Schmidt Defines Characters and Journeys
Victoria Lynn Schmidt. 2001. 45 Master Characters: Mythic Models for Creating Original Characters. Cincinnati: Writer’s Digest Books.
Review by Stephen W. Hiemstra
As an avid movie fan, I have long been drawn to foreign films where character development trumps routine Hollywood plots. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy an occasional action film, but I chide at their predictability, use of special effects, and dependence on deus ex machina, often relying on unbelievable timing or special gifting. Superhero movies are especially cliché in this respect slavishly adhering to the hero’s journey template.
Introduction
In 45 Master Characters: Mythic Models for Creating Original Characters Victoria Lynn Schmidt starts off writing:
“I wrote this book for every writer who has ever felt weighed down by the rules of fiction writing. The theories and information presented here are meant to offer writers a way out of the stifling maze of structure, form, and rules surrounding fiction writing. It is a book that honors the spark of passion and vision with the heart of every writer.” (1)
This is an ambitious goal that she pursues by outlining male and female archetypes and feminine and masculine journeys, writing from a feminist perspective.
Background and Organization
According to her back flap, Victoria Lynn Schmidt graduated from the film program at the University of California at Los Angeles and holds a master’s in screenwriting from Loyola Marymount University. Details of her biography are surprisingly scarce among the references to her many books and fans. The website cited in her book is no longer active.
Schmidt writes in twenty-five chapters divided into five parts:
I. Getting Started
What are archetypes and why should writers use them?
How to use the archetypes
II. Creating Female Heroes and Villains
Aphrodite: The Seductive muse and the femme fatale
Artemis: The Amazon and Gorgon
Athena: The father’s daughter and the backstabber
Demeter: The nurturer and the overcontrolling mother
Hera: The matriarch and the scorned woman
Hestia: The mystic and the betrayer
Isis: The female messiah and the destroyer
Persephone: The maiden and the troubled teen
III. Creating Male Heroes and Villain
Apollo: The businessman and the traitor
Ares: The protector and the gladiator
Hades: The recluse and the warlock
Hermes: The fool and the derelict
Dionysus: The woman’s man and the seducer
Osiris: The male messiah and the punisher
Poseidon: The artist and abuser
Zeus: The king and the dictator
IV. Creating Supporting Characters
Introduction to supporting characters
Friends
Rivals
Symbols
V. The Female and Male Journeys
Introduction to archetypal journeys
Plotting the feminine journey
Plotting the masculine journey (vi-viii)
Archetypes
Almost invariably authors write characters that end up being too much like themselves and when they do not, their characters act out their own stereotypical prejudices. An archetype is a generalization of a stereotype that reflects a fairer, more complete reading of underlying characteristics (10). External characteristics—face, skin, hair, age, body type, style, and impressions—must be mapped with behavioral attributes (11-12).
Schmidt asks four basic questions of her archetypes:
What does you character care about?
What does she fear?
What motivates her?
How do other characters view her? (14)
Schmidt focuses on female archetypes first both because of her feminist views, but also because for many writers, the female characters are weakened by cultural presumptions and stereotypical treatment. This may show up, for example, in strong female characters being just a male character wearing a skirt rather than a distinctive female character with authentic personality and responses to life’s challenges. This is why twenty years after publication, Schmidt’s work on archetypes remains fresh and why she needed to follow them with an exploration of an alternative female journey.
Hero and Heroine Journeys
Women forced into the hero’s journey are set up to fail. Schmidt sees the female journey differing from the male journey in three respects: Differences in power, differences in support, and differences in expectations.
Differences in Power. Just like there is a reason why women do not compete directly with men in the Olympics, differences in physical strength factor into their daily lives in ways that men cannot easily comprehend. Physical assault is a veiled threat that they live with and take into account in rational decision making. Schmidt writes: “Many women realize that they’re living a life filled with other people’s goals and ambitions.” (194-195). Their journey accordingly starts differently than the men’s.
Differences in Support. Schmidt observes: “The female hero isn’t genuinely supported in her effort to leave her community and embark on a journey.” (195) Where men are expected to slay dragons, women are dissuaded from such things.
Differences in Expectations. Where the ideal women is encouraged to have children and be a good housewife (196), the ideal man meets three societal expectations: Performing, providing, and protecting. Performing is a career expectation, even if it no longer involves battling monsters and running off to war. Providing is all about making lots of money. Protecting involves being a tough guy and repressing emotions (244-245).
Given these differences, the female journey has a different starting point than the male journey. Therefore, the female journey has three movements: Containment, transformation, and emergence, while the three movements of the male journey are: Challenge, obstacles, and transformation (199, 242). The feminist agenda can be interpreted by attempting to merge the female journey onto the male journey, effectively removing the three differences that Schmidt cites.
Extending the Journeys
The two journeys Schmidt lays out should not be seen as the only two journeys, but rather as templates for developing new journeys. A Christian writer might, for example, eschew both journeys in favor of a coming-of-age journey, such as that of the Prodigal Son. A psychiatrically motivated author might likewise see additional archetypes, such as various types articulate in the DSM-V. The Prodigal Son grew to become a functioning adult, while others may fall into addiction, develop alternative lifestyles, or evolve co-dependent personalities. The failed journeys of anti-heroes may actually be more interesting than successful journeys, such as with a Doctor Faustus, King Lear, or Hannibal Lector.
Assessment
Victoria Lynn Schmidt’s 45 Master Characters: Mythic Models for Creating Original Characters should be seen as a postmodern classic, useful in helping the fiction author to understand and appreciate the world of fiction today. Her archetypes and articulation of journeys should help authors to develop meaningful character arcs. The book can be read cover to cover or used as a writing aid, helping to reference how particular archetypes should be treated.
Schmidt Defines Characters and Journeys
Also see:
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:
Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
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