This is by no means a definitive list and I suspect you could add many of your own but my favourite character types include:-

1.  The underdog. (Most of the fairytales have good examples of these.  Cinderella is not expected to do well by her stepmother and stepsisters!).

2.  The character who is not expected to be a hero but becomes one.  (Frodo Baggins is a great example).

3.  The rebel (especially one who can see through the faults of their own side and has tried to rectify them but to no avail.  My fairy godmother character, Eileen, is of this ilk.  Characters like that are great fun to write for).

4.  A well rounded animal character.  I have a soft spot for anthropomorphism. Where would The Wind in the Willows be without it?! I also adore Gaspode in Terry Pratchett's Discworld.

5.  Those who deal out justice to those worthy of receiving it!  This is usually where some character thinks they've got away with something and our hero/heroine turns up to prove them wrong. Or it can be someone like Terry Pratchett's Lord Vetinari who deals out what he feels is appropriate justice (and is usually right.  Look at how he deals with Moist Von Lipvig in Going Postal).

Gremlins have hit the CFT website tonight so I hope to share a double bill of posts with you next week but I thought I'd look at gremlins that can hit a writer.

The Indecision Gremlin
And a right pain this one is too.  You have two good story ideas to work on.  Which to pursue first?  I look at deadlines here and prioritise the one with the closest deadline.  If it's a choice between a short piece and the novel, I plan out my writing time so I carve out slots specifically for the novel and other time periods I use for shorter pieces.  Over the course of a week, I've got done (most of the time) most of the work I've wanted to do .  It means I know what I'm doing with each day's writing session and it kicks the indecision gremlin where it hurts as I don't give it house room!

The Social Media Gremlin
How much time is the right time to spend on social media?  There's no definitive answer to that one but I've found it has paid me to allow so long on it before I switch it off to write.

The Editing Gremlin
Otherwise known as the "I'll just edit this one more time" gremlin. Is a very close relative of the indecision gremlin and can be just as much of a pain.  There is no hard and fast rule here but if you find you are just tinkering with a story, stop!  Send it out to the relevant market/competition and see you how do with it.  Remember this gremlin has the power to stop you moving on with new work if you let it.

My CFT post this week pays tribute to the late Barbara Large, MBE, who founded the Winchester Writers' Festival (as it is now known) and the Hampshire Writers' Society. I cannot think of anyone else who has done so much to help so many writers over so many years.  She will be much missed.  I first met Barbara many years ago and her encouragement made a huge difference.  So many writers will say the same (including the children's author, Anne Wan, whom I've also interviewed for CFT).

Influences matter to a writer and can make all the difference to whether someone keeps going or gives up.  This applies to our characters too.  What influences are your characters under or swayed by?  Are they positive ones?  If there are negative influences about, what do your characters do to fight that?

Barbara's life was very much a life well lived and that is something we should all aspire to do.

As for our characters, what do you want your people to aspire to be?  What drives them?  What gets in their way?  Answer those questions and you have the very essence of a good, drama driven story.  And isn't that what we all want for our books and stories?

My theme this week is character type(s) and my CFT post also featured this but I thought a quick run down of tips would be useful.

1. Be realistic.  Your characters must have motivations that we will all understand, even if we don't agree with them all!
2. Show flaws as  well as virtues.  None of us are perfect after all so why should our characters be?  Besides they can get to learn from their mistakes.
3. Stretch your characters.  Don't be afraid to put them through hell to find out what they are really made of/are capable of.
4. Let your characters surprise you, sometimes (don't overdo it!).  A great example of what I mean here is Frodo Baggins from The Lord of the Rings.  Nobody expects in that wonderful world for a hobbit to be a hero, yet Frodo becomes one.  Frodo shows a determination and courage others far bigger than him are not capable of (and yet he'd have failed completedly without Sam Gamgee's support).  It would've been the easiest thing of all for Frodo to stay in Middle Earth and let someone else do the heroics.
   
5. Weaknesses SHOULD get in the character's way and be something they're seen to be fighting against.  And that, folks, is where the drama is!  A great story has plenty of that!
   

This is by no means an exhaustive list but this includes some sources I've found most useful when generating story and article/blog post ideas.

1.  Proverbs and sayings.  What can you come up with, say, to fit the proverb "love is blind"? A book of proverbs is great for dipping into for themes you'd like to try to write to and generally are not that expensive to buy.

2.  Classic fairytales.  Look for the themes behind them.  A common one is that of wrongs being righted (see Cinderella, Snow White, Hansel and Gretel to name but a few).  How could you use that theme?  And that is just one to play with!  There are others.

3.  Films.  Again look at the theme but also look at the theme of the sub-plots (there will be at least one in any good movie). 

4.  Advertising slogans.  Don't copy word for word but adapt.  (This ties in nicely with my CFT post this week on Adaptations!).  For example, in the UK, there was a slogan from years ago which was "go to work on an egg", advertising the virtues of eating eggs.  Your theme could be something like "go to work on..." and name a foodstuff of your choice or a vehicle we don't see on Earth etc.  Let your imagination run riot!

Happy writing!