Every novelist, screenwriter and oral storyteller faces the challenge of creating original and exciting characters. Archetypes--mythic, cross-cultural models from which all characters originate--provide a solid foundation upon which to fashion new and vastly different story people. 45 Master Characters explores the most common male and female archetypes, provides instructions for using them to create your own original characters, and gives examples of how other authors have brought such archetypes to life in novels, film and television. Worksheets are then included for writers to develop and map the lives of their own characters.
Excellent companion to the works of Joseph Campbell
The first and only book focusing heavily on the heroine's journey
Includes 45 black & white movie stills and line art depicting classic examples of each archetype
Victoria Schmidt is a screenwriter for film and television. A graduate of the film programs at UCLA and NYU, she holds a Masters degree in screenwriting from Loyola Marymount. She lives and writes in Los Angeles.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Great, but not the Best:
Okay, so this book does give you pretty much what you pay for . . . and then some. BUT, the reason i gave it four stars instead of five is because of the way the characters are vaguely described to you. Yeah, they do go into details, BUT even the details are vague. The bad guy is 'bad. The good guy is 'good. They then go about listing said 'good' and 'bad' qualities, but never get too specific about it. NOW, there is a GREAT section at the end of the book that i absolutely recommend, and i never even... more info
Great Book:
I've never written a review on a book, but as I read 45 Master Character I felt compelled to say something about it. I wouldn't call it a book on building characters, but it is great at structuring your character, and surprisingly, it helps structure plot too. What this book does best is give a framework that helps bring out ideas. It is one of my favorite books and will be permanently on my desk. CP
Lets review the text as it applies to myth - can we people.:
...I've read two largely damaging reviews of this book, based on their very assumed impressions of the authors opinions' on gender. I would like to say as an owner of both this book and the heros and heroines book mentioned by one of the two reviewers, that this book looks at myth and archetypes through the only lenses available to her, and paints with a broad stroke sensibly and responsibly. - To approach myth and archetypes from a single, modern understanding of gender and identity, would be both foolish... more info
A very helpful resource:
I enjoy creating characters, but I've always had problems not defining them enough. When I first saw this book, I thought it would help me in my character creation process. The moment I started flipping through the pages, my thoughts were affirmed. Victoria Lynn Schmidt delves into many archetypes of characters that have come up in history, literature and film, and shows the traits that make up each universal archetype. I was also blown away at how she gives suggestions on how they would play off other... more info
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