Hey — my kids went back to school today! I feel…sane. Which means the fog has cleared and I’m left wondering, where are we in the Heroes Journey! I went through all the past blog posts since January and recategorized them according to subject…so, for example, if you’re looking for information on creating heroes — yes! you just click “archives” and find the “heroes” category! or, writing tension — again, click on “archives” and you’ll find….TENSION! Hope that helps. But, let’s press on! Over the past eight months, we’ve covered: Act 1: Departure: The protagonist is separated from the known Hero’s Home World Call to Adventure (inciting incident) Weighing the Options (Refusing the Call) Starting the Journey (Crossing the Threshold) Act 2: Initiation: The protagonist is tested, and grows […]
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The Bomb in the Body: a lesson on Subplots
Okay, raise your hand out there if you watch ER or Grey’s Anatomy. It’s okay, no one can see you. And, not like I’m raising MY hand or anything, but hypothetically, let’s just say that if you are familiar with these particular medical (and I’m using that term a bit freely) dramas, then you know that they are really big long soap operas. Greys is, essentially, the on again, off again, hopefully on again (not that I would know) romance of Dr. Derrick McDreamy and Dr. Meredith Grey. Inside all this romance are the daily (read: episodic) events of a hospital in Seattle. What makes Grey’s kinda cute are the running monologues of the lead heroine, the thematic nuances she puts into the story, usually centered around the events of […]
Read the RestLayers verses Subplots – the truth exposed
One of my favorite teeny-bop movies is Chasing Liberty. Aside from the theme of the story – trying to keep a teenage girl (incidentally the president’s daughter) from misbehaving (if you know what I mean), it’s a cute story about the dilemma of a secret service agent to not fall in love with his assignment. Embedded in this tale is another tale – the romance of two secret service agents tracking above mentioned duo. Their story is what makes this movie such a delight – their banter, their eventual romance, their happy ending. It’s this extra story in a story that that gives the movie the extra sparkle that takes it from teeny-bop to good-enough-for-grownups. In short, the Subplot makes the movie. This week we’re going to talk about Subplots […]
Read the RestMake ’em cry with a metaphor
So yesterday we talked about the three common layers of emotional writing – the Surface, Skin-Deep and the Touch the Heart layers. This last layer is where a lot of authors stop. They have connected with their readers’ hearts, made them feel what their characters feel and that’s their goal. But there is another layer, one that goes even deeper, one that makes us connect with the character, an almost spiritual connection. And that’s what I call soul-deep. It’s the use of Metaphor to convey emotions. It’s the heart of showing. Let’s look at Dear Darla again. She has a book. A Fear of Flying book. She takes it out. Clutches it herself, and then almost frantically shoves it back into the bag. Then, after wiping her hands on her […]
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