others to a harmful extent.  As an author, I believe that there is a professional ethic to further our culture, our craft, and our people.  Not hurt them.

*Climbs down from my soap box*  Any thoughts?  This is something I'd love to see discussion over, especially for writers and entertainers.

Motivating Head-slap

There's no where to go.  No one left to talk to.  I've reached the end of my rope and the knot is slipping!
What do you do when you have found yourself into that slippery little rut where it becomes easier to give up than to push on?  All road signs point to nowhere.  Is the ground I'm standing on even remotely safe to be standing on?

Yes, I know that it all seems a little melodramatic, but my fist blog post is going to deal with some of the harsh self-beating emotions to being a writer; the dark place where these questions and sensations aren't so melodramatic.

I wanted to begin my first post this way for one simple reasons.  This is how I'm feeling today.  Even after receiving so many rejection letters and form letters, which leave me questions if my submission was used for anything more than a coaster, I know I should be numb to the sensation by now.  However, that's not true.  When I write I have created a piece of me to an extent, and to have it submitted is like the joy of watching your child make a transition in their life.  Then there's those six to twelve weeks of anticipation.  I go through the peaks of, "Oh what will I ever do when I make it big and get all that money," to the lows of, "I'm being rejected and they're taking their time so that they can show everyone how much of a failure I am."  Most days, however, I tend to sit in the middle of the anticipation just thinking how great it would be to be selected at all.

Yet, no matter what, when that letter arrives and I open it to read the first few lines, "Your submission isn't--" that one little contraction (though sometimes it's two words) feels something like having a soccer ball kicked from down field bouncing off your chest.  I rarely continue to read the rest of the letter before I dive into a flurry of, "What was wrong with it?"  Or the always fun rationale of, "Couldn't you have maybe, possibly, made a suggestion of to whom this submission would have been better suited?"

Yet, this isn't where I am at today.  Today I sat down with a YA book to read to see if it was worthwhile recommendation for my students, and I'm currently struggling with my pride.

The book seems to have a very basic idea, gifted girl meets gifted guy.  Of course the expected plot devices occur, girl tries not to let boy know she likes him, boy pursues girl, some calamity happens and the two are separated...but i haven't finished it.  I'm expecting guy and girl will be reunited and their special abilities will prevail and bring peace to the kingdom.

So what's bothering me?  The grammar, for one, drives me nuts.  It's a consistency of little flaws that make me twitch.  The contrite points of complications on the plot annoys me too.  The fact that the book is relatively predictable annoys me.  But what bothers me most of all...it's not the book that I'm reading, nor the issues therein.  It's the fact that I haven't succeeded yet and I'm reading someone else debut novel and I believe my ideas and my devices and my use of language is so superior to hers that this should be me.

I should be applauding a success story and learning from the novelist...possibly stealing her publisher's information from the copyright page and her agent's name from the acknowledgments.  Yet, somehow, reading this books makes me feel the dread of knowing that soccer ball is heading my way, and probably many more times to boot.

So here I am; a teacher of literature and language, a writer-wannabe with jump drives full of research and story ideas, a frustrated but determined failing--er flailing author; and I'm trying to make a mark on the world out yonder, beyond my computer screen and imagination.

So here I am, writing a blog to find an audience and to gather tips, tricks, and possibly steal--well borrow with intent to make my own--ideas.  The line is drawn--Time to cross it.