45 Master Characters (Paperback)

~ (Author) "I wrote this book for every writer who has ever felt weighed down by the rules of fiction writing..." (more)
Key Phrases: Father's Daughter, Woman's Man, Moby Dick (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Screenwriter Schmidt offers a book for writers struggling with characterization, emphasizing interesting, believable women characters. Looking to mythology for such types as Aphrodite, Artemis, and Zeus, Schmidt concisely outlines each type's cares and concerns, strengths and weaknesses, and likely reaction to common problems. She also gives familiar examples from TV, films, and books. For example, Sam Malone of Cheers is a "Joker," and the "Shadow" is all the terrified characters surrounding Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween. Most blocked writers will find useful leads here, but debating the examples do Lucy Lawless and Sandra Bullock both qualify as Amazons? could easily become one of the better teaching uses of this book. Recommended for creative writing collections and workshops. Robert Moore, Parexel Corp., Waltham, MA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

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.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Writers Digest Books (August 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582975221
• ISBN-13: 978-1582975221
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #35,146 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Journey into Mythic Models, May 19, 2004

By	H. Grove "owling6683" (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: 45 Master Characters (Hardcover)

Victoria Schmidt was told in film school that scripts about female heroes didn't sell, and instead of meekly giving in she started doing research. She latched onto the woman's journey into the self: the tale of the descent of the goddess Innana. She connected this to such works as "The Wizard of Oz," "Titanic," and other stories and films, and decided a book was in order. Jack Heffron, editor of most of the writing books I've ever read & reviewed, said sure, but what about the male hero while you're at it? And thus this book was born.

Ms. Schmidt discusses the difference between a stereotype and an archetype. She talks a bit about individualizing characters using aspects of appearance, what the characters care about and fear, motivations, how others see the character, and so on. When providing examples of each archetype she deliberately provides a wide spectrum of possibilities so that you can see some of the variations that are possible.

My only problem here is that I can still see, having read through the book, how it would be easy to accidentally get trapped into creating stereotypes using these character archetypes. Why? Because many of our stereotypes are variations on (or simplified, judgmental versions of) these archetypes, and it's hard not to let all that history influence us. Perhaps if Ms. Schmidt had included an extra (small) section within each archetype reminding the reader to play with things, and including a few further suggestions and examples for how to do so, it would have allayed this fear.

The archetypes are quite detailed. Each has both a positive and a negative side. The author includes all sorts of information about the archetypes, from things they tend to care about, to which other archetypes they pair well with, and what their assets and flaws tend to be. Then Ms. Schmidt does more in the list of examples to break the stereotype worry than she does anywhere else. She includes examples from TV, film, literature, and history, so no matter what your reading or viewing pleasure, you should find something you can relate to.

Oddly, while the character archetypes are what sell the book, they turned out not to be the main attraction for me. There's a great section on supporting characters, for example. But best of all, roughly a full 95 pages of the book cover the feminine and masculine archetypal journeys. This is where things really take off and catch at the imagination. All in all, this book is interesting, useful, and well-detailed. If your characterizations could use a little help, this might be a fun place to start!

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sharpened my Characters Considerably, February 19, 2006

By	Ray Salemi (Framingham, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 45 Master Characters (Hardcover)

Fiction is not reality. I had forgotten this when I was creating the characters in my current book. My characters were complex, but were not compelling. They were boring. They didn't interest me and would not interest a reader.

45 Master Characters fixed that problem for me.


For example, I had a character who is a woman trying to advance in a company. I had muddled ideas of whether she should be using sex to try to get ahead, how soft or tough she should be, and how she should think.

45 Master Characters helped me see that she fell into the category of the Father's Daughter. An archetype exemplified by Athena, Captain Janeway and Murphy Brown. Once I knew this I was able to see that she would not use sex to get ahead, that she would be fairly tough minded, and that she would be independent. I dropped a family from her backstory, removed any thoughts of her using sex to get ahead and generally tightened my picture of her. Ironically, my backstory included significant influence from her father, so I was already seeing glimmers of the "Father's Daughter" archetype before the book made it clear.

Schmidt gives us the positive and negative for each Archetype. For example the Father's Daughter has a negative side called The Backstabber (Katherine Parker "Sigorney Weaver" in Working Girl)

The book is an essential part of an author's reference library.

70 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read & Have for Writers Everywhere!, September 4, 2002

By	JK (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 45 Master Characters (Hardcover)

This book is hands down the best investment I have made in my writing career.
In a synopsis, Schmidt uses archetypes based on the Ancient Grecian gods to form two types of characters (good and bad). For instance, take Artemis. Her archetypes would be the Amazon (good) & the Gorgon (bad). With detailed descriptions for all characters, this book is a must for either identifying a current character's archetype, or creating a character from scratch.
Also included are friends (such as: the mentor, lover, best friend, magi), rivals (joker, nemesis, pessimist, etc.), and symbols, such as shadows, lost souls, and psychics. If you want more info on these, you'll have to buy the book!
If you're like me, you want to know what the archetypes (based on Jungian philosophy) are. I've enclosed a short synopsis:

Seductive Muse (Aphrodite): think Scarlett O'Hara and Emma Bovary
Femme Fatale (villainous Aphrodite): think Cleopatra

Amazon (Artemis): think Jo March (and Rose DeWitt Bukater-Dawson)
Gorgon (villainous Artemis): think Nikita

Father's Daughter (Athena): think Queen Elizabeth I
Backstabber (villainous Athena): think Lady Macbeth

Nurturer (Demeter): think Mary Poppins, Meg March
Overcontrolling Mother (villainous Demeter): think Nurse in Romeo & Juliet

Matriarch (Hera): think Monica from Friends
Scorned Woman (villainous Hera): think Mrs. Bennett (of Pride & Prejudice)

Mystic (Hestia): think Phoebe from Friends
Betrayer (villainous Hestia): think Blanche duBois

Female Messiah (Isis): think Monica from Touched by an Angel, Lady of the Lake in Arthurian Legends
Destroyer (villainous Isis): think Erin Brokovich (movie!)

Maiden (Persephone): think Rachel from Friends, Juliet from Romeo and Juliet
Troubled Teen (Persephone): think Ophelia from Hamlet by Shakespeare

MALE ARCHETYPES

Businessman (Apollo): think Mr. Darcy from Pride & Prejudice, Jerry Maguire
Traitor (villainous Apollo): think Macon Leary

Protector (Ares): think Lancelot from Arthurian Legends, Romeo from Romeo & Juliet
Gladiator (villainous Ares): think Thor, Atretes from Francine River's `Mark of the Lion' series

Recluse (Hades): think Quasimodo, Beast from Beauty & the Beast
Warlock (villainous Hades): think Dr. Jekyll

Fool (Hermes): think Joey from Friends, Austin Powers
Derelict (villainous Hermes): think the Fool in King Lear by Shakespeare

The Woman's Man (Dionysus): think Nick Marshall in What Women Want, Will Shakespeare in Shakespeare in Love, Jack Dawson in Titanic
Seducer (villainous Dionysus): think John Willoughby from Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen

Male Messiah (Osiris): think Luke Skywalker, Martin Luther King, Ghandi
Punisher (villainous Osiris): think Malcolm X

Artist (Poseidon): think Jack from Will & Grace, J.D. (Brad Pitt) in Thelma & Louise
Abuser (villainous Poseidon): think Dr. Zhivago

King (Zeus): think Ricky Ricardo (I Love Lucy), King Arthur, Julius Caesar, Tony Soprano Sr. from The Sopranos
Dictator (villainous Zeus): think Captain Kidd, King Lear

As a note, the Messiahs (both male & female) are not based on Jungian philosophy; they are rather a very much needed addition from Schmidt, whose in depth look at these archetypes was phenomenal.

I hope that you can use this book as well as I've been able to!