The Hero's Journey

This weekend I had the privilege of hearing Deb Dixon speak on both Goals Motivation and Conflict (a writer's bible of sorts) and the Hero's Journey. She used a lot of movie examples and we dissected movies. LOL she said we'd never be able to watch a movie purely for enjoyment again.

I tend to think of the hero, and by the way, when talking about the Hero's Journey, we're talking simply the protagonist, not specifically male, as going on a quest with this template. But she showed it applied to books without some quest as well. Like a romance. She said in a romance, you can have one character drive the book and another as its heart.

Which of course made me think about my own books. And how to apply this to what I write. I already do that in a lot of ways. I always think about my story as a journey. My character(s) tend to change throughout the novel. Not just romantically but usually the inner workings in some manner as well. I think I'm going to go back and revise an old story and really put this framework to the test. After I've done it (and don't hold your breath...I'm a deadline LOL for another story), I'll come back and report how it went.

Mechele Armstrong aka Lany of Melany Logen
http://www.mechelearmstrong.com
http://www.melanylogen.com

The In-Between Place ....

I finished the second book in my paranormal series for Wild Rose -- finished it on Thursday. So I'm at that in-between place again: not quite done with the last book, not ready to start the next one.

I did decide what I'll start next: Book 3 in this series. The characters are firmly in my head, so I want to continue on. The In-Between Place (IBP) is somewhat relaxing, but I find that I always have a lot of catching up to do. I tend to put a lot of things on hold when I'm deep into writing, and now I have to deal with those things: promotion, scheduling, balancing the checkbook .... just daily Stuff.

I'm pleased with how the last book turned out and I'm anxious to start the next one, but I'm trying to restrain myself a bit ... I think the book is better (and the writing goes faster) if I take some time to think about it because I launch into it.

So I'm in Think Mode now ...