Gather 'round…
First off, we need to understand the language Christopher Vogler utilizes. His is the mythic story structure model, and as such, it employs mythic vocabulary. The whole thing is a giant metaphor that we will, should we choose to follow his advice, recreate within our own pages, with our own hero, our own quest, and our... Continue Reading →
OK, I'm a bit behind schedule. Summer and all that. Let's get through the Hero's Journey a little faster. I'd like to finish it up before my next writers' group meeting, so it looks like roller-coaster ride ahead. Buckle up! First off, did you do your homework? You're not allowed to read on until you... Continue Reading →
Well, first of all, as of Thursday, the Meadowlark has been singing again, which I think is amazing. Apparently the moratorium on joyful song after the loss of a brood lasts ten days. But now they are over, and the living commences once again! Today as I fought to sleep in past 4am, the wrens,... Continue Reading →
I get ahead of myself sometimes. I'm sure you don't, but I do. I get excited, I get distracted, I get confused, and often I get out of my depth. I’m probably about to do all of those things spectacularly. I'm about to commence a series of posts about story structure, the holy grail of... Continue Reading →
If you've watched Sherlock - and you should - you've seen the world's most prolific sleuth retreat into his mind palace to retrieve something of the copious reams of information he stores there. I laughed out loud the first time I saw one of these scenes. I thought it was creative genius, pure and simple.... Continue Reading →
When that notorious beauty-lover Oscar Wilde announced in The Decay of Lying, "Nobody of any real culture... ever talks nowadays about the beauty of a sunset. Sunsets are quite old-fashioned," sunsets reeled under the blow, then recovered. ~Susan Sontag, An Argument About Beauty The question of beauty is, as they say, subjective. Sadly, it changes with the... Continue Reading →
I just hit send, submitting my first opinion article to a local magazine. And I'm only sweating a tiny little bit. Who knows if it will ever see print, but I am pretty excited to have even tried, so I'll take that as a win. Thanks to you, dear blog readers, for your likes and... Continue Reading →
The word 'humility' comes from the Latin word 'humus' which means fertile ground... [It] is the situation of the earth. The earth is always there, always taken for granted, never remembered, always trodden on by everyone, somewhere we cast and pour out all the refuse, all we don't need. It's there, silent and accepting everything... Continue Reading →
You never know when new adventures will begin. A fortuitous invitation to NaNoWriMo last November proved to be the catalyst that would change life forever in the Ottinger household. Who knew that life could take such unexpected turns, if only we allow our imaginations a little freedom? "Listen to the trees talking in their sleep,"... Continue Reading →
Tales From the Nexus 