Last week, Hubby and I spent a day in New York City. It was cold but beautiful. Busy, loud and fun. When I saw Cinderella was playing at the Broadway Theater, well, I couldn’t resist. My friend Tanya and I dragged our hubbies to the classic theater and the classic of all classic fairytales. As I watched the show unfold under the lights, I was enthralled. Enchanted. Cinderella is a story of goodness. That if you do the right thing, good will win out in the end. Every fairytale must have an element of goodness. Of light in the midst of darkness. Hope. We’ve talked a lot in this fairytale series about Cinderella. How she maintained a good heart in the midst of her trials. The step-mother, though evil, just […]
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Learning from Fairytales: Creating the Perfect Hero
We’re back to the fairytale and the indomitable hero. If you want to read what Tolkien says about fairytales, have at it. Here’s a link. If you pair it down to something akin to a Happy Meal, shot me an email! I’d like to read it. As much as I appreciate Tolkien’s exegesis on the fairytale, and probably his brilliance far above my own, I can’t get into the long details and descriptions. It’s like a doctoral study. I need a Ph. D. handed to me when I’m done reading it. So, I have to go with a more modern and brief description of the fairytale hero. Let’s recap from the web site Den of Geeks about heroines: “We don’t care who they are, or what it is that makes them interesting. They […]
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Spring into Success, Part 2: Commit
Last week we discussed the first step to spring into success: Define it. Hopefully, you’ve done that because unless or until you know what success is to you, you’ll never know what you’re aiming at. Success is a journey, not a destination. It requires a conscious daily commitment to live in it. Right before I wrote this, took a short road trip. I had a destination in mind but getting to that place did not define my success. I didn’t commit to the destination, but rather to taking the trip. Each mile I rode, I was living in my success. Your writing journey is the same. What you’ve defined as your own success, you must commit to. Each and every day you should commit to your journey. Please notice I […]
Read the RestBook Therapist: How To Exit A Scene Early
Hey all, Taking a break this week from fairytales to answer a question from one of our MBT faithful. We’ll go back to fairytale structure next week. But here’s the question: Q: How do you to leave a scene early and end with some kind of “disaster?” They seem to counter act the other. A: Great question. I understand the dilemma but actually, exiting a scene early is exactly how you leave the reader wanting more and turning the pages. Let’s review what encompasses a great scene. Scene goal. All scenes need some kind of goal. Any thing that advances the plot, even a little bit, is moving the story forward and probably hints at or answers some part of the over all story goal and question. Ask yourself, “What […]
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