1. Great episode! I’ve recently been reading K. M. Weiland’s most recent (and ongoing) series Archetypical Character Arcs. (http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com)
    In it she has been gathering together her own experience from over a decade of informative blog posts, and through the execution in her own writing. It has been wildly informative for me, who beforehand had only some experience and interaction with variant Hero Cycles, such as the Heroine’s Cycle, or the Virgins Promise.

    In this series, she has been delving deep into the six life arcs, how they play into one another, and against one another.
    This pertains to the current podcast episode in a caveat made in each article: “The arcs are alternatively characterized as feminine and masculine….the protagonist of these stories can be of any gender.”
    K.M. Weiland masterfully gives examples of both genders in each arc, providing a archetypical means for writers to use. And it has been a huge help in my own plotting, as I take into consideration my female points-of-view. Do they fit into a generic Hero’s Cycle and continue to further a trope unintentionally? Would they be better suited pursuing the goals of one of the other arcs? This thought experiment alone has, in its structure, provided a freedom I did not have before—trying to aimlessly wander through my plot—with female characters at first existing for the sake of variety, rather than fulfilling their own plots and arcs, and gaining a solid foothold in their own fictional reality.

    I highly recommend checking out her blog (also found in podcast form.) Why it took so long for me to discover her is a mystery, but I’m glad I did. And I dont doubt it’ll help other fellow believers to write well-rounded characters in our own work.

What say you?