Taking a break.

I've been doing some heavy duty writing about archetypes. Today, I decided to talk about my wonderful day yesterday.

I got to spend an afternoon with a dear girl friend who is always working, so this was a rare treat. We hung out in her hot tub, drank champagne, slathered ourselves with lotion, and talked about everything, including sex. Some people get uncomfortable with such intimate discussions, but I am always fascinated and delighted with them.

It's when people are the most likely to share their deepest emotions. It's when our pasts and our presents come together (no pun intended) to reveal what we most need in our lives.

I always want to honor those brave enough to share their secrets with me. I want to take their bravery and vulnerability into my office to inspire not just my love scenes, but also the limits of human courage - the very soul of what makes fiction important.

I had great writing day today. How about you?

Give-away!

Titled, "Green Flash"

A brand-new hand painted fan, signed and delivered to you.

Today, you get to guess the movie quotes. Be the first person to name the movie, and win this lovely!

Quote 1.
"This is just so shocking. I mean I must just be so monumentally naive."


Was that too hard for you? I'm such a sweetie, I'll give you a second clue!


Quote 2. 
":Shut up, Mr. Burton! You are not brought upon this world to get it!"

Story Basics Part IV: The Threshold Guardian

Fu dogs are an excellent example of Threshold Guardians.

One of my favorite archetypes is the Threshold Guardian. The Guardian serves as a challenge to the hero, a test for her to prove her worthiness and her resolve to continue her course of action.

In both real life and in a story, the Threshold Guardian

represents the ordinary obstacles we all face in the world around us: bad weather, bad luck, prejudice, oppression, or hostile people....But on a deeper psychological level, they stand for our internal demons; the neuroses, emotional scars, vices, dependencies, and self limitations that hold back our growth and progress. It seems that every time you try to make a major change in your life, these inner demons rise up to their full force, not necessarily to stop you, but to test if you are really determined to accept the challenge of change. (Vogler, The Writer's Journey, p. 58)

In a story, the Guardian is the antagonist's head of security, the Sphinx and her riddle, the army of the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of OZ, bouncers, doormen, entrance exams. A hero and a person must learn how to deal with these tests. You can run, attack it head on, use deceit, bribe or appease the Guardian, or make an ally of them.

Again, Vogler:

Successful heroes learn to recognize Threshold Guardians not as threatening enemies, but as useful allies and early indicators that new power of success is coming. (p. 59)

Think of who or what has been a Threshold Guardian for you. How did this energy show you what you had to do?

Story Basics Part IV: Archetypes, not Straightjackets

A note as I go along with this series. The best way to think of an archetype is a role that a character plays, not as a description of who they are.

Some examples:

Obi-Wan Kenobi is considered the classic example of a Mentor. He shows Luke what he could be and how to get there.

But he does not stay in the Mentor all the time. The emotionally powerful scene where he confronts Darth Vader is created when he steps into the Hero role. He is moving the action in that scene, not merely instructing or demonstrating things to Luke. When a character shifts archetypes for a scene, the stakes go up. No matter how many times I see Star Wars, I cry when Obi-Wan is defeated in the light saber scene.  This intense emotional reaction comes from him changing his role in the movie.

A second reason to think of the archetype as a role and not a personal characteristic is this creates a fuller, more interesting character in your story. If your Mentor just sits around dispensing wisdom and pithy comments all the time, well....Ok, let's face it. That is boring.

If your character delves into a new archetype, they are suddenly deeper, truer, more emotionally resonant people. Don't think of archetypes as limiters.

They exist to liberate your creation.

Thought provoking article from New Zealand.

What distinguishes discrimination against women from other forms of such reprehensible behaviour is that it is an integral, deliberate, and entrenched element in cultures and religions around the world and from time immemorial.

The New Zealand Herald.

Story Basics Part IV: The Mentor Archetype

The name Mentor comes from a character in the Odyssey. Telemachus, Odysseus' son, goes on a quest to find his father. The goddess Athena takes the guise of Mentor (a human male) to give Telemachus advice, training, aid, or necessary gifts to finish the search.

The Mentor is a very rich archetype. Joseph Campbell named this role as The Wise Old Man or Woman. The Mentor's job is to represent our highest selves, the part of the heroine who is wise and far seeing.  A mentor decides if the heroine has earned gifts to help her, or can act as her conscience. The Mentor motivates and initiates the heroine, too.

Mentors can be kindly  parental figures or they can be dangerous, teaching the Heroine through hard knocks. A Dark Mentor is one who starts a character on a tragic arc, leading her into danger or destruction. Fallen Mentors have lost their own way, and part of the Hero's story is to make the Mentor pull herself together. There are often multiple Mentors in a story, as well.

After all, James Bond not only has M, he has Moneypenny and Q to help teach him what he needs. Arthur has Merlin, but also his brother Kaye, his father, and even his half-sister to teach him lessons.

Mentors can be funny, mystical, young, old, or even part of the Heroine's inner landscape as a memory or code of honor. They can show up in the beginning, middle, or end of the story. Don't get stuck thinking your Mentor has to be Obi Wan with a beard and a nifty sword. Anyone and anything can teach your Heroine what she needs to know.