Category: Musings

A demented figure hunched over a laptop or pen and paper. A desk littered with dirty coffee mugs. A person staring working at a coffee shop. A bottle of poison in the form of whiskey or rum sitting on a table. A cigarette still burning in an ash tray. A figure clad all in black refusing to smile. These are some of the images associated with writers. These are stereotypes, of course, and don’t apply to most writers. Or at least the ones I know, including myself. The only thing I’ll admit to is being hunched over my work and the occasional coffee mug on the desk that I’ve forgotten to take down to the kitchen. Alcohol problem? Nope. Drug problem? Nope. Cigarettes? Nope. Only caffeine for me, please.

There are other clichés about writers that people have that are much more positive. One is this fairy tale image that we just sit down and bang out brilliance in the first draft, pop it off to a publishing company, and sit back waiting for the money to roll in. Um, no. Not even close. Some, a very small and maddening few, can crank out a nearly finished product the first draft or two but most of us need several drafts. As far as getting published, it can take years unless you self-publish but either way doesn’t guarantee financial success.

When I first realized writing was my path in life, I started read lots of advice on how to deal with people when you tell them you’re a writer. Be prepared for people to tell me they had a great idea for a story that either a) they want to write but don’t have the time, or b) I should write. That hasn’t happened to me except maybe for a couple of times in conversations with one of my brother-in-laws.

These books and articles also warned others would give me a judgmental look or make a negative comment about my chosen career path. Not even when I put in my two week notice at my last ‘real’ job did I get any negative comments or looks. If anything, people were happy and excited for me. I’ve been lucky to have overwhelming support in this endeavor from family, friends, and former co-workers. If anything, I’m my biggest obstacle, not the rest of the world.

These are just some of the few clichés about writers and the writing life I’ve observed which are simply not correct. Sure there are some writers who fit some of these, stereotypes exist partially based on the reality of a few, but I truly believe most of us don’t fit this.

Over the past few years I’ve thought about if people who have been writing their whole lives have an advantage over people who started writing later? In other words, people who’ve been writing stories since they were kids or teenagers vs. people who didn’t to start until adulthood. After reading and watching countless interviews with authors I’ve come no closer to a clear conclusion. I see a lot of pros and cons in both so I’ll list just my observations.

Pros for lifelong writers:

Your imagination is wide-open and hasn’t yet been squashed by the burdens of being an adult. You’ve experimented and played. The grammar and spelling are shoddy. Gapping plot holes a 777 could fly through. Static character development. Trite plots and clichés but who cares! Children and teens are less fearful in trying new things. And the best part, you don’t have a lot of the real world responsibilities like a ‘real’ job, paying bills, cooking dinner, children, etc. eating into writing time.

Cons for lifelong writers:

A child or teenager writer usually doesn’t have enough life experiences to be able to write more complex, adult situations. When I say adult situations I’m not referring to sexual situations rather the complexity adult life brings with it. Of course many teenagers have difficult lives and unfortunately have to deal with some very grown up situations and handle them maturely. When you’re younger, it’s very hard to see far ahead. Everything feels like if you choose wrong, your life is over.

Pros for adult writers:

A pro is having the benefit of a wealth of experiences to draw from not only from your own life but of those around you. You have decades of characters to draw from rather than the small group of people a child or teenager knows. You’re better able to see the complexities of life and can weave that into your narrative.

Cons for adult writers:

A con is the vast time constraint real life has. Work, family, a house, whatever takes up a lot of time leaving just a small amount of spare time to work. Where a young writer can spend years honing their skills and craft, an adult writer has to go through this process with adult responsibilities. To me this feels like it lengthens the learning curve process.

Another con is static an adult writer gets from other adults about pursuing writing. It’s easier to see it as a waste of time. An adult writer has to be cognizant of how their decisions affects people they are in charge of caring for. It’s a big risk and scary to pursue.

One area I’m not sure if there are pros or cons for either group, is feedback. I can see a young writer being open to the advice of others and incorporating suggestions. On the other hand I can also see an adult writer taking criticism too much to heart and being more willing to give up.

At the end of the day it is up to the writer’s talent and ambition that determine success. Sure a writer who started as a child has several more years of experience but it all comes out equal in the end. After all, the average age of the first-time published author is 40.

Personally I wish I had started writing my stories down as a teenager but lacked the courage clouded by my perception of authors had to be the smartest people on the planet. I could never write like they did, good or bad, and felt I lacked imagination. My strengths as a writer lay in writing essays and research papers for school but felt it could ever transfer to creative writing. As an adult, I did start writing ideas down and even starting stories but always dismissed it as being a silly, foolish hobby despite the fact it was fun and brought me joy. It wasn’t until I was in my late 20s/early 30s that I began realizing that if I wanted to be happier in life, I should pursue writing. I just wish I had realized that earlier because who knows where I would be right now in my career.

All characters whether in books, TV, or movies, are drawn from at least one archetype, usually more than one. The definition of an archetype is essentially a basic pattern of behavior and associated with a particular trait or concept.

Over several posts, not necessarily each week, I’ll touch briefly upon various archetypes in literature. The list is quite extensive and varies according to culture so I’ll just condense the posts to the Big Ones and may touch upon some of the lesser used archetypes that seem interesting to me. Keep in mind there are several variations within each archetype. Many characters we read or watch can be classified into more than one archetype.

Archetypes vary from culture and even genre of writing. An example could be a writer basing a character off of one of the figures from the Chinese zodiac. Each figure has character traits associated with it. Using that information the writer could incorporate some or all of the traits into their character. From the fairy tale genre we get a whole host of archetypes unique to that genre. The best example being the Fairy Godmother or Prince Charming.

Let’s start with the biggest and easiest archetype: The Hero

The formal definition of the Hero is a person willing to sacrifice his or her own needs on behalf of others. Usually the Hero is larger than life, sometimes supernatural or alien in the case of Superman or ancient Greek and Roman mythology. This archetype exists all over the world so it’s pretty universal.

For the Hero archetype his or her story has to have a purpose; a problem that he or she alone can solve. Usually this is expressed in the form of a question: “Will the Hero save the world before the missile launched by Evil Guy (or Girl) hits planet Earth?”

Another component to the Hero’s story is our lead should exhibit emotions and motivations we’ve all experienced in our life. Love, hate, anger, despair, idealism, etc. This helps the audience identify with and root for the Hero. He’s one of us only a better version of us. He has the power to right wrongs we ourselves wished we could but can’t.

Like all well-formed characters, the Hero has to experience growth. This happens through setbacks either of his or her own doing or due to obstacles put in the Hero’s way. Another way to ensure growth of the Hero is through sacrifice. Is the Hero willing to give up something near and dear to him or her, including his or her life, to save others?

But the Hero can’t only display positive characteristics. He or she needs to have flaws otherwise our Hero is too perfect and thus becomes un-relatable. Perhaps the Hero’s pride gets in the way or fear causes him or her to freeze at a critical point.

Another component in the Hero’s journey is he or she has help. The most common type of help is through the form of a mentor or sage, an archetype in of itself. Think of Glenda the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz. The mentor or sage gives our Hero a tool that will help him or her through the journey, like Dorothy’s glass slippers. It doesn’t have to be something physical, either. The sage or mentor can provide knowledge to our Hero. Whatever it is, the Hero on the journey must use it.

Along the journey, our Hero must suffer setbacks as well as some successes before the final showdown with the villain. An excellent example is Harry Potter. Throughout the seven books, Harry suffers a lot. Terrible caretakers, abusive teachers, the Malfoys, the death of Dumbledore, etc. but he also has many successes that help him gain confidence for the inevitable showdown with Voldemort.

Our Hero must also suffer death. It could be his or her own physical death from which he or she is eventually brought back to life or it could be an emotional death. For example, Luke Skywalker learning Darth Vader is his father. This propels the Hero to continue his or her growth and also ups the ante for the outcome.

In the end, the Hero wins. The audience knows this but the Hero does not. Sure he or she can hope but doesn’t know if he or she has the strength, the courage to until the final battle happens.

Within the Hero archetype there are several subtypes. Here are just a few:

Willing Hero – Think of King Arthur. This is the most typical type and represents a person who has little or no hesitation to help.

Unwilling Hero – Think of Bilbo Baggins. This person is chosen or appointed by someone else to take on a task that the Hero would never willing volunteer for.

Group-oriented Hero – A Hero that is part of a group but must leave in order to complete the task. Or a Hero that takes on a task to save a group.

Loner Hero – For whatever reason, usually by choice, the Hero isn’t part of a group. They live alone but need to become part of a group in order to do something heroic before returning to their loner status. The Lone Ranger is an example of this.

Catalyst Hero – An exception to the rule that a Hero must change. This character, who through his or her actions positively affects the people around him or her. Detective-based mysteries can be example of this. The detective him or herself may not necessarily change a lot through the solving of a case but the people affected by the case change.

None of this is set in stone. That’s the great thing about writing. A person may come up with a completely new type of Hero or could take one of the Hero subtypes and spin it on its head. Heck your Hero could start out being the Hero but then turn into another archetype altogether. Keep in mind, too, it is easy to argue a character can embody more than one archetype.