Character building is hard work, and when we see certain types of characters appear again, and again in fiction and film, we wonder if there’s a way to start with a familiar character building block yet still create someone fresh. And with a little out-of-the-box thinking, we can.
I’m talking about using archetypes and tropes — characters who play a specific role in a story or who have a blend of characteristics that make them instantly recognizable: the Rebel, the Bully, the Hot Billionaire, the Chosen One…you get the idea. Readers recognize these types of characters and may even expect to find them in certain stories.
So, our job is done, right? Pick an archetype or trope, put some clothes on them and shove them into the story. No, ‘fraid not. Character types and tropes can provide a skeleton, but to avoid a stock character or overdone cliché, they must stand on their own and mesmerize by being unique.
And that’s where this thesaurus comes in.
Characters need layers, full stop, so trope or not, we want to dig for what makes them an individual, give them a soul, and make adaptations that will challenge a reader’s expectations.
What this thesaurus will cover:
A Trope or Type Description and Fictional Examples. Before we can think about how to adapt a trope, we need to know more about who they are. This overview and examples will help you know if this baseline character is right for your story.
Common Strengths and Weaknesses. A character who aligns with a trope or type tends to have certain positive and negative traits, so we list those as a starting point. But don’t be afraid to branch out – personality is a great place to break the mold.
Associated Actions, Behaviors, and Tendencies. Because tropes have a mix of traits, qualities, and a worldview baked in, you’ll need to know how to write their actions, choices, priorities, and certain tendencies…so you can then decide how to break with tradition.
Situations that Will Challenge Them. Every character faces challenges in a story that are extra difficult because of who they are, what they believe, fear, and need. A trope or type character is no different. We’ll cue up ideas to get your brains whizzing on what this can look like in your story.
Twist This Type With a Character Who… is where we give you ideas on how to break expectations, so you deliver someone who has fresh angles, and isn’t a typical stand-in.
Clichés to Avoid is where we alert you to some of the overdone versions of a type or trope so you’re aware of them as you develop your characters and plot your story.
Readers are hardwired to look for patterns and familiarity
Which is why we see tropes used so often, but good storytellers know that in 99% of cases, using one is the starting point only. We want rounded and dynamic characters, not flat ones. So, unless you require a stock character to fill a background role, any character who starts as a trope should be as carefully developed as those who did not. Readers want–and deserve!–fresh characters, so dig into those inner layers and bring forth someone unique.
Join us each Saturday for a new entry, and if there’s a character type or trope you’d like us to cover, add it in the comments here, and we’ll add it to the list of potentials!
Here are all the types and tropes we’ve covered so far.
Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.
Will this eventually be a thesaurus available on onestopforwriters?
A really popular writing trope for relationships is “the grumpy one/the sunshiney one” – the ‘sunshine one’ here may be the Jester which you’ve covered, but I’d be very curious to see your equivalent or thoughts on the grumpy/dour/serious/straitlaced one!
I Don’t tell you often enough how awesome the two of you are! What I have learned from you (and Katie) is equivalent to a college degree and more. So…
YOU ROCK!!!!!
Cindy, you are the BEST. Thank you so much for the kind words. We love to help, and hope everyone enjoys this new thesaurus!
Hi Angela and Becca,
I started writing screenplays (not books) ten years ago and had the good fortune a couple of years ago to stumble onto K.M. Weiland’s website and have been receiving her informative and valuable posts on a regular basis since then.
I found out about your website and your Thesauruses from her and have purchased all ten of them from Amazon in order to assist me in writing more realistic and interesting characters in my screenplays.
I’m excited to see that you are working now on The Character Type And Trope Thesaurus.
Are you considering writing about the following Character Types? The Narcissist, The Greedy Individual, The Psychopath, The Religious Individual
LJ
I am so glad you found your way to Katie’s blog, because she has fantastic resources and a great mind for story. And how great that’s how you discovered us, too!
We’re just starting to explore this thesaurus, so we don’t have a set list of entries just yet, but we will add these to our running list if they are not there already. Thank you for the suggestions, and all the kind words! 🙂
What a fabulous tool!! This will be such a valuable resource for writers. Thank you, ladies!
Ooh I absolutely love this! What a unique and super helpful tool this is going to be. You guys are killing it Angela!
I’d love to see entries on:
– the Mean Girl (because they’re so easy to turn into stereotypical caricatures, yet they do really exist in real life unfortunately)
– the Manic Pixie Dream Girl
– the…Prude? Virgin? (pretty much a character who is more conservative sexually. I feel like it’s okay if male characters are sexually conservative, but if a female is, then people take offense and she’s labeled as “misogynistic” or “unrealistic” or “prude.” I’d like to see how to tackle a conservative/modest female—and even male!—character successfully so they’re realistic and inoffensive.
Thank you again for this great resource. Excited to see it unfold!
Thanks for the great ideas, Lindy :).
Discuss the curmudgeon friend
Thanks, Isabel!
Angela,
When I started writing there was a book written by Tami Cowden, Caro, LaFever, and Sue Vidars called Heroes and Heroines, Sixteen Master Archetypes, that went into male and female archetypes and how you could blend them to flesh out characters and use them in situations. It’s still an awesome book. Do you remember that book? It was published by ifilm and published in 2000, You might still be able to find a copy, People taught classes using that book back in the day, at least at writers conferences.
Hi, Tricia. Thanks for this. It sounds similar to what we’ll be doing, digging into certain characters and learning how to apply them most effectively in stories. But we’ll be casting a wider net and looking specifically at how to twist the cliché and make each into something a bit new. There’s so much research needed in this area, so we appreciate the recommendation!
Can’t wait until Saturday. This sounds like a fabulous series.
Thanks so much–we’re excited, too!
You ask us to suggest other tropes we’d like to see covered but don’t list the ones you’ve already fleshed out. I know you’re keeping the actual juicy stuff for the blog each week, but how about just a list of the ones you already have planned? Then we could suggest others we might like to see you include.
Hi Maggie, this isn’t a pre-written series; we are writing these entries each week, so while we have a list of possibilities, we haven’t decided which to cover just yet. If we see requests, especially when we see repeat requests, this helps us see which tropes will help the most writers.
We will be covering some foundational archetypes, I can say that for sure.
This will be great. Thanks. In the past, I’ve gone to tvtropes to find this kind of information, but this will be so much better.
Haha, I don’t know we can compete with such a giant compendium as TV tropes, but we will dive into the iconic character tropes on a mission to help us all create stronger, more unique characters! 🙂
TV Tropes is massive. Almost too much, and so many rabbit trails I can go down. It’s great for defining the tropes and giving examples, but I get off-track. I know yours will be the most helpful.
I agree, it can be overwhelming because they combine character and plot tropes, and it can feel like a rabbit hole. We just hope that however many tropes we cover, they will offer the most benefit, and that writers will see how they can be twisted and blended to go in new directions. Thanks for your confidence in us! <3
when and where can I get this????
Glad you’re excited. We’ll explore this on the blog first, and see how it goes. Every Saturday there will be a new one profiled, so stay tuned! 🙂