I’m here! Second blog entry.
This one is going to be packed full of literature vitamin wholeness. Have you got your pants on? You do? Well take them off and get comfortable cos you’re about to get sucked into the internet vortex. See you in eight years!
When I launched myself into this vomit of information about how to write a good story theme was a resounding HERO’S JOURNEY. The structure of story telling for hundreds of years, cross-cultured. This is my brief outline of where I think are some great resources about the hero’s journey and story analysis.
At the top of the density heirarchy we have:
Joseph Campbell’s Hero With A Thousand Faces
then
Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey
now
and then
Story Fanatic & Cracking Yarns
Dramatica:
This website is story analysis, theory, community and articles. It also has some software for writers which I haven’t personally tried- but I’ll get to my recommendated writing software in my next entry. It’s has a fantastic free PDF book you can download, and also this Dramatica table of story elements.
Story Fanatic & Cracking Yarns:
Story Fanatic and Cracking Yarns are priceless. Story Fanatic is how I got on to Dramatica, so there’s a lot of linkage there. Maybe not so strangely enough some of the best story telling advice I’ve read are from screenwriters. Both websites analyse movies to help support their theories which really helps with wrapping your head around what they’re trying to get at. But so far everything I’ve come across can be applied to any story that I write. It’s all pacing, archetypes, subplots and the story elements.
You might want to start yourself off with these articles:
A new character driven hero’s journey
How to transform your character from a wimp to a hero
Not everything is a hero’s journey
Enjoy.
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