Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey The Hero’s Journey Study Guide Subscribe to our Newsletter Does the mystery genre follow the Hero’s Journey? According to historical mystery writer Colette Clark....
If you have read even just the first part of a blog post on the Hero’s Journey, you know the hero starts off in the Ordinary World before embarking...
In our regular podcast, we’ve successfully made it through all of Vogler’s archetypes (from his book, The Writer’s Journey). Armed with this knowledge we decided to see if we...
Are we done with archetypes now? Almost! There are just three more archetype chapters in Christopher Vogler’s book, The Writer’s Journey, and we have issues with two of them. The...
What if writing the first draft was the easy part? Every week on serial writing websites like Royal Road, hundreds of authors will upload 5, 10, 20,000, or more words...
Everyone who’s read a blog post on the Hero’s Journey can spot the Hero and Mentor archetypes, but what about a Threshold Guardian, or Herald, or elusive Shapeshifter? Are...
In response to Joseph Campbell's Hero with a Thousands Faces, aka The Hero's Journey, folklorists and academics (many of them female) countered some of the major steps and archetypes...
Behind most successful authors there is a writing group (at least according to their novel's acknowledgment section). But how...
Some advice is timeless, some is not. In this episode, we evaluate writing techniques from Anne Lamott's book...
Sometimes just showing up isn’t enough. You’ve set time aside for writing and instead of your story unfurling on...
We’re onto the second section in Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird — The Writing Frame Of Mind — and...
Even published authors have problems getting the magical stories in their heads into finished manuscript. But Anne Lamott’s account...
We’re covering two different topics from Ann Lamott’s book Bird by Bird. First off is scene setting, both its...
We’ve gotten to some hearty chapters in Ann Lamott’s book Bird by Bird. First up is plot, which “grows...
So you’ve committed to Anne Lamott’s daily writing practice (as discussed in our previous podcast), good for you. Now...
How does one write an entire novel? It’s a bit like the advice for eating an elephant, one bite...
It’s time for a new season and it’s time for a new book! We’re starting Anne Lamott’s Bird by...
Think ChatGPT can finish your creative writing exercises? Let’s find out! In this episode we’re testing the cutting-edge artificial...
We’re on our penultimate episode for our reading of Jack Bickham’s Scene & Structure. So, what does the bullet...
Every composition teacher will draw out a rising action graph on the board (yes, we’re old school). But how...
Today we tackle Jack Bickham’s Common Scene Errors, and boy, are there a lot of them, 14 to be...
What writer hasn’t dreamed of leaving behind the stress and obligations of their day-to-day lives for a quiet, secluded...
Answering the Call to Adventure
How do you shift your book’s hero from their nice, cozy ordinary world into the adventure? According to Christopher Vogler’s, The Writer’s Journey, you have them answer the call....