But subversions are often as cliched as as the original tropes themselves, so I can’t just make her outspoken or independent and call that a character either. I’m currently stuck on just how to make her unique, and that’s one of the things gnawing at the back of my head.

***

I don’t know if you take requests for tips or answer out-of-the-blue questions, but one problem I’m having right now is maintaining my interest on this one project. It’s not that I’m having doubts about it (if anything my pendulum is swinging the other way, towards egotism and self-delusion). But with work and other things I have a limited amount of free time each day and having to devote so much of it to this one thing to keep my daily word count met at the expense of other things I like to spend time on is making it hard to summon much enthusiasm. Especially when I get stuck on a single scene for a couple days.

Do you ever have this problem? Any tips on combatting it?

Everyone who hasn’t read her Dairy Queen books yet, get to it. Seriously. Everything Justine has said is so true.

An archetype (according to Jung) is a part of the collective unconscious. It defines the role of a character in a story (since this is how we’re talking about it). Now this is character in the very generalist of senses. It is character without content, context or definition. Archetypes are thought to exist regardless of how we view or define the world around ourselves.

A stereotype is a cliched character. This is character with content, context and definition, but this is usually of the type that’s seen far too often. Usually they are underdeveloped. Stereotypes are reliant upon society and culture, usually a specific one.

How you get the details will depend on how you write – for some it might be easiest to just let it come out as you’re writing the story, others might need to plan in advance. I mostly let it happen as I write, until/unless I get stuck. Then I think about their interactions with other characters and how that might have affected their character; or I think about things they did in those interactions and what aspect of their character might have informed that. Once I’ve had one idea I have to stop and get back to writing or I could get really carried away but mileage varies there too.

Kristan: You won’t be sorry.

Kristin: I guessed as much given your blurb on the front cover of Front and Center. Murdock’s a wonderful writer, isn’t she?

My writing prof often used to say that some of the best characters were stereotypes… with something that made them different. I think that’s very similar to what you’re saying here. Stereotypes are good in a way, because they are shortcuts: you say “dumb jock,” and I immediately get a sense of that character. But you say “dumb girl jock” and I immediately get intrigued. It’s both familiar and unique enough.

Stereotypes can be good shortcuts for writers too. We just have to be sure we do that extra bit of work to, as you said, “make them transcend.”

Can’t wait until I can afford to buy the other two! If they’re both out, that is. But you make it sound like they are!