188 Stage Hero's Journey (Monomyth) - When the Supernatural Aid is No Longer Needed

188 stages of the Hero's Journey (Monomyth) you need to know about... When the Supernatural Aid is no longer needed, he (or she) departs or travels to where he (or she) is needed. In Midnight Cowboy (1969), Ratso dies. In Silence of the Lambs (1991), Lecter ...

Write Your Novel Step By Step (Part 17)

In writing my novel I learned a lot of things the hard way so I just wanted to put this series out there for would be writers to help them on their path to writing their own book.

The Gift of Jealousy

Freelance writer Kate Garvey shares how a recent surge of writer's jealousy helped teach some valuable lessons. These lessons can be applied to anyone who is experiencing jealousy.

Keep A Notebook For Your Writing Ideas

When starting out writing [and even when established] it is good practice to have a structure in what you are doing when you are writing. I strongly advise that you write everything down. If you have an idea or even a part of an idea, it is surprising how easy that idea will disappear as your mind fills with other ideas and fragments.

A Closer Look At Literary Awards

Does a literary award truly reflect the quality of the book?

New Technical Writer - Use The Persona To Create The Most Useful Section Of Your User Document

A good User Document includes sections on how to set up, use, and care for the product. However, to create a great User Document, the technical writer should use the Persona, generated in the analysis of the User/Reader, to create the topics for the most useful section of the User Document. This article describes this procedure.

The Correlation Between Writers And Depression

Scientists have been debating why writers are more prone to depression, what they should be asking is why some writers enjoy their depression or feel that they create better pieces when they are depressed.

188 Stage Hero's Journey (Monomyth) - Rescue from Without - the World Comes for the Hero

The Hero is pulled away from [the stage that is called No Mans Land]. That is to say, the Hero refuses to return (or cannot return) to the Final Conflict and the world must come and get him. Often the antagonist will force him to pull out of...

Consciousness in Relation to New Media, Games, Character Invention

Where does one start the quest to create newly invented fictional digital/new media characters and stories that will attract a viable public? Established fiction has seen the depths and lows of humanity pass by and today's writers find it mighty difficult to compete in terms of originality

188 Stage Hero's Journey - Monomyth - Foreshadows And Inner Caves

Before the actual Push out of the Ordinary World, a Foreshadow is not uncommon. In Bonnie and Clyde (1967).

Write Powerful Business Letters That Sell!

In addition to writing articles, the ability to write succinct and compelling business communications, ie.business letters and reports, is an absolute must in achieving credibility and commanding respect from those with whom you do business.

188 Stage Hero's Journey - Monomyth - Period of Obscurity

When the Hero is in his (or her) Ordinary World, he (or she) undergoes a Period of Obscurity.

188 Stage Hero's Journey - Monomyth - Movement Away From The Greater Antagonism

This is essentially a movement away from the Greater Antagonism - and manifests itself in a number of ways.

New Technical Writer - The Four Dimensions of Your User-Reader

To create an effective User Document, the writer must know who he-she is writing for. This article presents four dimensions (Skills, Attitude, Knowledge and Experience) for describing the User of your product (your Documentation Reader), and how to build a Persona that turns your generic User into an almost-real person. The article stresses the need to actually USE this information when structuring and writing your User Document.

The Loneliness of the Long-distance Writer (or why you need endurance)

Writing is an extremely physical activity -- something that never occurred to me when I started out. I took great pride in being able to sit for up to 12 hours at a time, refusing to abandon my post until I finished whatever I was writing. By the time I did finish, I was in a pretzel knot from hunching over the typewriter. The bottom line is that writers ought to join a gym or hire a personal trainer just to stay in shape to do what we do for a living.