In this post, I will be discussing my ideas for the character and story overview of the path that it will take at the very end.
To begin, I decided to look into what characterization is within characters and what makes this effective when telling a story.
Characterization is the construction of traits, motives and features that make up a character. This is mainly used within narratives when describing the qualities of a character. Within children’s books, characterization is used a lot, especially in most stories where character features play a large role. For example, in the book Gruffalo, he is described as monstrous with terrible features.
Archetypes –
In every story, there are different archetypes within each character. Every character has a role in the story, whether it’s the main character or the villain, each one plays a part that makes the story interesting. Some archetypes create an immediate sense of familiarity even in an unfamiliar story, this is because people can relate to these types of characters.
Most characters can contain more than one of these archetypes, by doing this the story becomes more and more interesting. Using more than one type can twist and shift the storyline in a way to make the audience engaged in the reading.
Characters –
Noah:
-Main character
-Loves to have fun and play with his parrot
-Small
-Brown hair
-Only child
Pete:
-Pet Parrot
-He’s Noah’s best friend and companion
-Never leaves Noah’s side
-Mimics loud noises
-Has green & Yellow feathers
-Clever
Mum:
-Background/side character
-She’s constantly cleaning up around the house
-Appears at the beginning and end of the story
-Noahs Mother
-Curly brown hair
-Lives by herself with her son
For my story, I wanted to go along the monomyth path and develop a storyline that involves the character changing over the course of the story.
The story starts off by following the main character, Noah, he’s a kid that loves to play with his parrot in his spare time. Noah brought his parrot outside one day into the garden to play with they went on the swings, the slide and soared through the air with excitement. Mum calls Noah, she shouts “It’s Time for Tea!” Noah rushes back inside where his tea awaits on the table. Soon after, Noah darts outside to play again when he sees something that catches his eye. There’s something white floating above his head, he lets out a loud scream, “AHHHHH” and the scream echoed back to him. Noah sprinted out of the garden as fast as his legs could carry him, over the bridge, through the forest, and past the enormous rock. Hearing spooky sounds along the way. He suddenly stops to catch his breath when he hears a ripping noise coming from behind, rustling through the trees, the white figure appears from behind the bushes. It starts floating slowly towards Noah when “RIPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP” the sheet tears. ” SQWARRRRRK” it’s the parrot! That brought a smile to Noah’s face. He sighed with relief. ” MY PARROT! Don’t ever scare me like that again.” Noah began to wonder where he was, “Oh no, we’re lost! Which way back?” He sits there confused until he realizes a trail of feathers. “What is this?” Noah asks Parrot. ” FOLLOW THE TRAIL! FOLLOW THE TRAIL!” the parrot squarks. So they follow the trail of colourful feathers all the way back past the enormous rock, through the forest, and over the bridge back home to mum.
The Gruffalo – Official Website – The Gruffalo – Official Website (Accessed, 19/10/2022)
What Are Character Archetypes? 16 Archetypes, Plus Examples (scribophile.com) (Accessed, 19/10/2022)