New, Interesting Site for Writers

I ran across a new site for writers this afternoon called Publetariat.com.

Once I clicked on the link, however, I had this flashback to my days in Catholic Schools! I thought I was reading one of those newspapers the good nuns warned us about! This place has the whole "Mother Russia" thing going on, but boy it did look like fun.

At first blush, it appears I've found a winner.

Writers should check it out at http://www.publetariat.com/.

Let me know what you think.

Patrick

Love Story by way of The Hero's Journey

Good day, writers,

I promised I'd write a couple stories using The Hero's Journey as the basis for creating a storyline and here is the first installment. Next week I'll post a different type of story based on The Hero's Journey. (Though I have yet to determine what that might be.)

In any case, this exercise is to show how easy it is to write with The Hero's Journey as your model.

Here goes...

The ORDINARY WORLD

Joe and Mindy are in love, married with two children, living in a home in the suburbs of Richmond, VA. The children are Mike, twelve and Mary fourteen. Mike loves baseball and Cindy is just finding out about boys. Joe is a stockbroker and Mindy spends her time raising the children. She’s the president of the PTA and is as happy as she has ever been.

THE CALL TO ADVENTURE

At a PTA meeting Mindy overhears two women talking about Joe. They suddenly quiet when Mindy walks up and act embarrassed at her arrival. They walk away without saying much to her, but the both look back at Mindy over their shoulders and whisper to each other as they depart. Mindy is surprised by their actions but thinks little of it.

REFUSAL OF THE CALL

Joe, usually home around 7 PM, starts to call a few times a week saying he must work late. Some of his excuses sound odd to Mindy but she ignores her intuition which tells her something is wrong.

MENTOR (THE WISE OLD MAN OR WOMAN)

After weeks of his not coming home on time, and another odd encounter with friends, Mindy speaks with her best friend, Margaret, about her concerns. Margaret tells her not to worry until Joe comes home late and the first thing he does in take a shower - a sure sign of infidelity.

CROSSING THE FIRST THRESHOLD

The next night Joe comes home and takes a shower as soon as he enters the house. Mindy now knows the jig is up, (well something is up anyway), and accepts the fact Joe is being unfaithful.

TESTS, ALLIES AND ENEMIES

Mindy and Margaret talk to their friends at the baseball field and PTA but most know nothing. Those who seem to be in the know won’t talk. Mindy hires a detective to follow Joe. He takes photos of Joe’s encounters and passes them to Mindy.

APPROACH TO THE INMOST CAVE

Mindy is distraught but refuses to believe her marriage cannot be saved. She confronts Joe with the photos and he admits everything saying he still loves Mindy and was swayed by a young lady who took advantage of him. He promises never to see the woman again. Though suspicious of his promise, she gives him the benefit of the doubt and they work at patching the holes in their marriage.

THE SUPREME ORDEAL

Things are fine for a time, but soon, Joe is coming home from work late again. A big fight ensues and Mindy kicks Joe out.

REWARD (SEIZING THE SWORD)

Mindy and Joe go through a trying divorce. She gets the children and the house, and the money, and the furniture and he gets the clothes on his back. (They live in Virginia, you know…)

THE ROAD BACK

The divorce is finalized and Mindy realizes she will be able to survive without Joe, physically, emotionally and financially.

RESURRECTION

Mindy finds happiness despite being forced back to work and raising her children on her own. Though things are difficult, she and her children do survive, though without much of their earlier wealth.

RETURN WITH ELIXIR

They live happily ever after.

Everyone except Joe, of course, he remarries a shrew and she sucks every bit of life from him.)

The End

With this outline, you now know how to use The Hero’s Journey to formulate your story. From here you fill in the details and, voila, you’re an author!

Is it time to get to work?

In my next posting, I’ll outline another type of story using The Hero’s Journey. Are there any requests?

Until then, good writing.

Patrick
Author of Born to be Brothers

Should Authors Be Political?

Good question brought up by Alice Tasman on Twitter.

My personal thought are you'll distance yourself from 50% of your market with a few words in this politically charged time.

Try this out for size... "Hey, I think everything you stand for is silly. Wanna' buy my book?"

Keep to writing.

My marketing advice? Save your politics for behind closed doors.

The Resurrection

Good day, Writers,

We’re almost home with our study of The Hero’s Journey and find ourselves facing The Resurrection, which many think is the uplifting section of a story. Of course, that isn’t true. The Resurrection is one last another opportunity for action and suspense within your story. This part of your novel is the last life-or-death struggle for your hero, yet another confrontation with the evil ones. In fact, it is often the protagonists’ most dangerous meeting with death, or whatever it is he faces.

In many stories, this section takes place just before he returns home. It’s often considered a cleansing or purification to which your hero must submit before returning to his Ordinary World. However, the hero now has an additional arrow in his quiver, so to speak, for he is now armed with the hard-won knowledge gained from earlier encounters. It is here your hero pulls out that new arrow and smites this final aggressor, thus proving his acceptance of The Reward and his worthiness of ownership.

Sometimes the hero is pushed toward The Resurrection or even pulled, but regardless, the enemy has one last attempt to undo your hero, a final exam, if you will. One in which he proves he has learned and can apply the lessons of The Supreme Ordeal.

It is similar to The Supreme Ordeal faced earlier. Often more than just the hero is involved in this ordeal. Maybe his entire village is in danger, for one final challenger arises and he is forced to use the knowledge he gained during his trial to save more than just himself.

To me as a writer, it is one last opportunity to excite your readers when they least expect it.

Although we are using Luke and The Last Hope of the Star Wars saga as our model, I’ve always liked The Resurrection in Under the Tuscan Sun. The heroine does not hear from THE man in her life for a while so she travels to see him. It is in this part of that story where she finds she is not THE woman in his life, but merely A woman. (Talk about a trial!) So what does she do? She marshals all she has learned and falls in love with another man. Great Resurrection, don’t you think?

In Luke’s case, he’s already accomplished his mission of saving Princess Leia, but his final test is defeating the Death Star. In this scene, Luke is attacking in his X-Wing fighter and Obi Wan speaks to him from the afterlife. He tells Luke to, “Trust the Force.” Luke does, thus employing all his learning and experience, and destroys the Death Star and the Emperor to boot.

You see in this scene, Luke has garnered all he has learned, proved himself worthy of The Reward, destroys the REALLY BIG enemy and saves untold thousands in the process. (Explosions of a planetary scale! Now that is a dramatic Resurrection!)

In doing my research for this posting, one person said this was a time of peace and tranquility before he returns to his doorstep. Don’t believe it! This is a time of great, often ultimate, challenges. It’s a wonderful opportunity to again engage your readers and prove your hero worthy. Take advantage of this. You want your readers to be surprised by this and so entwined in your hero’s trial they almost lose heart for him. Use this time to ramp up the intensity of your work and have your readers sweat one last time.

Okay, we again have the bad guys’ defeat and our hero rises even higher in status and proves he is worthy of The Reward. Now, after your reader has caught his breath, you let them relax and feel good about everything. This is accomplished by way of The Return. We’ll get into that next week.

My plan is to finish with these lessons of The Hero’s Journey then outline a couple quick stories showing how to put this entire concept in use. (Wish me luck on that one…)
Until then, my friends, good writing.

C. Patrick Schulze
Author of Born to be Brothers

CPatrickSchulze.blogspot.com
Twitter.com/CPatrickSchulze

Top Ten Writing Tips

Clink the title to reach the web site.

You'll note this post actually tells you what it means to eliminate all forms of "to be"...

Thanks to Examiner.com for this information.

Interesting New Trend in Hardbacks

Want to see what the future holds for book readers? Follow the link!

Thanks to http://twitter.com/mariaschneider for the info.

The Secret to His Success? A Platform.

Good day, Writers,

I'm working the Internet this morning, trying to continue my self-education on how to find a new agent and ran across this web page:

http://www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog/How+I+Got+My+Agent+Billy+Coffey.aspx

Thought some of you might find it interesting.

Patrick

Editing Hints

I picked up a new tip on writing dialogue this morning. Of course, it means I have to go back and edit AGAIN... In any case, this came from www.writersreliefblog.com.

When using dialogue tags such as, "She said," or, "He snorted," non-speaking actions are not punctuated as tags and should be treated as separate sentences.

Consider the following example.

"No. I do not want to go with you," she said.

The dialogue is enclosed with quotation marks with the trailing comma within them. "She said," follows to end the sentence.

Now consider,

"No, I do not want to go with you," she snorted.

This should be revised as "She snorted." is not a speaking action. It should be its own sentence. Edited, this should read as follows:

"No. I do not want to go with you." She snorted with disgust.

Learn something new everyday... (Damn editing!)

The Supreme Ordeal

Good day, Writers,

We are continuing with our explanation of The Hero’s Journey as a method of storytelling.

Today we’ll discuss The Supreme Ordeal, which should be the most exciting part of your story for your hero and your reader. It is where the hero faces that most difficult of tasks around which your story revolves. Here he meets the great beast and slays it. Your readers should not be able to set your book aside until this section of your novel is complete, after which they should sit back, take a deep breath and scream, “Wow!” (And then tell everyone they know!)

This beast need not be a creature with horns and blood-soaked fur. Neither need it be an alien with thrashing tentacles and/or menacing, retractable teeth. (Although we all know those creatures work quite well.) The beast can be anything that causes your hero extreme fear.

Could an honorable man who loves his family be the beast? You bet! He can be If he dies leaving his family penniless and hungry. (And as long that situation has the same fear for your readers!) Can a loving daughter who goes away to university be the beast? Sure, if her mother is left alone in the world. So, don’t think of your hero only as a muscle bound warrior that crushes some mythological creature from the underworld. The beast is anything that is supremely fearsome to your hero and, more importantly, your readers.

Now that we know what The Supreme Ordeal needs to be, what is its purpose? First and foremost in my mind, The Supreme Ordeal changes your hero. It takes the flawed person he was and transforms him to the person he needs to be.

For example, we’ll again call on Luke of Star Wars to enlighten us. Where in that story did Luke experience his supreme ordeal? It is when he rescues Princess Leia.

How did all the excitement involved with rescuing her change Luke? He went from an orphaned farmer to a masterful Jedi. Pretty serious change, don’t you think?

Why else might you, as a storyteller, need an effective ordeal for your hero? One of the most important aspects is to engage your reader. Have you ever stopped watching a movie or set down a book and never finished it? Why would you do that? Because, for whatever reason, you were not engaged with the story or the hero. The instant your reader decides not to continue with your novel, you’ll lose your word of mouth advertising - your buzz. Your novel will almost never go viral with poor buzz.

Are there other goals to accomplish with The Supreme Ordeal? Of course. It can’t be that simple, now can it?

As a writer, you need to give your audience a feeling of exhilaration upon conclusion of The Supreme Ordeal. They’ve come accustomed to that feeling and are expectant of it. They want to think he will not succeed, in fact, may even die! They want your hero to slip and fall. They want him to get up, too, but first, they need to be convinced he will fail. That emotion is what they want, and you must give it to them. If you do not engage your audience emotionally, your buzz, and your book, are dead in the water. An old maxim in business, (and you are in the business of writing), is to give them what they want to buy. I recommend you do just that.

In my next post, we’ll discuss what happens after your hero survives. That part of the story is called, “The Reward.” Until then, good writing.

Patrick
Author of Born to be Brothers
CPatrickSchulze.blogspot.com
Twitter.com/CPatrickSchulze

Tests, Allies and Enemies

Good day, All,

We’re working toward telling our novel’s storyline by way of The Hero’s Journey, a formula for storytelling that has survived the millennia. In our case, we’re following Luke of Star Wars fame. We’ve followed him through his Ordinary World, watched as he receives his Call to Adventure and shook our heads when he made excuses to Refuse the Call. After that, he Met his Mentor then Crossed the Threshold to his new adventure.

The next section, Tests, Allies and Enemies, is one of the most intricate to develop and one of the most critical to your story. It can also be the longest. Here is where you flesh out your character and where he transforms to the true hero he needs to become. It shows your reader his true inner strength. However, it must be done in a way that keeps your reader connected with him. If your hero shows personality traits your readers dislike, they close the book. Here we also give the reader the exciting part of the story, those things that test your hero. This part of your novel also introduces more of those people, creatures and situations that assist your hero in completing his quest.

Okay, here are a few tips for writing this part of your story. First, consider the Rule of Threes. (“Huh?” You say.) As in so many things in life, threes work well with readers. By this I mean the story will do well to have the hero face three major tests, find three important allies and encounter three premier enemies. The Rule of Threes need not be followed, but it is a great concept if you’re new to storytelling. I don’t know why, but threes do seem to work.

Another hint is to have your hero encounter a simple test or two early on so he can grow into his new, more dramatic self in realistic fashion. You don’t want someone with a fear of heights to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel in chapter two. He has yet to build the necessary courage and knowledge. Instead, maybe he climbs a tree and freezes half way to the top. He falls and survives, thus learning a valuable lesson he needs to go over the falls. That’s the sort of thing I mean for your readers will not believe he goes over on purpose without first accumulating a bit of knowledge. Your reader also needs to know who your hero will react to various situations. If he fell over Niagara Falls right away, he’s going down screaming like a little girl, yet maybe only a yelp escapes him as he falls out of the tree. By the time he goes over Niagara, he’s able to hold his tongue and only moan a bit. Smaller tests help him to learn how to grow into the larger, more sinister tests.

A third tip, and a classic tip, is to use the seedy bar or nightclub as the setting. Of course, you can use any setting, but like the Rule of Threes, this seems to work. In my second book, “Pretty Boy and the Bugler” I used a saloon and it worked out quite well.

My fourth and final tip is to consider having the hero falter as he faces his initial tests. Again, this isn’t necessary but can lead to more excitement. If he does waver, how might he overcome? Ah, it’s good to have allies!

Okay, let’s take our regular look at Luke as he meets his Tests, Allies and Enemies.

Review the third tip above and you’ll see a seedy bar is a good place to begin. Well, remember the famous bar scene in Star Wars, A New Hope? What happened there? Luke confronted enemies, (the storm troopers, the creature who wanted to fight him), was tested, (he didn’t step down from the fight even though he would’ve lost), and he met two major allies, (Han and Chewbacca).

So, there you have it, Tests, Allies and Enemies. It was an interesting scene, wasn’t it? In fact, it was so interesting, it’s now classic of its own right. That is how important Tests, Allies and Enemies can be.

Keep in mind there may be more, many more, of these people and events in your story. For example, does Luke meet other allies? Sure he does. How about Yoda and the guy in charge of the cloud mining operation, (I don’t remember his name.). Does he meet other enemies? You betcha! He even meets someone who presents himself as an ally, (the cloud city guy), turns out to be an enemy, (he turns the band over to the Darth Vader), and an ally again. This guy even ends up a Rebellion general! Whew… what a roller coaster ride he is! By the way, this type of character is called a Shape-Shifter – something we’ll get into later.

Don’t think of this part of your story as done with a single scene for there should be many to build the excitement for your readers. Does Luke face other tests? How about the fight with Vader? He had a million tests as the story progresses. Does he meet other allies? Yoda is a perfect example. And talk about learning and growing! Yoda makes the guy hump around the planet with the Jedi on his back! It goes on and on.

So there you have it, Tests, Allies and Enemies. Make ‘em real, make ‘em scary and make a lot of ‘em.

Until we get together again, good writing.

Patrick

Twitter.com/CPatrickSchulze

Author of: Born to be Brothers

Meeting the Mentor

Okay, guys, here we are again with a new post on how to tell your story by way of a novel. Today we’re discussing the next step in your literary journey, Meeting the Mentor. If you recall in my last posting on this subject, I asked you to try and determine when it was that Luke Skywalker met this character.

I think it is obvious Luke’s mentor is Obi Wan Kanobi, his uncle if memory serves. Luke meets Obi Wan when he saves the young boy from an attack by the sand people. Soon after Obi Wan reviews the message from Princess Leia, he starts talking to Luke about “The Force.”

Okay, again the question rises, “So what?” Why does our hero need to connect with a mentor? Can’t he just go on his journey and get things done? He could, but how much of your novel will be needed to “teach” your hero what he needs to know? The Mentor speeds this process by offering your hero information he cannot get on his own. The Mentor provides knowledge, motivation and training.

One of the first things Obi Wan gives Luke is knowledge of The Force. (How important is this bit of information to the story?) You simply don’t have the word count available to give your hero all the knowledge he requires if he is forced to learn it on his own. It must come in quick bursts. Thus the need for a mentor arises.

How about training for Luke? It was Obi Wan who introduces Yoda to Luke. Although your story does not need formal training as we see in this story, but some sort of enlightenment for your hero is required. If you remember, our hero has already refused the Call to Adventure and needs someone to move his along his path. He needs inspiration and this, too, is the job of your mentor.

In general, your mentor arrives early but can arrive later if it fits your storyline. Can your hero have more than one mentor? Sure, Like had Obi Wan and Yoda, for example. We’ll discuss more about additional mentors, called “allies” in a later posting.

So, here we are. We’ve our hero in his Ordinary World which is disrupted by the Call to Adventure. His normal response is a Refusal of the Call, but then he Meets The Mentor and everything is about to change.

What do you think must happen next in your story? He must take the first step on his adventure by Crossing the Threshold!

When does Luke Cross his Threshold?

Until my next posting, good writing.

Patrick

Refusal of the Call

Welcome all,

So far we’ve learned about The Hero’s Journey, which is the classic process of telling our story within the framework of a novel. In earlier posts we’ve also seen how to employ the first two steps of the Hero’s Journey, Ordinary World and The Call to Adventure. As we continue following Luke Skywalker of Star Wars, we’ve watched the Hero’s Journey in practical application. Today, we’re putting step three, Refusal of the Call, to use in moving our story along.

As Luke is cleaning the droids R2D2 and 3CPO, a holographic message from Princess Leia appears. Something exciting has happened and Luke wants to see it where it leads so he seeks out the recipient of the message, Obi Wan Kinobe. The two soon meet and Luke tells him about the holograph. Obi Wan understands Leia’s communication and tells the young Luke it is the boy himself who must follow the path of the Jedi to assist the Princess. Luke, as we all know, finds ample excuses not to go on this adventure. Suddenly, his uncle needs him, his farm work is pressing, and so on. In every story there is a reason not to accept the challenge.

It’s easy to see Luke is reluctant to answer Obi Wan’s call but so, what? What purpose does The Refusal of the Call hold in your story? You’ll hear many answers to that question but I see it as our opportunity to prove our hero’s humanity, to help your reader identify with him. It shows how he, just like everyone, is fearful and pulls away from the unknown. Fear, a sense of inadequacy or the comfort of the Ordinary World keeps hold of our hero and forces him to turn away from his calling. This is something each of your readers has probably done in their own life for we all of shy from things unfamiliar. So must your hero.

Okay, you’ve got your hero in his nice, comfortable Ordinary World and he hears the door-knock of Adventure. Your readers sympathize with your hero’s unsteady feet and then… Uh, Now what?

Next comes another of my favorite steps of storytelling, Meeting with the Mentor. After all your hero’s already said he’s not going to jump off the cliff. So someone’s got to push him, don’t they?

Okay, continue watching Star Wars and see if you can determine when Luke meets his mentor. Here’s a clue! The Hero’s Journey doesn’t always happen in order.

Until my next posting, good writing.

Patrick

The Call to Adventure

Welcome back to our discussion of the Hero’s Journey.

With my recent postings, I wrote about the formula writers use to insure your story is well-told. (Sorry, I said, “well-told”, not well-written. I know of no shortcuts in that regard.) To date we saw how you set up your story by following a proven formula for weaving your tale, The Hero’s Journey. This twelve-step recipe gives your story a framework that will present your readers a well-crafted narrative every time.

I also introduced you to step one of the Hero’s Journey called “Ordinary World.” In this part of your story, you show your reader who your hero is in real life. I sort of look at this as showing your reader what it is your hero is going to lose.

What’s next? My one of my favorite parts of the story, the Call to Adventure!

In this part of the blueprint, your hero “sees” what is going to change his life. He may experience it, dream it, (though be stingy with dreams), see it or even taste it. But, he must receive the Call to Adventure.

Did you watch or at least mentally review the original Star Wars movie, A New Hope as I recommended in my last post? (Yes, there is homework.) In the film, when did our hero, Luke Skywalker, experience his Call to Adventure? It happened when he was cleaning the droids and R2D2 projected the message from Princess Leia to Obi Wan Kenobe. Something exciting stumbled into his life, didn’t it?

Okay, so what? Why even bother with the Call to Adventure in your novel? If I were to quote an old professor, it’s because, “I said so!” In reality, I see this as the tool to inform your hero what path he needs to follow. Keep in mind, if your hero doesn’t know what is required of him, neither will your readers and you will lose them. I think you can see how it also moves the story along and brings your readers into your story.

Okay, so let’s recap. The Hero’s Journey is the proven technique for storytelling. The Ordinary World is step one and it shows what your hero is going to lose. And the Call to Adventure establishes the reason his is going to have to leave his Ordinary World.

What’s next you ask? Your hero Refuses the Call.

Huh?

More on that next time, folks.

Until then, good writing.

Patrick

The Perils of Dates.

Good day, all,

Boy, oh, boy... the power of a dates! As those who follow this blog know, I am in the midst of writing my third manuscript and recently received it back from my editor. (And, yes, she again taught me the need for humility...)

In any case, as I was going through her edits, it struck me one of the dates in my novel could be incorrect. Was it ever! I had Texas as part of the United States in 1822 when it didn't even break away from Mexico until 1835, a decade before it was admitted into the Union.

Now this sounds like a little thing, I know, but it means a total rewrite of some 3,000 words and two characters. Oh, yeah, and any references to this throughout the entire novel. To one like me, this is a daunting task.

I mentioned this to a buddy and he said, "Ah, does it matter? Isn't a novel just one big lie anyway?" Oh, did I ever try to find solace in those words. But, no, if you're writing historical fiction, you've got to get the history part right.

Is there a lesson here? As with all things, of course there is. Edit, then edit some more and edit again. (Of course, you could just get it right the first time, but who does that?)

Back to the keyboard for me...

Okay, keep your eyes open and good writing.

By the way, here's a tidbit for your next cocktail party. (If anyone else is so old as to remember them.) Texas is the only state in the Union that flew six different national flags in its history; the United States, the Republic of Texas, Mexico, Spain, France and one other I can't remember right now.

Hero's Journey - Ordinary World

Step One of the Hero’s Journey
Ordinary World

Good day, All,

In my last posting I discussed The Hero’s Journey and its twelve stages that make up THE formula for story telling through a novel. Today I’ll be talking with you about the first step in The Hero’s Journey called Ordinary World.

Ordinary World is designed to have your reader get to know and appreciate your hero before he sets out on his quest. Flesh him out as a human being, (or whatever alien applies…). Do this with dialogue and action that show who and what he is. Is your hero a murderer? He’s probably been in a bar fight or two. Does your green caterpillar turn into a butterfly on the last page? Better have some green leaves somewhere in your novel. Just show us who he is by words and physical movement.

Let’s look again to our classic Star Wars for inspiration. Think of the how we were first introduced to Luke. He was an orphan living with his Aunt and Uncle on their farm. One day they were purchasing farm equipment such as the robots R2D2 and 3CPO. They met with some salespeople, (actually desert wandering sales-creature-types with stun guns), and were negotiating over quality and price. Sounds pretty much like the typical farmer’s life from any period in history, doesn’t it? (Save for aliens and robots and such…)

Well, those scenes were Luke’s everyday life and they comprised his Ordinary World. In these scenes we learn Luke’s life goals, his frustrations and his youthful outlook toward others. We even know what he looks like. Mr. Spielberg made certain we knew the character pretty well. Most importantly however, we came to appreciate and even like Luke as a person.

Here’s a hint… During the Ordinary World, insure your reader comes to some sort of attachment to your hero. If they don’t, they quit reading. (“Quit reading” is formal business terminology for no word of mouth advertising…) We’ll talk about this on later blogs.

There is any number of ways to show this stage of the journey and I challenge you to write your novels in inventive ways to portray your hero’s Ordinary World. One of my favorites is the Ordinary World of the movie Sahara. The camera pans over an office where numerous newspaper and magazine articles are pinned to the walls. These clipping give the Ordinary World of the hero from his Naval Academy days until the time of the movie. Their use of these clippings was, in my opinion, a unique and effective methodology for introducing us to his Ordinary World. Without a line of text or a word of dialogue, we liked the hero before we even saw him on the big screen. So, don’t think narrative and dialogue are your only tools.

So there ya go… Give us someone we can like about your pivotal character and don’t forget to set up what it is he’s to lose. That should about do it.

Now, getting back to Luke, I have a question for you. When does Luke’s Ordinary World end and his Call to Adventure begin? If you can figure this out, you’re well on your way to understanding the next step in The Hero’s Journey.

Feel free to drop a line if you have any questions.

Good writing, everyone!

Till next time we meet.

How to write a novel.

Good day, All.

Today's post will touch on how writers insure their novel is written in such a fashion as to appeal to their readers regardless the audience. The answer, as is so often the case, is simple, yet the application is difficult.

When someone wishes to write a novel, there is an actual formula to telling the story. This formula, known as the Hero's Journey, has been around since the time of mythology and will last well past the day we all cease telling stories. In fact, this is the framework around which any novel can be built. I recommend all new writers follow it when they are new to novel writing. (And long after...)

The Hero's Journey is often defined by different "authorities" in different ways, but the one I have found useful has twelve steps to follow. They are...

1. Ordinary Life
2. Call to Adventure
3. Refusal of the Call
4. Meeting the Mentor
5. Crossing the Threshold
6. Enemies, Allies and Tests
7. Point of No Return
8. Supreme Ordeal
9. Reward
10. Journey Home
11. Resurrection
12. Return Home

Although we'll go into each one of these steps in more detail, they are basically self-explanatory. In general, if the hero in your story finds himself involved in these twelve situations, your story will be defined and should appeal to almost any reader.

To get started, think of a favorite movie. Now follow the storyline and see if the primary character finds himself in the situations listed above. I'll bet you will. Once you can identify the steps within The Hero's Journey in, say a movie, you'll begin to understand how to apply them to your novel writing.

Star Wars is always a good example for any aspiring writer. Think of the episode where Luke's parents are killed. Remember it? If you recall the beginning of the story, Luke is working the farm but asks permission to strike out on his own. Can you see that scene in your mind's eye? That scene is Ordinary Life, which is step one in The Hero's Journey. Now, here's a clue... If Spielberg can use the Hero's Journey, so can you and I.

In my next post, we'll discuss step one, Ordinary Life, in more detail.

Good writing.

Patrick

Welcome to all Novel Writers!

Good day and welcome to my blog.

In this writer's blog, I hope to assist aspiring novel writers, (and even some old hands), gain more knowledge and confidence with their craft and to help insure success with their fiction writing . In this vein, I will offer various novel writing lessons.

These lessons will include such things as how to get that story hiding within you onto paper, which is still necessary despite the technology of the day. This also means learning how to tell a story well, which many find more difficult that they imagined. Further, we as writers face the daunting task of learning the craft of writing, and all that entails. (Boy do I have stories there...) Then, of course, you need to know how to edit, then edit again and edit a few more times before offering it to a discriminating agent or publisher for critique. I also wish to help those pen pushers with the process of formal publication and the myriad of issues with that minefield.(Ah, the all-powerful Slush Pile!)

I'll post the lessons weekly so visit regularly.

The first lesson will be How to Tell Your Story.

Okay, I'll ask you to speak with anyone you know who might have an interest in writing the next Great American Novel to come on board and see if we can't help get them published!

Thanks.

Patrick