Using Story Archetypes to Find Your Plot

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Story archetypes are useful tools to develop a novel or story.

Although we hear about character archetypes a lot in writing, I’ve found story archetypes much more useful when developing a story. They’re solid jumping off points to help shape an idea and figure out the best direction to take it.

Story archetypes are the common events or situations often seen in fiction. 

Coming of age, rags to riches, the quest, getting retribution, earning redemption, battle of the underdog. They’re classic story types readers have come to recognize and even seek out.

Some story archetypes offer clear tropes and plots to follow, while others are more thematic, fitting whichever style or process a writer has. Those looking for more direction might welcome a trope-laden archetype, while those looking for general inspiration might prefer the theme-laden side. For example:

The Practical Guide to Using Character Archetypes in Your Novel

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Character archetypes are a useful tool in creating characters for a novel.

At some point in your writing journey, you’ve probably come across the term archetype. This has no doubt led you to articles quoting Carl Jung (the father of psychology) and his twelve character types. Pursuing that further, led to multiple articles about the variations of those and the common archetypes used in fiction.

And then your head likely started spinning and you wondered how the heck any of that was going to help you write a better novel.

Personally, I think there’s a difference between Jungian archetypes and fictional archetypes. Jung’s focus was on defining the human psyche, not telling a grand tale, so his list tends be more thematic in nature. Which is great if you’re writing literary fiction with Deep and Meaningful Themes, but not so great for the rest of us.

The Difference Between Archetypes, Tropes, and Clichés

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Understanding archetypes, tropes, and clichés makes writing original stories a lot easier.

Before we dive in today, just a little heads up that I’m also guest posting on The Insecure Writer’s Support Group, with 4 Things Every Novel Should Strive For. Come on by and say hello!

A lot of elements in writing are either interconnected or used interchangeably, and archetypes, tropes, and clichés are three of them. What one writer views as an archetype, another might consider a cliché, and how they use them in their writing can differ. Some writers can wield a trope like a master, others can sneak cliches in so they feel germane to the scene, and some write such nuanced archetypes readers don’t even realize they are archetypes.

As a writer—especially as a genre writer—it’s vital to understand the differences between these terms and how they work in fiction.

An Easy Tip for Developing Story Ideas

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

It's not unusual for a writer to have an idea for a general story (such as a series, trilogy, particular genre), but have no clue what that story is going to be. Often in these cases, they have a character, world, and even rules in mind, but only a vague idea, not "An Idea" they can write an entire novel from.

If you truly have no idea beyond premise and character, it's helpful to first look at concept and theme. Until you can narrow the story focus to something manageable, it's just too large to work with. The first step, is to figure out what general type of story fits the rough ideas you have.

I love using Blake Synder's Save the Cat and Ronald B. Tobias's 20 Master Plots for this. (Save the Cat is for screenwriting, but there's a ton of great advice that also applies to novels). These two books discuss traditional story categories, such as Snyder's "The Golden Fleece" or "Dude With a Problem." 20 Master Plots breaks it down even further with a "Revenge" plot or a "Rivalry" plot. It's easy to read through the various categories and consider how an idea works with that plot or category. 20 Mater Plots is particularly useful for looking at possible themes, because the classic plot structures discussed are very thematic in nature.

What "Nashville" Can Teach us About Creating Character Archetypes

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

I’m a big fan of the TV series, Nashville. It was a surprise to me, because it didn’t seem like my kind of show, but I've learned to give most shows a shot. (thanks to the miracle of DVRs) Some are my favorite series are ones I overlooked until they came out on DVD. I'm very glad I gave this one a whirl, because now I'm totally hooked.

What impresses me about Nashville are the characters. The writers/creators/actors have done a marvelous job of crafting characters with inherent conflict at a variety of thematic levels, so there’s always somewhere to take them story wise. The characters play different roles (in the thematic sense, not the screenplay sense), so when a storyline idea emerges, it's easier to know who to give that plot to. (This is extremely useful for those planning a series) These are similar to classic types like the Mentor or Guardian, but aren't so specific as to their roles in a story.