Greetings, Speculators! As you might guess from the title of this column, I’ve found another mythic structure to expound upon. I’m going to take a slightly different approach this time, however. When I read Gail Carriger’s interpretation of the heroine’s journey, it struck a chord with me (imagine angelic chorus here). I thought that Instead… Read more »
Hey there word nerds! Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Ace Atkins. Ace Atkins is the author of twenty-six books, including ten Quinn Colson novels and eight New York Times–bestselling novels in the continuation of Robert B. Parker’s iconic Spenser series. HBO has optioned the Quinn Colson novels with a series currently in high… Read more »
Hey there word nerds! Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Jeff Garvin. Jeff is an author, musician, and podcaster and his debut novel, Symptoms of Being Human has received a ton of accolades. It is an ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults Selection, Lambda Literary Award Finalist, and has garnered starred reviews from Booklist… Read more »
The Hero’s Journey is everywhere in writing craft circles. Steven Pressfield and his editor Shawn Coyne use it. Donald Maass refers to it. It’s mentioned in the Writing Excuses and The Writing Files podcasts. DIY MFA instigator Gabriela Pereira talks about it and some of the character archetypes derived from it in her book and… Read more »
The number of articles, posts, academic theses, and books about The Hero’s Journey and its variants attests to the model’s enduring usefulness to both writers and academics. It’s a way into story structure from an anthropological, sociological, and psychological angle that will help deepen your understanding of other structural models and enrich your work. I… Read more »
“I just got a book of character archetypes, but it seems so limiting. Do I really have to categorize all of my characters into these types?” –Confused & Characterless To answer your question, Confused & Characterless, I give you another quote: “They’re more like guidelines than actual rules.” –Captain Barbossa I highly approve of character… Read more »
