Weiland Weighs and Clarifies Characters

 

Katie M. Weiland. 2023. Writing Archetypal Character Arcs: The Hero’s Journey and Beyond. Pen for a Sword Publishing.

Review by Stephen W. Hiemstra

Over the years I have noticed that what passes as writer’s blockage normally means that one has not done enough research. Writing, especially fiction writing, is a highly analytical activity. Characters, locations, and plots all provide numerous opportunities for refinement and further research. Thus, when I begin editing my work, I frequently break it up with reading books on the craft of writing.

Introduction

Katie M. Weiland’s book, Writing Archetypal Character Arcs: The Hero’s Journey and Beyond is a how-to book that moves beyond the hero’s journey character arc to focus on six primary character arcs: The maiden, the hero, the Queen, the Kind, the Cone, and the Mage. Her deep dive into character arcs includes articulating the two negative shadow archetypes of each primary arc and explores the antagonists most frequently associated with each (back cover). She also outlines six flat archetypes that support the primary character arcs.

Most appropriately Weiland’s first lengthy citation is from C.G. Jung, who developed a classification of personality types widely used today in counseling: There are as many archetypes as there are typical situations in life. Endless repetition has engraved these experiences into out psychic constitution.” Weiland contribution to the writing craft is the offer a classification system for character arcs that adds color to a palette usually limited to black and white.

Why employ character arcs like tropes in your writing? Once you recognize the character arc that your story is using it is easier to identify the boundaries on edges that are more typically too squishy to be obvious or interesting.

Background and Organization

Katie Weiland is a native of Western Nebraska, writing instructor, and author focused on historical and speculative fiction.

Weiland writes twenty-nine chapters divided into five parts:

1.    The Six Life Arcs (1-7)

2.    The Twelve Shadow Archetypes (8-14)

3.    The Six Flat or Resting Archetypes (15-21)

4.    The Twelve Archetypical Antagonists (22-28)

5.    Practical Application of Archetypal Characters (v-viii).

These five parts are preceded by an introduction and followed by two appendices.

Life in Three Acts

An important insight that Weiland offers is to divide life into three thirty-year acts and to assign her archetypal character arcs to these three acts (28-30).

As a coming-of-age story, the hero’s arc and the parallel maiden arc are assigned to this first act. These positive arcs are thematically they engaged in individualization—separating themselves from their parents.

Once they have proven themselves in their journeys, the hero and the maiden mature in the next thirty years into the King and Queen arcs that focus not on proving themselves but on learning to integrate their adult powers in relationships.

In the final thirty years, the King and Queen adult power begins to wane and they must come to grips with death (transcendence).

Much like life itself, our characters confront different issues at different acts.

Shadow Arcs

Although each act in life has its themes, objectives are sometimes delayed or not met at all. Weiland articulates negative shadow arcs that capture the key stumbling blocks that arise when objectives are delayed or never achieved. These negative arcs are either passive or aggressive, which implies a total of twelve negative arcs.

The hero arc can fail if the protagonist either shows cowardice or becomes a bully. Likewise, the parallel maiden arc can fail if the protagonist becomes either a damsel (a victim) or a vixen (a villain). Variations on the typical arcs can arise when the protagonist realizes their failure and gets back on track or starts out strong but backslides when obstacles arise (130-131).

I am reminded here of the film High Noon (1952) where sheriff’s deputy Harvey Pell at first supports the sheriff in preparing for the return of the criminal gang, but then runs off—an example of a change in arc: cowardice in the face of obstacles. Such variants add real depth to a story because they reflect our life experience better than a more linear plot.

A Flat Archetype

Not all characters evolve during a story. Some provide structure and a context for the arc of other characters.

An iconic flat character is James Bond. Bond is the consummate protector—we all want our police to be competent, powerful, and unflappable, like James Bond. We want criminals to hear the music and change their behavior.

Weiland writes: “The protagonist uses an understanding of the story’s central thematic truth to catalyze change arcs in the supporting characters.” (201)

Archetypal Antagonists

Each of the archetypes have archetypal antagonists (or antagonistic forces) that appear routinely in many stories. The maiden arc often is combined with authority and predator antagonists that attempt to restrain or enslave them. Likewise, the hero arc is often combined with dragons and sick kings that incite them to accept the journey set before them (272). Antagonists and antagonist forces are often deeply thematic and can be both internal and external (273-274).

Assessment

Katie M. Weiland’s Writing Archetypal Character Arcs: The Hero’s Journey and Beyondis a book that fiction writers will want to read and absorb. Classification systems are enormously helpful in defining relationships that are otherwise ethereal and difficult to pin down. This makes them important to understand and even memorize because they provide a vocabulary with which to identify, discuss, and describe characters, their motivations, and their progress through time.

Footnotes

https://www.HelpingWritersBecomeAuthors.com. https://www.kmweiland.com

Weiland Weighs and Clarifies Characters
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