Typecasting your characters

After a certain amount of reading, you inevitably start to pick up on patterns. One of the patterns common to storytelling is character archetypes. The most prominent archetypes are defined character roles in particular types of stories, and you are probably familiar with some of them already: the Chosen One, the Mentor, the Byronic Hero, the Out-of-touch Dad, the Big Bad Evil Guy, the Comic Relief, the Star-crossed Lovers.

Using character archetypes can help with developing characters, but it can be easy for them to feel clichéd if you aren't careful. This doesn't mean that archetypes aren't valuable, but it is worth thinking about how you're using them in your work. Are they earning their keep, or are you just taking a shortcut?

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