Story Structure: Act 1--Separation in Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" by JRR Tolkien

Story Structure: Act 1--Separation in Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" by JRR Tolkien

In this video, Josh identifies the first act of Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien.

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The Modern Monomyth: Mythological Storytelling--Stages of the Hero's Journey

My new book, Mythological Storytelling is available for purchase! Check it out:


              

As a fiction writer, the goal is to create a story that resonates with the audience. We all want to write something gripping that people will share with friends and family; a narrative that lasts with the reader for years to come. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done. Many of us start out with a passion for storytelling. We love exploring new worlds and developing complex characters. So we begin to write. But at some point, every storyteller realizes that in order to become a professional, we must hone our natural talent into a skill. So, what do we do? We buy books on writing. There’s a book out there for everything. Some teach plot, others character. There are books that explain how to write action, suspense, conflict, dialogue, setting, theme, etc... 
But no matter how logical we structure our story, or how perfectly we construct our prose, the story doesn’t seem to have that “X-factor.” 

Even well known professionals face this problem. Think about how many times you’ve gone to the movies or picked up a book by a writer you follow, or a franchise you love, only to be completely let down. How many forgettable novels or films have you come across in your lifetime? Some written by reputable authors and screenwriters. Even though the action, mystery, or romance was great, the story still fell flat. The narrative lacked some mystical element that every great story seems to inherently possess. 

This is the major problem every author, writer, poet, screenwriter, and storyteller face. 

The Modern Monomyth series is aimed to teach writers from all walks of life how to fuel their stories with the power of myth. By utilizing mythological elements from the Monomyth (also known as the Hero's Journey), authors are able to connect with their audience on a deep psychological level. 

This book provides a definition of the Monomyth and it’s early origins. It teaches the three act structure as it pertains to the Hero's Journey and explains the difference between the known world and the special world of your story. You’ll learn what really makes a character heroic, and how plot and character feed off of each other, creating both an inner and outer journey. We’ll outline the 18 distinct stages of the hero’s journey and briefly discuss the main archetypes of the Monomyth. For each stage, this book provides at least four modern examples from well known stories. Each example will help you understand Hero’s Journey, and help you identify the stages in your own book. Every chapter concludes with action steps, which you can immediately use on your story. These will help you infuse mythic power and life into the narrative. By the end of the book, you’ll have a basic understanding of the Monomyth and a road map for your own story.

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Blind: A Short Story Anthology

Great news! Suz and I just published a short story anthology. For the next five days it'll be completely free. All we ask in return is that you provide an honest review once you're done reading. So, if you're looking for something quick and easy to read over the Thanksgiving holiday look no further.

Also, if you want to get a story for the kids, check out the book I published last month, Ollie’s Scary Space Adventure (also free for the next five days).

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Scene Length: How Long Should My Story Scenes Be?

I just recently read a great book called Story Engineering, by Larry Brooks. He suggests the following when breaking out your novel: three acts; beginning, middle, and end. The middle is split into to two sections at the midpoint. 

So imagine you cut your story into four sections, each one comprising roughly 25% of the novel (as seen above). So in a 400 page novel, Act 1 is 100 pages, Act 2 is 200 pages (100 for each half), and Act 3 is 100 pages (note: for screenplays this breaks out to 30 pages for each segment). As Brooks points out, major stories such as The Davinci Code follow this outline fairly well. 

Each quartile should consist of about 12-15 scenes. So based on pacing, that leaves average scene length between five to ten pages. Again these are rough guidelines and every story is going to be a little different. Many stories I've read will have very short scenes and chapters in the inciting incident, midpoint, climax, and pinch points of the narrative in order to make the pacing "feel" fast. Keep in mind, a scene could be no more than one line. In the end writers must go with their gut. If a scene feels too long, then cut the fat. If it seems too short, then add some meat. As long as you don't make all of your scenes the same length (probably the worst thing you can do), then your story should progress with good momentum.

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