[Jim Kane]

Jack -

I have the picture in focus; however, it seems your thread is having trouble getting any traction thus far with 153 Reads, with only you, SJ, and myself posting thus far.

Chin-up, perhaps I can offer to help you 'Prime the Pump', so to speak; often an engine needs that.

Maybe others would feel more encouraged to openly contribute, if you broke things down into small bites that anyone can handle comfortably?

As the most important part of any story are the Characters, perhaps starting with that topic first would be a logical place to open the dialog. I would further suggest perhaps looking at Specific Character Archtypes first, and simply ask everyone to "shout-out" what character jumps into their head which they feel fits in the current archetype, and HOW does that character FORM fit and fulfill their role as FUNCTION within the structure of a story.

Breaking things down further, and as an example of where you might want to begin, why not take the classic Archetype: Human Tank, as _______ .

You might want to ask everyone to simply cite their favorites; and then, by analysis using: Compare-and-Constrast, people can learn each of the Stock Archetypes in series, the Range, the Dramatic Function (beyond combat) and learn: How they are same, Why they are different, and the Variations in-between the Range of the Archetype, and what is not this Archetype.

Examples; which you might offer up for HUMAN TANK:

1) Lenny, from: 'Of Mice and Men', by John Steinbeck; as an example of the Human Tank as: Drama and Pathos;

2) The Thing, from: 'The Fanstic Four', by Lee/Kirby; as an example of the Human Tank as: Comic Relief and Equalizer;

and lastly,

3) Raseem, the Strong, from: 'Arabian Knights', by Hannah/Barbara; as an example of the Human Tank as: Buddy and Straight-man - the Secondary Character with a good-nature, existing solely [from a functionality stand-point to the story] to support a Main Character(s).

Now, if someone doesn't jump on that list with: Chewbacca, from: 'Star Wars', as an example of (in)Human Tank as: Buddy and Straight-man; pretty fast,... and about four ofher's that just flashed into my head; you might want to consider the feasibility of your Noble Geas.

Your Thoughts?

P.S. If you can get a TANK list going, and once confident, but before you switch to a new Archetype, you might have everyone wrestle with this Puzzle-Question: "Mr. Spock, Human Tank? Yes or No?

It's a great exercise in mastery of classification by form and function.

.