Synchronicity

Carl Jung described synchronicity as “meaningful coincidence”. Two events occur and you may not see the connection until later. I'm pretty sure that happened to me this past week.

While reading Vogler’s book on mythic structure (see previous post), I kept thinking about my first story, the one shelved after querying about a dozen agents. Too few, you say? Perhaps, but upon close inspection it was clear the writing needed work, lots of work.

Even so, I always believed the tale itself had a solid foundation: a girl on a quest to retrieve an ancient power stolen from the sea.

Quest? Did someone say “quest”? What every hero undertakes?

Fingers crossed, I made a list of Vogler's 12 stages of the Hero's Journey to see if they matched elements from my book.

Eccola!

Not only does my story cover every stage, but there's also a healthy batch of archetypes (a term also coined by Jung). All I need to do is find the proper words to captivate my readers. Easy, right? ;-)

I didn’t know that buying this book would bring me back to a story waiting to be rewritten, but that's what happened. Synchronicity in action!

How about you? Ever realize that two things you thought unconnected were actually linked?

Mythic Structure – A Tool for all Writers

Don’t let the title fool you. Mythic structure works for all genres, not just fantasy.

My crit partner recommended this book, which I bought and then set aside, thinking it applied solely to “quest” stories. Was I ever wrong!

I've read Joseph Campbell and know about the Hero's Journey, but Vogler's approach is geared exclusively toward writers. He explores each of the Journey's stages and gives examples from memorable books and movies in a surprising range of genres. It’s truly a format anyone can adopt.

Vogler’s scope can't be addressed in one blog post, but I think you’d be surprised at how easily stories fit this structure. Does your main character have a goal that involves stepping outside a comfort zone, challenging norms, righting wrongs? Bingo! There’s your Call to Adventure.

Having trouble figuring out a character's purpose? Check out the Archetypes and you'll find a wealth of choices, each with its own psychological and dramatic function. How cool is that?

This is a hefty volume (nearly 400 pages) and I’m only a quarter of the way through, but already I’m approaching my work with a new perspective.

I think you will, too.