HelenBenson

I would put some emphasis on the notion of "archetypes", instead of "stereotypes". Using a well known structure for a story doesn't mean the story is gonna be bad. The problem arises when the characters and setting are exactly the same, with different names. That's poor storytelling in my opinion. It gets boring. Giving your creation a personal touch doesn't mean giving a character different hair color. You would be amazed at how most classic and modern adventure stories copy King Arthur's legend's structure, for example. Have you ever read those humorous texts with a sinopsis for a movie, but the names crossed out and others written instead, yet the sinopsis also applies? (Like, Star Wars and Harry Potter, you get the idea) I found this entry (TvTropes link, read at your own risk) specially interesting regarding plot structures. So if you follow a "boy meets girl" formula, and they are both terrible romantic comedy cut-out characters, hell yeah it is going to be bad. But "boy meets girl" with characters with more going on between them? You know, likeable, threedimensional characters? It can be good, why not?. So, following a formula, a "recipe" = not bad. Fleshing out that formula with awfuly overdone concepts = bad.

Hey, it may sound like a really dumb question, but... What kind of images is the calendar aiming for? I'm not talking about the media, or techniques. I'm talking about, you know, what kind of images? Landscapes, fruit bowls, pictures of kittens, sexy firemen...??