Why This is Good

In my past posts on stereotypes, I discussed the importance of avoiding clichéd, overused character types, stereotyping people, and generally avoiding overdone concepts. But, there are certain universal themes that you can and should use to reach a wider audience. The reason successfully told stories become successful films is that they are told in a way that speaks to many people. Reaching a large audience means not only relying on a storytelling structure that people can easily relate to and understand, but knowing and utilizing character archetypes.

The concept of archetypes and the collective unconscious comes from the psychiatrist Carl Jung, who theorized that a collective unconscious exists and can explain similarities in the human experience across cultures, particularly in storytelling and dreams, which have similar elements and character archetypes, even between societies who have never influenced each other in a measurable way. This universal human experience is what is harnessed by the truly great stories, and what makes them work for so many people.

From this collective unconscious, archetypes emerge that represent parts of ourselves, experiences, and personality types that are universally recognizable and understood. Jung’s archetypes were used for psychoanalysis, but character archetypes exist in story and can be studied and recognized as ways to connect with an audience on a deeper, universally understood and realized way that will bring depth and meaning to your story and your characters.

In the following posts, we’ll examine the different archetypes and how they can be used in your stories without becoming stereotype copycats of other existing characters.