The more you read on writing, the more you realize most concepts go back to a few shared sources or shared ideas. Archetypes are one of those concepts. Both Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung discuss archetypes. They are basically a part of our collective unconsciousness. The same collective unconsciousness that makes The Hero’s Journey such a … [Read more…]
There are many, many ways to plot a book. But, quite honestly, almost all of them… okay the good ones… all tie back in some way to The Hero’s Journey. They may use different names for the steps or plot points. They may not ask you to come up with as many steps or plot … [Read more…]
What is The Hero’s Journey? It depends on who you ask. To a writer, it’s a plotting method. To fans of mythology and folklore, it’s a narrative pattern that human storytellers have followed since we had human storytellers. Which brings us back to why writers use it so much as a plotting method. What is … [Read more…]
Writing a novel can be an overwhelming project, but writing short fiction can be intimidating too. There is nowhere to hide with short fiction. Every word needs to count, but short stories also take less time to complete and even if writing a full novel is your overall goal, writing a short story is a … [Read more…]
One of the most frequent questions I get is “How do I plot a book?” The answer, honestly, is that there are tons of different ways successful writers plot (or don’t plot) books. Personally, I am a strong believer in having some kind of a plot to guide you before you start writing. I even … [Read more…]