I love Joseph Campbell’s monomyth theory. If you’re unfamiliar, it’s the idea that every hero, and hero’s journey, uses many of the same characters, symbols, and themes.
So in honor of Thanksgiving, let’s write a story with the Noble Gobbler in the role of the hero, or Pro-turk-onist!
Do you ever want to give up on writing? The impulse to quit can strike at any moment. In the beginning, when you’re trying to start writing but can’t. In the middle, when a story just won’t do what you tell it to. Or even at the end, when you’ve written something amazing but can’t find anyone to share it with.
Writing isn’t just artistically difficult. It’s spiritually challenging.
But you have to overcome the temptation to quit. You have to believe that each failure will pass and lead to success.
And most importantly, you have to believe that you write stories not because of some accident or mistake in the cosmic order of things. You write because you were meant to write.
You are fulfilling a calling.
It’s difficult to know how much to plan when starting a new story. Is it essential to have each and every character, scene, and key change in mind beforehand? How much, or how little, do you need? (Hint: it’s less than you might think!)
The bad news is, no matter how much you plan, your first draft is destined to be messy. But even if you’re a pantser, there are a few key questions you should answer before you start. When you do, you’ll be building your story on a rock-solid foundation that will give you the freedom to take risks that won’t cost you a ton of time and energy in the long run.
One of the greatest challenges of writing better stories is knowing exactly which scenes to write. The best scenes focus on the core elements of conflict — which means before you can write amazing scenes, you have to find the conflict in a story.
Strong scenes come from strong plans. And visualizing the conflict between your characters is a great way to do just that.
I love the Christmas season. I love decorating the tree and baking cookies with my daughter. I love wrapping presents and hiding them from prying eyes.
But with every passing holiday season, I find myself loving something less and less each year: Rampant consumerism, and the impossible expectations that come with it.
What if this year, you give something different? What if you gift writing instead of things?
