Characteristics of The Enchanter:

• Charismatic
  

Although a male Enchanter is often very attractive, this is not not always the case. Physical appearance often signals the entrance of the enchanter, but some writers have a talented way of creating this influential character as a subtle, unremarkable man. The audience may not feel the draw towards this man that the characters in the story do. Whether or not the enchanter is physically attractive, there is something about this particular type of man that draws people to him. He is always the center of someone’s attention. The male enchanter does have some measure of guiding light within him, but it is ultimately his choice whether he channels that energy for good or for evil purposes.

• Calculating

Whether his intentions are meant for good or for harm, the enchanter is continually calculating his gains and losses. His greatest desire is to remain at the center of whatever he is doing and as such is always counting heads. There is almost certainly a specific number of people he seeks to maintain in his “inner-circle,” but he must always be wary of those among that number who may secretly envy his popularity.

• Logical

Some may question the choices made by the male enchanter, but as he sees it, his choices are made almost solely upon sound logic. His sense of self-preservation drive the tone of his every conversation and action.

• Cool Under Pressure

Except for extreme circumstances, the male enchanter rarely loses his cool. This single trait is perhaps what draws so many people towards him. When others seem to struggle with decisions or panic under pressure, the enchanter seems completely collected and knows exactly what to do to get through to the other side of the present challenge.

Perceived Weaknesses of The Pundit

• Narcissist Tunnel Vision

Not all enchanters consider themselves to be the “center of the universe,” but most of them do. The narcissist enchanter lives and breathes for themselves alone. Emotional attachments are shallow at best and physical relationships last only so long as they feed the enchanter’s personal ego. This character tends to wonder at times why his relationships fail, but eventually his conclusions tell him that the people in his life are weak or somehow lack what it takes to understand him.

• Arrogance

Male Enchanters, because of their narcissistic tendencies, often believe they have risen above the masses on their merits alone. If they forget about the people who have carried them to the top, that failure of insight will ultimately lead to their undoing.

Examples of The Male Enchanter in History, Print and Film

History

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Adolf Hitler

Print

Gandalf in JRR Tolkien’s, The Lord of the Rings
Rhett Butler in Margaret Mitchell’s, Gone with the Wind

Film

Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones

Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean

In the coming weeks we will explore the remaining  male archetypes. As always, your opinions and comments are welcomed!

Among the Piney Woods:  A Civil War short story that examines the difference between our perception of patience and time and that of our Creator.

Whisper Creek: A Civil War short story about a single day in the life of Chaplain Joseph Meyers. Unsatisfied with the spiritual decisions of the men in his charge, Joseph plans to give the sermon of his life. In his singular focus to inspire, he fails to recognize the opportunities he has from moment-to-moment. What will it take for Chaplain Meyers to realize his lost opportunities?

Scrolls of Nordaan – A New Dawn: Love settles over the land of Nordaan, a peaceful conglomeration of settlements ruled by noble kings. Beyond the shadows of Castle Paradran a darker force is rising. As cooperation turns to greed and rulers turn to force, the balance between brute force and enduring faith hangs by a single strand.

If you do download one of my books from SmashWords, I would greatly appreciate it if you could leave feedback on them. Ratings and comments go a long way to help promote future sales.

The third of these seven male archetypes is The Scrapper. This type of individual is usually a dominant character, but is also somewhat codependent upon those around him. The cause for which they fight often centers around people they consider important. The enemies attacks on the Scrappers friends are what fuels his actions. While the Scrapper may appear very similar to the Warrior, the Scrapper often seems like a somewhat reluctant player in the course of events. They don’t want to fight, but he is not content simply to just exist among the wrongs that affect his life and his loved ones.

Characteristics of The Scrapper:

• Determination

The Scrapper seems to thrive on antagonism. The harder they get pushed, the harder they push back. The length to which the Scrapper will go is dependent upon their ability to maintain their mental and physical health.

• Loyal

The Scrapper’s sole existence is dependent upon a driving force that compels them forward. The scrapper may act independently and very much resemble the Warrior, but typically is among the Warrior’s inner circle. The Scrapper has a close circle of friends that he is devoted to.

• Inspirational

The devotion to people or to a cause is what attracts people to the Scrapper. No matter the resistance to his efforts, the Scrapper will fight against it. Those who lack the courage, fortitude, or endurance for the fight draw their inspiration to continue on because of the actions of the Scrapper.

• Resilient

Nothing motivates the Scrapper more than competition and conflict. When a scrapper gets knocked down, he will jump back up as long as there is still life in him.

• Skillful

This actions of the Scrapper are not always physical. While many Scrappers do resort to their physical ability to break their opponents down, many others resort to intellectual warfare. Such Scrappers are the moral crusaders intent on promoting such things as freedom and liberty.

Perceived Weaknesses of The Scrapper

Self Defeatism

Scrappers will “fight to the death” in support of their beliefs or cause, but only so far. Without a balancing relationship they will wear themselves out until there is no energy left with which to fight the battle. If they are not in a healthy relationship with people willing to recharge them, the Scrapper will last only so long as they possibly can. A weakened Scrapper can turn on the people closest to him if he perceives they are not helping him in the fight. In the same way, other people can manipulate a Scrapper to fight for the wrong cause or beyond their own endurance.

Examples of The Male Warrior in History, Print and Film

History

George Washington
Ulysses S. Grant

Print

Samwise Gamgee in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings
Chris Claremont’s Wolverine

Film

Tom Cruise as Joseph Donnelly in Far and Away
Rayford Steele in Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins’ Left Behind

James (Jimmie) Stewart as Jefferson Smith in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

In the coming weeks we will explore the remaining four male archetypes. As always, your opinions and comments are welcomed!

The first and most prevalent concern I have seen is the growth in the efforts of scammers wanting to separate uninformed readers AND writers from their dollars. There is a rapid growth in the number of rapidly deployed sales pages cropping up online offering any number of great ideas and secrets in the form of eBooks. I have seen a great number of these get rich quick schemes in my research of this market and it is concerning. But the threat isn’t only coming from unknown parties.

I have seen a number of prominent writers, including many in the Christian marketplace, rushing books to the market that have little to offer in the way of real and tangible information. There are a growing number of writers throwing together ambiguous strings of text and offering their meager products at premium prices. I’ve even taken a few online courses about compiling my own eBook in order to garner quick sales and the advice from these sites comes off as disingenuous, especially those in the Christian market. While profits and a living wage are an important factor to consider when writing and publishing eBooks, I believe wholeheartedly that Christian writers should hold themselves to a higher moral ground.

This leads to the second concern I have been seeing in the growing eBook market. The freedom that is offered by this market is also one of its greatest weaknesses. In the not-so-distant past when authors had to submit manuscripts to the scrutiny of a publisher, the resulting quality was for the benefit of the reader. Now, with so many writers now bypassing editors, agents and publishers, the quality of reading material does appear to be suffering. The benefits have increased for the reader in the form of cost, but the benefits for writers in the way of profits have grown exponentially higher.

The temptation to dump quick, unreasearched, unedited manuscripts on an unsuspecting audience is difficult for writers to defend against. The best advice I can give any reader wanting to find eBooks worth reading would be to not make blind purchases. Many eBook markets allow readers to view a certain percentage of a book before buying it. If you don’t take advantage of this free opportunity, you may end up with buyers remorse more often than you would desire. This is concerning as too many disgruntled readers will hurt the overall marketplace. As a writer, if you do bypass editors, agents and publishers, please make every effort to write the very best manuscript possible. Happy readers make happy writers and vice-a-versa!

Characteristics of The Male Nomad:

• Passive-Aggression

The male nomad may experience periods of passionate drive, but will most often swing between feeling either betrayed, depressed or somehow dissatisfied. These negative emotions often surface as contempt for the nearest target.

• Codependent

The nomad often feels a strong desire to be loved or trusted, but their inability to return that love and affection causes them to rely solely on the other people in their relationships. There typical negative behavior often pushes the very people they care about away which causes an increased level of distrust within themselves, not realizing they are the cause.

• Intelligence

Not all nomads are gifted with great intelligence, but many of them are. This high level of intellect causes arrogance, selfishness and a general distrust of anyone perceived to be less intelligent. The nomad can harness this intelligence for the greatest good, or evil, depending upon their individual leaning. Nomads spend much of their time thinking and this type of lifestyle can lead to incredible products of thought.

• Manipulator

A Nomad is an expert at manipulating people and circumstances for their own gain or purposes. Without the ability to form coherent relationships, the Nomad uses people and opportunity to further their agenda.

• Gullible

The Nomad tries so hard to get people into relationship with them, they often fall victim to other manipulators and schemers. Their guard is almost always up, but when it is down there is ample opportunity to be taken advantage of. It is this primary trait that often causes the Nomad to move from place to place and relationship to relationship.

Perceived Weaknesses of The Nomad

Loyalty

Loyalty of the nomad is often in question, especially by the Warrior. A nomad rarely creates strong ties to people or ideals. The nomad can be an expert at developing a network of people around him that are loyal to him, but this is only a defense against the world outside.

Examples of The Male Warrior in History, Print and Film

History

Machiavelli
William H. Bonney, aka, “Billy the Kid”

Print

William Shakespear’s Hamlet
Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe

Film

Lee Ingleby as Hollum in Master and Commander

Nicolas Cage as ddd in Moonstruck

In the coming weeks we will explore the remaining five male archetypes. As always, your opinions and comments are welcomed!

The first of these seven male archetypes is The Warrior. This type of individual is usually the most dominant character in the stories within which he resides. While not all men are fully compatible with The Warrior, every man has some degree of this type within them. Many different factors throughout one’s life can cause these characteristics to surface or remain hidden.

Characteristics of The Warrior:

• Aggressive

Of all the different archetypes, The Warrior is typically the most energetic and prone to immediate action. Not all warriors respond to the same stimuli the same way, but all of them will act in response to some perceived threat. Meticulous planning may not always be the warrior’s way, but the element of surprise is almost always on their side.

• Loyal

The Warrior almost always needs something to believe in with all of his heart. His actions revolve around this single ideal and any opposition to his goals will be met with some degree of forceful action.

• Motivator

While some warriors do act as an individual, many warriors rely upon their ability to motivate people of all other archetypes into falling under their leadership. Due to the warrior’s commitment, to singular ideas and ideals, they are able to communicate their goals more clearly and define a path to success.

• Resilient

Although most warriors are singularly focused, any attempt by their antagonists will be met with shifts in strategy on the part of the warrior. The typical rally cry of the warrior is “Victory or death!” Warriors will continually monitor their actions and alter them if need be in order to achieve the prize they seek, or die trying. Defeat or retreat are not words often used by The Warrior.

• Skillful

The Warrior usually has some very specific tools and skills that they employ in their actions. The Warrior does not usually have a reserve of patience with which to develop new ideas and tactics. However, their ability to motivate characters that have the additional tools needed to complete a given task often negate this potential weakness.

Perceived Weaknesses of The Warrior

Emotional Detachment

Due to the singular focus of the typical warrior, relationships are often cast aside for the sake of achieving victory. Their seemingly brutish personality is not attractive to most other people within their sphere of influence. Others may follow them into the valleys of death, but there are very few ways to enter the valleys that lead to a warrior’s heart.

Examples of The Male Warrior in History, Print and Film

History

The Biblical David
Alexander the Great

Print

Boromir in J.R.R. Tolkien’s,The Lord of the Rings
Thomas Hunter in Ted Dekker’s The Circle Series

Film

Mel Gibson as William Wallace in Braveheart

Russell Crow as Jack Aubry in Master and Commander

In the coming weeks we will explore the remaining six male archetypes. As always, your opinions and comments are welcomed!

I agree with the comments thus far, but believe we are still skimming at the surface. Specifically I am seeking to discuss what are the most basic, inner qualities that God has instilled in the hearts of man. The first of these, which has not yet been addressed is leadership.

All of the other qualities that make up a man aid him in accomplishing his God-given role as the leader. This is not the base, arrogant, insensitive brute kind of tyrant, but a thoughtful, compassionate leader who lives out his daily life with intent.

This single characteristic alone has filled volumes, but we must narrow the topic to the main idea of this discussion. As we seek to better understand how we as men can write for a male audience, we should find ways to better communicate male leadership in our writing. Not domination, but leadership.

It has been my observation that in many ways, Christian male writers have softened the leadership role of their male leads in order to garner greater market share from a readership predominated by women. This lost dynamic, in my opinion, has contributed to the reduction of male readership. I mean let’s face it, most of us men are always looking for male characters that agree more with what we feel inside.

As Christian writers, we should not be wary of competing with the secular market which is relegating the role of masculine leadership to a downplayed, less important factor. I have a strong conviction that Christian male authors should provide a better biblical stance on manhood and transmit such qualities in our male characters. Whenever we find ourselves depleting the ideals we feel strongly within ourselves, we are adding to the confusion that is being generated by society in general.

So, now we have discussed a little about the qualities of man, let us focus on the biblical qualities of male leadership. That leads to this week’s question:

What are the biblical qualities of a male leader?

Slough of Despondence
A man’s identity is sometimes all he has. When he loses the one thing he understands most, the world around him can descend rapidly into chaos and confusion. Caught between the stalled battle lines of warring armies, the loss of one’s can halt you in  your tracks. Which way do you go and who are your friends?

Broad River Dash
Under the cover of darkness, two fugitives flee into the night, but their pursuers are hot on their heels. One mistake could mean the difference between life and death, but with only freedom to gain, there truly is nothing left to lose.

While both of these stories are indeed very short, they are packed with suspense, action, and emotion. I could probably draw both of these stories out into longer episodes, but I feel that their brevity is appropriate and adds to the very mystery each of them represent.

It has been asked more times than can be counted, “Where are all the real men?” The question is often asked by women who are looking for more of themselves in a man than they are for a real, masculine leader. This truth is likely to offend the sensitivities of a female audience, but this conversation is aimed at the men who have become uncertain of how they should talk, how they should act, and how they should write.

It isn’t than men need to come out of their caves armed with a club and issue guttural demands. No, that is not manhood at all. The image of a controlling, abusive male is the exaggerated opposite of the whimpering coward. True manhood lies somewhere in between, but in order to communicate what makes a real man, such a definition needs to be retrieved from the ashes of our modern culture.

So, what does it mean to be a man, a real man, with real and honest emotions, cares, thoughts and desires? If one cannot realize what a man is, how can we communicate with other men? Where can we look to discover the many aspects of man that have been tamed out of us for so long, without swinging the pendulum too far and thus becoming the overbearing brute?

The tide has been out for so long now, that it may be difficult to find what we seek among contemporary literature. At the same time, if we go too far back, we will uncover the simpleton picture of the archaic and domineering master. I, for one, am convinced that what we seek, as Christian men, can be found in the Bible. There are other sources too, but we must start with a reference with which to gauge the polar opposites. If the stories we wish to tell do not derive from the God-given spirit within us, why should we try to write at all?

Yes, the Bible is where we must begin to rekindle our minds with the traits of honor, leadership, value and wisdom. This is, of course, a discussion and by no means a dictatorial pronouncement from my point of view. No, I am as immersed in our current culture as any of you reading this and I have experienced too many failures of manhood to be counted. It is my utmost desire for this to be a searching and revealing experience and conversation among many male authors.

So, the question for this week is: “What are the characteristics of a man?”

The “niche” is your unique viewpoint on any given subject. Let’s say you want to write about cars. Well, there certainly is a big audience for automobiles, but the problem is that there are already a ton of blogs and websites out there writing about cars. What you need to be a successful blogger is a special “niche” within the general subject of cars. You can narrow down “cars” to “sports cars” and further still to “Italian sport cars.” Of course you can continue down the line to even narrower topics, but hopefully you get the picture. The more unique your content is, the greater the chance you have of sticking out from the crowd.

When you have finally narrowed down your particular niche, you can choose a title for your blog and begin writing. Having a niche does in now way restrict you to only writing in that narrow topic, but the best advice is that the majority of your articles remain centered on that particular area.

We will begin to discus the particulars in coming articles, but having a more focused approach to the information you publish will help you identify how to best market your blog. It doesn’t matter whether you choose to earn money from your blog or not, but you will want to find ways to publicize your writing in order to attract readers. This is the essence of marketing, but that is a whole other realm that we will delve into next time.