Writing narrative arcs for archetypal characters - paper

Experiencing an archetypal story is like suddenly recovering a lost memory, something you always knew but had somehow forgotten. However, writing these stories can sometimes seem complicated. Archetypes can appear either too restrictive (for example, the hero's journey and nothing more) or too varied to result in a coherent and harmonious system.

This book ventures far beyond the well-known and essential hero's journey to unveil the twenty-four emblematic archetypes of the human life path. At the heart of this system, we discover six consecutive narrative arcs of positive characters, symbolizing pivotal moments of initiation and transformation:

• The girl
• The hero
• The queen
• The king
• The old woman
• The magician

This cycle also examines twelve possible shadow archetypes, six "static" archetypes and twelve archetypal antagonists.

Writing narrative arcs for archetypal characters will teach you:

• Which archetypes best suit your story?
• How to best use archetypes in a series
• How to select the right archetypes for your secondary characters
• How to use archetypes to determine the theme of your story

Archetypes will forever change your approach to stories – and to life.