Sunday, March 13, 2011

The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler




The Hero's Journey is one of those books you look at and go "Really? Another book on how to write a story?" but whoa nelly, it's nothing like the others in the same category. Based on Joseph Campbell's work, Vogler takes the writing process to a whole other level.


Vogler takes you through the Hero's Journey in such a way that you can't help but learn from, breaking down the sections, characters and situations and how you can apply the Hero's Journey to any genre. Romance, screenplays, mystery, fantasy, literary fiction, YA, horror, adventure. Doesn't matter what you write, long, short, or in between this book will open new doors of understanding.


I've read several books on the writing process and all of them had helpful hints, but none of them came close to the moments of understanding as I read Vogler's book and applied his ideas and theories to my own writing.


The only thing I would warn against is that near the end of the book Vogler starts preaching and I will admit to putting it down. The first 3/4 of the book though were worth every penny and I in my humble opinion something that every writer should take the time to read no matter your genre.

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