(This assignment is due Monday, 9/12/16. It should be no longer than two pages in length and it should be submitted in Googledocs.)
Since we are talking about archetypes and the great characters in fiction and film, we are going to play Frankenstein. By this, I mean we are going to be assembling stories from the ground up - piece by piece. We are going to start with the most basic elements because many of these stories are templates for the stories they inspired.
To truly write a story where we turn an archetype "inside out", we must first establish a TIMELINE for the character.
Think about it this way:
A good character starts as an idea in our head that we have to get down on paper. We have to tell the story because the characters insist we do so. In order to fulfill their request you first must make them real to others. You must create them and insert them into our world. There are several steps you can take to make sure these characters become known to the world in some intimate manner.
First, initiate each one of your creations with a working name (you might change the name later to suit the character's personality once you've gotten to know them more). Then begin bringing each character to life by working and following specific steps that we will be discussing in class: timelines, back-stories, dreams, closets and clothes, where they live, what ifs, character profiles and semantic mapping.
Timelines are a great way of meeting your characters for the first time by asking questions about the events of their lives. If you think about the myth of any great hero or villain, they come with a legendary back story. When a writer does his/her job well, the back story is just as interesting and integral to the story as the what the character is doing in the present. In this way, the character becomes multi-faceted and more interesting to the reader/viewer. If you do not establish this timeline, the character begins to "fall out of orbit" in the mind of the audience.
In any successful story, I suggest writing out the timelines of all major characters as well as a few secondary characters that might play a somewhat important role in the story or at least your mind. Once this is done, it becomes easier to make the connections between all your characters as their timelines overlap or have similar experiences written in them.
Timelines can be a frustrating experiences at times but the important thing to remember is that the character has to be born, age, go through certain life events (school, maternity - events that are normal in your world and time), go through one or more disturbing events as well as climatic events in his or her life. The timeline ends when the story ends or when the character's role has been accomplished.
As an example, the character Superman was created with a specific life story that is integral to understanding the character in the present. That same applies for classic villains like Darth Vader. If you are really thinking about creating a character that gets audiences thinking, try developing a character with a certain amount of duality...like Darth Vader.
For this assignment, choose one hero (male or female) and one villain (male or female) and research their backstory. I want to know if the character only exists in the present or if it has a significant story that accompanies him/her that shapes their past as they move forward. Is this a character that there could be some split feelings about? Could a villain inspire sympathy? If so, how? Could a hero seem unlikable? How? Also, provide some backstory for the creation of this character. What does the character represent in the mind of its creator?
Heroes and villains in graphic novels are great examples of this. And before you go away thinking that graphic novels are silly examples, remember this: After Superman, Spiderman is one of the most serialized heroes in all of fiction. That includes literature.
