I wish “Archetypes for Writers” could have been a much better book, instructive it may be. For all its interesting tidbits about getting to understand your character, and stripping down their personalities, it also manages to truly delve into endless exposition into Arkelogy, and archetypes, and constructing practices about archetypes, and the like.
And it also manages to state the obvious. The writer knows the characters more than most people. Doy. A writer’s characters are combinations of the writer’s personality, fears, desires, and inhibitions. Thanks for reminding me. I seriously didn’t understand that. But Van Bergen’s aspirations are fascinating. She’s not only seeking to explore the notion of archetypes, but she also hopes to help the writer use this pit fall to their advantage, while re-defining the concept of archetypes and help their writing flourish.
