On June 3rd, Kasie and Rex took on the appeal of the Outlaw character and looked at some specific genres that use outlaw archetypes. Here are the show notes:
Theme for the day
Writing in Existing Lore Part 3
Agenda
- Outlaws
- Gangsters & Mafia
- Pirates
- How to write an Outlaw story
Segment 1
In our walk through writing about existing lore, we talked about werewolves and vampires. We talked about sea monsters and mermaids. We’ve looked at writing in other peoples’ universes, series, and adaptations.
Today we’re going to lean closer to character cliches as we tackle Outlaws, Gangsters, Mafia, and Pirates. We’ll unpack the appeal of these characters, the have-tos and better-nots, and maybe amuse you with some of our favorites. You’ll probably hear a few returns to the character arcs we worked on back in the fall. Links to those episodes are here, and here.
What’s the appeal of the Outlaw? Those who violate the law, live outside of it, or seem to run afoul of it. These can be stock or cliche’ characters (link). Origins: Robin Hood? Popularity peak: American Westerns?
The positive arc Outlaw character is going to be a revolutionary, a visionary who subverts oppressive systems and regimes. Some examples: Katniss Everdeen, Beatrice from Divergent, William Wallace, Bruce Wayne / Batman.
More on the Outlaw character archetype (from this blog):
They might feel:
- Alienated
- Disillusioned
- Repressed/oppressed
They’re driven by:
- The desire to seek change
- A need to shake up societal norms
- The desired to seek revenge or retribution
Character traits of Outlaws include:
- Bold
- Candid
- Controversial
- Polarizing
- Fearless
- Arrogant
- Dominant
- Unapologetic
- Idealistic
- Inspiring
An Outlaw’s fears and turn-offs include:
- Narrow mindedness (as often determined by their own moral compass)
- Being silenced
- Authority and rigid structures of power
- Being powerless
Segment 2
Gangsters and Mafia. Let’s talk about the difference between the two.
- Mafia – associated with the Sicilian-based crime syndicate, typically family or family-adjacent, has ties in government and other influential places
- Gangsters – part of a gang, not usually blood relatives, sometimes part of a larger, organized crime network, but not always
Mafia and Mob are frequently used interchangeably, but while a mafia is a mob (an organized criminal network), all mob is not mafia. The mafia is more along the strict-Italian-family lines of mob activity.
So, The Godfather is about mafia members, the Corleone family; here’s a list of some other mafia books (100 of them actually) if that’s your bag. Here’s a list of Russian mafia (bratva?) romance novels if that’s your jam.
Gangs are frequently younger, substitute family, and more reckless, dangerous, and hopeless than business-owning, wealthy mafia/mob types. Here’s a list of some authors’ favorite gangs books.
What can we expect from a book about the mafia or the mob?
What can we expect from a book about a gang?
Segment 3
Pirates. So we frequently think of these as historic novels, having the colonialism stench to them including New World, East India Trading Company, and British Empire markings including slave trade and hangings. Here’s a list of the top 10 pirate books. Unsurprisingly, many were written on the heels of colonialism itself:
- Treasure Island, by RL Stevenson
- Peter Pan, by JM Barrie
- The Gold Bug by Edgar Allan Poe
- Captain Singleton, by Daniel Defoe (of Moll Flanders and Robinson Crusoe fame)
What can we expect from a pirate book?
What’s the appeal of pirate stories?
Segment 4
So the how-tos are all over the place. Here’s a few links and some suggestions:
How to write a book about gangs (link) with 30 prompts
- Ground your story in reality (no pixies!)
- Focus on dynamics within the gang (politics, leadership, loyalty)
How to write a story about mafia (link) with prompts
- Read other mafia books
- Create a boss who is a flawed character but be sure it’s easy to see why he became boss
- Select a neighborhood or a geographic location for the influence
- Decide what criminal activities they’ll focus on or specialize in
- Create a threat – usually law enforcement of some kind, but could be a usurper
How to write a story about pirates (link)
- Decide on how close to (or divergent from) history you want to be
- Decide on how ruthless, violent, and unrepentant you want them to be
- Give them origins: how did they become pirates?
- Give them goals: what do they want in life?
- Pick a location and give them a ship – give the ship its own history and lore
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