Story Circles, Part IV: Gail Carriger's Heroine's Journey

Previously on my Story Circles series, I introduced Maureen Murdock and her theory that character fulfillment isn't just about bringing home the prize, but wholeness. 

Gail Carriger has a similar arc to her interpretation of the heroine's journey, and while I haven't taken one of her courses or read her book (yet!) I know writers who have, and they both come highly recommended. So if you're looking for a deeper dive into this kind of storytelling, the resources are available.

copyright Gail Carriger

So, like many journeys, Carriger's circle begins with The Descent. 

In Act I, we have a main character with a broken familial network. Her pleas are ignored, she gives up power, and withdraws from her community. Her family tries to help but to no avail. She doesn't have a choice in this. She is broken in some way and is desperate to reconnect (with something).

At this point, she steps into Isolation and Danger within The Search. 

In Act II, the heroine is now at risk. She is operating in disguise or pretending to be someone or something she isn't. She gathers a surrogate family around her and takes a visit to the "underworld," which looks more like a deep low point or depression.

One of the key differences between the hero's journey and the heroine's journey is that the heroine is building her network (rather than losing it) and is more likely to compromise to get where she needs to be, while the hero is isolating himself in order to succeed on his own. 

When the heroine asks for help, she's going to get it, and she's going to get it from a group of sidekicks who will remain faithful to her.

The compromise begins The Ascent, and in Act III she's built a new network, found a new family, and/or reconnected with her old family. She has reached her goal and is whole/complete. As an aside, her success in reaching her goal is typically beneficial to others in some way (i.e. she is not the only one who walks away a winner in this journey). 

So again we have this wholeness or completeness at play. This certainly pushes past the hero's journey, which ends after the successful completion of the quest.

Interestingly enough, many YA novels are heroine's journeys, and, if you write romance (which is ultimately about connection), your characters are definitely on a heroine's journey arc.

Like I mentioned previously, don't think you're limited in your gender construction with these arcs. A heroine in a story can go on a hero's journey and vice versa. 

So if something is going wrong in your YA or romance novel (or whatever story you're writing that's not on a hero's journey spectrum), try breaking the plot down to its skeleton and plugging in the key points onto this circle to see if you missed a step or pulled a character in a direction they aren't logically meant to go.

(Because these arcs are so psychologically ingrained that readers *will* pick up on deviations, whether they're aware of it or not.)

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

The Heroine's Journey vs. The Hero's Journey

I'll admit, I hadn't heard of the Heroine's Journey until last year--shame on me, I know.

But until I saw a mention of this from another author, I had no idea there was a counter-journey to Campbell's Hero's Journey, and that there are several of them, in fact.

I also think they're worth mentioning here because as stories continue to evolve, we're going see more of a shift to these types of structures. My eyes have certainly opened to how dynamic story arcs can be, even if we are writing to a "circle" journey or formula. 

Campbell's journey was referenced in a previous post, but I think it's important to mention here that a hero's journey is not just limited to a male protagonist, and that the heroine's journey is not limited to the female. A male protagonist can follow the arc of a heroine's journey and vice versa.

There are several different types of heroine's journeys, and I'll address some of these in more detail in future posts, but since we've already outlined our hero's journey, it might be helpful to use this post as a springboard into the topic and discuss which aspects of our journeys overlap.

In both journeys, for instance, we begin in an ordinary world, a world our protagonist will be forced to leave. They will reject part of themselves in order to try to stay in this world and fit in with their surroundings. They will discover a new talent, skill, or gain some sort of knowledge. They will gather their allies and encounter enemies along the way. They will be tested to some degree. They will experience doubt in that they aren't sure they're cut out to complete their task, but despite this they will emerge victorious, returning to their world as transformed, self-actualized beings. 

So the skeleton of the journeys are very similar, but we're going to find, I think, that the heroine's journeys focus more on self-worth and identity, while the hero's journey is geared more toward finding that treasure and bringing it home. The motivation is more external. They are both changed by the end, of course, but the heroine's journey is really more about the journey itself, whereas the hero's journey is centered around the end goal. The hero wins the prize. The heroine becomes whole.

And, again, both journeys apply to protagonists of either gender.

Photo by Leah Kelley from Pexels

At any rate, I'm looking forward to diving into these heroine's journeys because I think we're going to see more elements of this kind of storytelling in the future. 

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

Storytelling Laws vs Emotional Impact

A massive debate ensued on our ride to dinner last night. 

It involved a movie my husband and I both watched (at different times) and why he liked it and I didn't. 

The argument centered around the fact that he would rather a story make him feel something than be well-plotted.

My counterpoint was that a story is more relatable and more likely to make us feel something when it follows the laws of storytelling.

There are exceptions, of course, to each of these arguments.

But the timing of this debate is interesting because I'm wrapping up a book on plotting and one of the messages is that just because a story follows a formula doesn't mean it's formulaic. Structure doesn't quell creativity. In fact, storytelling structure helps us wrangle the creativity and put our ideas in the places that they're meant to go to have the most profound effect on the reader.

So my problem with the movie was 1) the believability of the setup, 2) the hero's character arc, and 3) a death used solely as a plot device (it made the guy a better person, but to what end?). 

The movie just didn't "scratch that itch" for me (and that's okay--Rotten Tomatoes reviews are split evenly down the middle (49%), so it's just as likely for a viewer to like it as to dislike it.

And this is where my husband comes in. He thought the plotline mimicked real life and because he felt for the main character thought it was a good/successful story.

My argument is that life doesn't make sense, and that even if an author is writing about the "real world," if he cares about the reader at all, he or she is going to structure that story so that it has the best chance to appeal to the intended audience. 

Ironically enough, I feel like the movie's intended audience was ME, not my husband, which adds another layer to this debate. I don't really buy in to postmodern stream of consciousness, so if a story mimics "real life"--which is often stranger than fiction, anyway--there's very little rhyme or reason for what goes on (unlike within a story world, which, to some degree, needs to make sense in order to be appreciated).

If you have thoughts about this or want to add something to the debate, hit me up on Twitter or comment on the Facebook post. If you can think of exceptions--where storytelling rules were broken and the story was still a success--I'd love to hear them.

I do see his point, but I also feel like a story without a clear and recognizable structure is more likely to flounder than win over an audience.

But if it makes us feel something. . . .

Be Brilliant!

-Katie~

Story is Best

"Story is best when a character acts in a probable way,

but the world reacts in a way he doesn't see coming."

--Robert McKee

What a character wants to happen vs. how the world responds sets up a nice "expectations vs. reality" scenario.

Characters shouldn't always get what they want. 

Sometimes they should.

And sometimes they should get what they want, realizing soon after it wasn't what they really wanted (or needed), after all.

Expectations vs. Reality

Deepen your plots and characters by creating contradictions at every turn. Look for those opposites and play against your character's (and ultimately your reader's) expectations.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

Three Things Readers Want to Know

As a reader works her way through a story, there are three things in particular she wants to know:

1. What is happening in this moment? 

2. What is going to happen next? 

3. How is this going to turn out? 

As a writer, if you know the answer to these questions at any given point in your draft, and the answers are something that will intrigue the reader, then you're moving in the right direction.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

Which Came First?

The chicken or the egg?

Or . . . . which came first?

The character

The title

The climax

The first sentence

The last sentence

A funny line

A tragedy

A name

An interest

A desire

A need

There is no wrong place to begin brainstorming a story. 

For Cross My Heart, the idea came from a song ("November Rain"), and Jaden (as a perfectionist) arrived first. For Rise, Fallon's name came first, and that she was a musician (a rock star violinist) second. For All I Never Wanted, the idea about a girl in a rehab facility came from a movie I'd recently watched, and for my latest WIP (work in progress), the villain arrived before anyone else.

The point?

Ideas can show up anywhere and at any time, and while they rarely show up fully formed, there is no right or wrong "first."

There is no order in creativity.

The act of creating is messy.

Anything that pops into your head can be built upon, so take that little nugget from the universe (a gift, really) and make that story happen.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

Where Writers Fail

According to John Truby (The Anatomy of Story), 

"Nine out of ten writers fail at the premise."

What is a premise?

The premise is your story stated in a single sentence. In screenwriting, this would be your "logline." 

The purpose of the premise statement is to present the central characters and conflict in order to give the reader a solid idea of what happens in the story.

Truby gives the following example for the premise of Casablanca:

A tough American expatriate rediscovers an old flame only to give her up so that he can fight the Nazis.

Here we have the main characters (an expatriate and a love interest), the central conflict (will they get together or won't they?), and the outcome (he's going to walk away).

The premise of a story is the foundation. Everything that will be developed within the narrative will serve as proof for the premise.

The success of any story depends largely on the premise because if, as writers, we can't boil the key idea down to a single statement, then it's likely we don't have a firm grasp of the overall point/purpose of the tale. 

The scenes may be in the right order, the climax might work, the characters may be well-rounded, and the writing is stellar, BUT if the overall premise is weak, the story is already lost. 

Nine times out of ten, the story is lost at the premise.

It's worth it, then, to give premises the attention they deserve--to nail down the key concept before the story words are even on the page. 

PREMISE:

"A boy from a privileged, upper-middle-class family falls for a girl in a rehabilitation facility accused of murdering her best friend."

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

(More) On Story

Story: the price a character pays for the lengths to which she'll go to get what she wants.

Story is about action.

Story is about struggle.

Story is about change.

And . . . 

"Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today." 

--Robert McKee

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

What Makes a Good Story?

A good story is made up of:

1. A time or place the reader can lose themselves in.

2. An unforgettable character--someone who is real to them; someone they can relate to.

3. A memorable/extraordinary event.

The best stories contain characters with which we identify, experiences that impact us in visceral ways, and messages that change the way we see the world.

This makes "storyteller" one of the most powerful positions on the planet--a responsibility that shouldn't be taken lightly.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~ 

Story Deconstructed

What is a story?

According to Lisa Cron, "a story is how what happens affects someone who is trying to achieve what turns out to be a difficult goal, and how he or she changes as a result."

Broken down: a story is how what happens [plot] affects someone [protagonist] who is trying to achieve a difficult goal [story question], and how he or she changes because of it.

I've written about the story question before.

The takeaway here, though, is that a story isn't just something that happens, or something that happens to someone, or even something dramatic that happens to someone. More structure is required if the reader is going to close your book with a sigh of satisfaction.

But there's a formula, and if you can keep these key elements in mind, you'll be in a better position to write a successful story.

Story = plot + protagonist + resolved question/problem.

For further reading on this, I highly recommend Cron's Wired for Story.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~