We All Have Pasts (or, The Importance of Backstory)

I've had something of an epiphany lately. It's not an entirely pleasant one to think about in real life, but it's something incredibly important to consider in creative writing. Everyone you've ever met has a past. Good pasts, bad pasts, pasts we're proud of, pasts we try hard to forget. There are things we do share and things we don't, but all of it contributes to who we are and how we act at any given moment. No two people have the same past. No two people will react the same given the same trial. And so will no two characters.

NaNoWriMo 2016 Survival Tip #4

T-minus eight days until the end of this year's NaNoWriMo! For some people, we're getting into the hardest part of this month. Maybe your outline has run out, or your stuck as to where to go next, or you realize that there's eight days left and you're only at 30% of your word count goal (like me...).

I know that one of my personal issues right now is keeping up my own interest in my story. I think that sometimes we have those projects that we know are sort of passion projects; the ones we are absolutely determined to see the end, no matter what. I've had two of those in the past, but my NaNo novel for this year isn't one of them. Sure, I'd like to see it finished, but it isn't one that inspires me as much as my passion projects did. However, whatever happens after this month, I still want to reach my word count goal in the next eight days (hey, it's still possible) and that leads me to my fourth NaNoWriMo Survival Tip, for all of you who are in the same boat as me at this stage in the game.

Four Things I Learned About Writing After a Week With a Four Year Old

I spent the last week on vacation in Tennessee visiting family. While fun, it was exhausting (and after having spent way too much time in airports, I am convinced that the airline we used--which shall remain anonymous--hates us). But I was able to learn something interesting from my four year old cousin. She is incredibly adorable and never runs out of energy. Or, at least, she doesn't let you know when she's running out of energy. When she starts to get tired, the stories that she tells get more and more elaborate and creative. Even when she is wide awake, she is constantly playing with toys and dolls, and she uses them to act out her stories. After a week of this, I was able to take away some interesting themes that can very easily be applied to fiction writing.

Here are four things I learned from a four year old.

Lesson #2: Character Archetypes II, Come to the Dark Side

This lesson is adapted from 45 Master Characters: Mythic Models for Creating Original Characters by Victoria Lynn Schmidt.

So in the last lesson we discussed character archetypes for protagonists of stories, but at the request of a fellow Silver Pen member, we will now talk a bit about the dark side of these archetypes. Each character, as before, will be based off of a Greek (or Egyptian) god or goddess, except this time the archetypes will be for antagonistic characters.
As a note, it is recommended that you review the original archetypes before reading this lesson.

Let's begin!

Lesson #1: Character Archetypes, Part Two

This lesson is adapted from 45 Master Characters: Mythic Models for Creating Original Characters by Victoria Lynn Schmidt.

Continuing on with archetypes, and this time the men get their spotlight.


Apollo: The Businessman
"The Businessman is a man on the go who constantly thinks about his work. His strong logical mind makes him great at being a team player and a trustworthy employee but doesn't help him to be a great husband or father. He doesn't know how to let loose and play with the kids, so he often takes work home to avoid family life.

Lesson #1: Character Archetypes, Part One

This lesson is adapted from the book 45 Master Characters: Mythic Models for Creating Original Characters by Victoria Lynn Schmidt.


So, what exactly are archetypes? Archetypes, according to Victoria Lynn Schmidt, are "the blueprints for building well-defined characters, be they heroes, villains, or supporting characters." They force you to look deeper at your characters, and decide how they respond to conflict within the story. Archetypes can also help to avoid multiple characters just like the author.