A.R. Mitchell's Blog, page 10
January 4, 2024
Welcome to 2024!
Woo! 2024 has arrived.
Its a big busy year in the USA where we’re electing a new president. Everyone gets sucked into the media frenzy - even if they don’t want to. Its utterly exhausting.
Here’s things to keep you interested that have nothing to do with that kind of crazy.
Every second Tuesday - I’m doing a short story giveaway on Amazon. It lasts for five days, so its Tuesday to Saturday.
Amazon uses the reviews to promote stories - ten reviews is the minimum for Amazon to start promoting. So, if you like leaving reviews, they are appreciated. And of course, definitely share the giveaway links with your friends, family and anyone else who you think would like the story.
If you buy books from another store or digital site, let me know and I might post some stories there in the future.
Also - because I forgot - The Mist Walker Trilogy was published in October of 2023! I shared some of her story in the Author Voice post in the series Storytelling Through Trauma.
Since I keep forgetting to announce that I published a story on my Amazon page, I encourage you to go to my Amazon Author page and hit the follow button. It’s circled in pink in the image below. This way - Amazon lets you know by an email that I published something! This is also wonderful for introverted me, because I’m not the type to stand on a digital or physical street corner holding a sign that says, “I published a thing!!!!”
This years blog topic is “The Seven Mountains of Society’s Stories!” (I first debuted it here: The Refusal of the Call) We’ll go over a lot of content that will hopefully help you sort through the stories you’re listening to which influence your life, and if I do this right, you’ll have the tools to be aware and change those stories for the better.
I write an Indiana Jones fan fiction every year, featuring an older version of the famous archaeologist, who usually chases a legend teaming up with his adult daughter, Emily Jones. On why I do this - check out this post. Storytelling Using the Hero's Journey
This years adventure continues with The Seven Swords of Diya. (The Seven Swords of Diya: An Indiana Jones Fan Fiction) I thought I’d have it finished, but nope! This is what happens when you’re a discovery writer or pantser. (As in, writing by the seat of my pants. You can learn more about this writing style here Preptober for Pantsers)
Indiana Jones and his nineteen year old daughter Emily Ravenwood Jones are back in action! Seven missing Japanese swords which may have the power to open hell, unleashing monsters upon the earth are their quest.
Along with them is a hotshot pilot who got his career started as Indy’s bodyguard, some Japanese intelligence officers who never accepted the surrender at the end of World War II, and a shamaness with ties to the Russian secret police.
Their destination? The ancient city of Diya on the closed and heavily guarded Russian military base in the mysterious wilderness of Kamchatka.
Come along for the adventure!
Available for free on Wattpad!
You can also share this adventure on your social media or with people who you think would enjoy it. I use a lot of real research behind my writing and this adventure contains a lot of Dr. Michael Heiser’s work.
The Seven Swords of Diya on Wattpad
I’m also in school - Trauma Stress Awareness Course (TSS Certificate Program) and am in progress of getting a certificate in ancient history. (Certificate of Biblical History… which is more like ancient literature and comparative mythology than what it sounds like) This will help me write more content and be professional pretties.
On the writer front I’m looking at growing my blog and reach. I’m uncertain what that looks like so stay tuned!
I hope get some of my non-fictions published. Most of them are based on what you’ve read in this blog, but I always put more detail into them than these posts.
There are some other writer projects in progress, including some sequels, but I have no timelines for those, so stay tuned for updates on those projects too.
On Chronic Writer our new series is The Stories of Society will start next week!
My other sites and places where you can find my work are listed below…
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November 30, 2023
Breaking Intimidation and Keeping Up the Writer Practice
Breaking Intimidation and Keeping Up the Writer Practice
A friend of mine was complaining he couldn’t write dialogue. I told him he needed practice. He moved into whining land and attempted to wheedle me into writing the dialogue. It didn’t work. (I’m very proud of this, because boundaries…) and I as a writer will tell the story he wants told very differently leaving him disappointed. This is why we all have to write the stories we want written by ourselves - no one can do this for us. I instead redirected his brain to do something else that he felt confident in doing, which was an outlining technique that his brain liked.
I hope that this series was helpful for you to get started in your healing.
There is no substitute for enjoying your work and your writing. You should want to tell your story in order to heal, and don’t let your inexperience or brain clutter stop you from there. There is no magic in the writing process, just creative willingness and persistance.
There is also no one special writing way that will work for everyone. You get to develop your writer’s voice by whatever method you find works best for you. Maybe writing isn’t your thing at all. That’s fine. There’s no guilt or shame in this - there’s not even the mantra of practice makes perfect, because there is no such standard as perfect.
Every writer has their own way of doing things and each time you try something new or different you’ll be working against the mental highways of negativity which claim you can’t. You can do this. Especially if it heals.
I take the month of December off to recharge, but I’ll be back in January with a series dealing with the stories we hear in society, as well as the stories we tell ourselves and how these things impact us and our mental landscapes, for both good or ill.
Remember this photo?
Here’s the link for a refresher: The Refusal of the Call
Take December to celebrate and choose to be with those who uplift you instead of judge. Keep writing!
See you in January 2024!
Perpetual Disclaimer for this series:
I am not a counselor or a mental health professional. I am going to attempt to avoid things which will cause alarm or harm, but I can't know what will trigger each individual. If you need to speak to a mental health professional please know that there are resources available.
Your stories are amazing!
Chronic Writer
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November 23, 2023
More Writer Techniques
Happy Thanksgiving!
More Writer Techniques
Since today is Thanksgiving, I wanted to give you a short post with a collection of links that I had done before on writing technique. They are a bit advanced, but are probably important to know as you continue to work on telling your story and using fiction to heal…
The DNA of Story (Archive - DNA of Story of Chronic Writer by VintageInkSlinger) The series starts at the bottom of the page with the last post, because that’s how blog archives are organized. Newest post is always at the top of the page.
The Five I of Story Creation (5 Part Series)
1. The Five 'I' of Story Creation - Intimidation
2. The Five ‘I’ of Story Creation - Inspiration
3. The Five ‘I’ of Story Creation - Ignition
4. The Five ‘I’ of Story Creation - Information
5. The Five ‘I’ of Story Creation - Implementation
The Hero’s Journey from Trauma to Healing Archive - The Hero's Journey from Trauma to Healing of Chronic Writer by VintageInkSlinger The series starts at the bottom of the page with the last post, because that’s how blog archives are organized. Newest post is always at the top of the page.
The two month series I did in 2022 focusing on writer techniques that I wasn’t finding much info on for Preptober and NaNoWriMo. Archive - Preptober and NanoWriMo 2022 of Chronic Writer by VintageInkSlinger The series starts at the bottom of the page with the last post, because that’s how blog archives are organized. Newest post is always at the top of the page.
(*Preptober is where outline author fans take an entire month to organize their story for NaNoWriMo - which is National Novel Writing Month. National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is when authors attempt to write an entire novel in the space of a month by using daily word counts. Its sort of a community author nerd race contest with a lot of pressure and drama… not helpful for an introvert like myself, especially since I rarely use word counts.)
Perpetual Disclaimer for this series:
I am not a counselor or a mental health professional. I am going to attempt to avoid things which will cause alarm or harm, but I can't know what will trigger each individual. If you need to speak to a mental health professional please know that there are resources available.
Your stories are amazing!
Chronic Writer
Share Chronic Writer by VintageInkSlinger
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A. R. Mitchell's Goodreads Page
November 16, 2023
Dialogue
Dialogue
I saved this topic for last because its the one place where I’m going to talk rules. Don’t get nervous. You probably already know these things because you’ve read books before.
When you’re dealing with characters and things that happened, especially while these characters are trying to heal, the characters need to be communicating.
Communication is important. If your characters aren’t talking to each other or interacting with each other, you’re not going to get plot progression or healing, because there’s nothing happening in the story!
Conversations have to happen between characters in order to bring the emotions onto the page so that you can heal. Granted, there are moments when you’ve got enough pent up anger that a car chase will help you feel better… that’s why we have action movies. Action heroes get to do things that aren’t legal and we get to cheer, because there is some part of us that wants to see bad people get what they deserve in the space of 45 minutes to an hour and half.
But back to dialogue…Quick rules, and I know you’ve seen these things because you’ve read dialogue on my blog or other places...
If your character is saying something, put it in quotes.
“The two little things at the beginning and end of this sentence are quotes,” said the English professor.
Let the reader know who’s speaking. This is done with a dialogue tag. In the example above we get to know its the English professor who’s speaking. Sometimes its helpful to include tone in the dialogue tag.
There are lots of alternate words for ‘said’ in the English language that show the tone of the words. Here’s a list from PrepScholar: 200 + Other Words for Said
You can also do this with punctuation.
“Em?” Question mark, tone is searching for answers or information
“Em!” exclaimation point, tone is louder, can be loud for the situation because of what’s going on in the scene, worried or angry. Can also be surprised or funny.
“Em…” the three dots are called elipses and it means a voice is trailing off, or pausing. Its a longer pause than you would see with a comma.
A comma is a short pause or something helps seperate items in a list. You probably won’t use it much during dialogue.
The time you would use a comma during dialogue is when you’re attaching a dialogue tag.
In our example sentence...
“The two little things at the beginning and end of this sentence are quotes,” said the English professor.
…you’ll notice that there’s a comma inside the last quote where the dialogue sentence ends.
This is because the dialogue ends, the character stops speaking, but the reader shouldn’t end the sentence yet because there’s a dialogue tag. The dot at the end of the sentence is a period.
So it goes:
Quote mark at beginning
Dialogue
comma if doing a dialogue tag
end quote mark at end of dialogue after the comma
character who is speaking
how the character said the words
period dot to end sentence for reader
You don’t need to tag every sentence with a name and a dialogue tag. Using he or she can work just fine, as long as there aren’t too many people in the scene, or the people involved are the same gender. It would be very confusing to have a conversation between two women tagged with ’She said’ - because we couldn’t tell which she was speaking!
This is a skill that you develop, just like writer’s voice and everyone does it differently. As long as the reader knows when the dialogue starts and stops (the quote marks), who’s saying what line (the dialogue tag) and how it’s said so the reader can get the tone of the conversation and situation - you’re good to go write, process the emotions and heal!
Perpetual Disclaimer for this series:
I am not a counselor or a mental health professional. I am going to attempt to avoid things which will cause alarm or harm, but I can't know what will trigger each individual. If you need to speak to a mental health professional please know that there are resources available.
Your stories are amazing!
Chronic Writer
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November 9, 2023
Storytelling with The Hero's Journey
As promised! The Hero’s Journey monomyth with non-fiction!
I’ll walk you through the monomyth for non-fiction, or writing from your personal story. I have quick references here, and if you want, there’s a blank PDF file at my Tip Jar Buy Me A Coffee page, where you can work through the monomyth on your own. (Its a free download. And my name is on it, so if you want to work through it with a group, you can. I’m also putting this into a physical book as well!)
Stay tuned for the extended version of the physical books on topics from this blog. I got the opportunity to continue some of my schooling so several of my non-fiction (less than exciting) writer projects have been pushed to the side into 2024.
When writing your own story it may help you to start from the bottom, with the Freedom to Live step, because you can recognize that you are no longer in that situation. Beginning in a safe place is a good grounding method for talking about wounds that need healing and the situations attached to them.
If this is still too much - remember, you are in a better place just by knowing these things, and if you still want to tell your story, or sort your emotions, we’ll talk more about that next week.
The Hero’s Journey with Non-fictionCall to Adventure - the moment when you realized something needed to change
Refusal of Call - how you tried to cope, even though you realized something needed to change
Supernatural Aid - the motion that pushed you over the edge and forced you to decide to do something
Crossing the First Threshold - the first something you did to get out of the bad situation
Belly of the Whale - the worst moment, when you came face to face with everything going on and had to make a decision
Road of Trials - the things you did to get out of the Belly of the Whale, and the struggle of dealing with not only the consequences, but how you overcame (or are overcoming) the challenges
Meeting with the Goddess - someone or something that showed up to help you along the way. A bit of wisdom that guided you through and how that guidance helps you.
Temptation - the moment when you wanted to give up, and how you decided to keep going
Atonement or Abyss - how you faced your fears, and won, or are in process of healing from the bad things that you went through
Apotheosis/Deitification - facing your fears and putting the pieces back together after you realize that you’re in pieces, and its ok to be in pieces
The Ultimate Boon/Treasure - how you’re healing and what’s helping you to heal, and putting yourself and your emotions back together.
Refusal of Return - the process of getting back to a new normal and implementing your new skills, wisdom, healing and recognizing that you are going someplace new and better
Magic Flight - the process of taking back what’s ours, and sorting out what is helpful for us vs the old unhealthy rules we were supposed to be living by
Rescue from Without - the process of guiding ourselves back to a normal without hitting burnout. Sometimes we need a guide, sometimes we are our guide.
Crossing the Return Threshold - taking the skills you learned through the healing adventure and bringing them to help others in the normal world
Master of Two Worlds - using empathy, leadership and courage along with the skills you learned, you are able to help others through their things, while still working on your own. But this is a balance, and that balance takes practice.
Freedom to Live - Where I am today? How am I safe? How am I healing? Think of ways to count this as a victory!
Perpetual Disclaimer for this series:
I am not a counselor or a mental health professional. I am going to attempt to avoid things which will cause alarm or harm, but I can't know what will trigger each individual. If you need to speak to a mental health professional please know that there are resources available.
Your stories are amazing!
Chronic Writer
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A. R. Mitchell's Goodreads Page
November 2, 2023
Storytelling Using the Hero's Journey
To show what The Hero’s Journey monomyth looks like in healing fiction I’m going to take one of my fan fiction stories and walk you through the quest, using the monomyth. (I did a whole series on this topic: The Hero’s Journey from Trauma to Healing, and am also working on a non-fiction book which will be an extended version of the blog posts.)
I used these characters and continue to use them to work through and heal my own inner wounds. Several characters are copyrighted and not my creation, so I will always have to offer this for free, but part of me thinks the healing I gain, and the healing lessons others gain through reading them is worth it.
I wrote The Sidenstrasse Tapestry in middle school. I was in the middle of a family crisis that extended over most of my teenage years and I needed a dad who would understand and protect me. So, I did what I suggested earlier in this series and took a fictional character as a protector and created a fictional character who was like me.
(This is also going to give you a chance to see my writing before I got to the level I’m at now.)
You don’t have to read it all. I’m just going to do what are called plot points.
A plot point is the place in the story where something significant happens. Each step on the monomyth is a significant plot point which increases the stakes and tension in the story.
In your story these stakes and tension don’t have to be action adventure based, they can be character based. Think about all the Hallmark movies you’ve watched where the couple almost breaks up because of a misunderstanding. That’s a character driven plot point that increases the story’s stakes and tension because you want these characters to end up together in the end.
I didn’t go over stakes or tension, because I wanted you to focus on healing and creating a safe space for emotions to be explored in a fictional or imaginary setting.
I am working on a storytelling through trauma non-fiction book, I hope to cover some extra things there. Stay tuned for updates on that!
And the reason I’m using fan fiction, is that I have it on Wattpad, which is free and you don’t have to sign in or become a member. These are also culturally familiar characters, which is what people gravitate toward in tough times.
Also, Wattpad is full of teenagers, and I want them to at least have one good story with healthy relationships which gives them the skills, confidence and a role model to reference in tough moments.
In case you hop on Wattpad, I’ll have the pieces of the monomyth linked at the bottom of the page for each section.
Next week we’ll do the same thing with non-fiction.
With that, I’ll turn it over to the dad and daughter duo of archaeologists, Indiana and his daughter Emily Jones, that you met earlier, in Fighting The Darkness and It Wasn’t Fun - But You Won.
This is Emily’s first adventure - The Sidenstrasse Tapestry
(Sidenstrasse is German for Silk street or road. The Silk Road was an ancient trade route going from China, across Central Asia and into the Middle East.)
The Sidenstrasse Tapestry (& The Hero’s Journey)(Using the Monomyth as an Outline for Fiction)Call to Adventure - Mac, an intelligence officer for the United States is searching for Indiana Jones but finds Indy’s daughter, Emily instead. Desperate to get his agent Jake Manifold out of hostile territory alive, he decides to take a chance on Emily. Emily is not impressed with Mac, or the artifact opportunity he brings. The Sidenstrasse Tapestry: An Indiana Jones Fan-Fiction - Chapter 3: Jerusalem, 1960
Refusal of Call - Emily wants to take on the adventure, but is distracted by other things…. including a bully. She takes on the bully, and Mac is impressed enough with Emily’s fighting skills that he offers her the job he wanted Indy to take. This time Emily accepts, because she can see that Mac is no longer dismissing her. The Sidenstrasse Tapestry: An Indiana Jones Fan-Fiction - Chapter 4: Jerusalem, 1960 - Jones Apartment
Supernatural Aid - Mac tells Emily the story of an unfinished mission of her father’s from World War II, a mysterious artifact that disappeared called The Sidenstrasse Tapestry, and Emily is all in for the adventure. The Sidenstrasse Tapestry: An Indiana Jones Fan-Fiction - Chapter 4: Jerusalem, 1960 - Jones Apartment
Crossing the First Threshold - Emily goes to Kashgar, China and meets Agent Jake Manifold. She is firmly committed to the adventure. The Sidenstrasse Tapestry: An Indiana Jones Fan-Fiction - Chapter 5: Kashgar, Communist China, 1960
Belly of the Whale - Emily and spy Jake are captured by villians, interrogated and nearly killed. They escape. The Sidenstrasse Tapestry: An Indiana Jones Fan-Fiction - Chapter 20: Talamakan Desert, Chinese-Russian Border, 1960
Road of Trials - Emily is chased out of Kashgar on horseback. She ends up stranded in the desert, stuck in a rock crevace, scared and alone. (This could also be an extention of Belly of the Whale too. Story is flexible.) The Sidenstrasse Tapestry: An Indiana Jones Fan-Fiction - Chapter 32 - Crevasse, Talamakan Desert, Communist China, 1960
Meeting with the Goddess - Emily’s parents, Indiana Jones and his formerly estranged wife Marion Ravenwood (Emily’s mother) show up to rescue her. The Sidenstrasse Tapestry: An Indiana Jones Fan-Fiction - Chapter 35 - Crevasse, Talamakan Desert, Communist China, 1960
Temptation - Mac tells Emily that she can stop planning to go rescue her sister. She’s tempted to follow his advice, but then realizes how Mac’s other spy missions have gone, and decides to continue the adventure herself, regardless of consequences. The Sidenstrasse Tapestry: An Indiana Jones Fan-Fiction - Chapter 53 Safe House, American Sector, Berlin, 1960
Atonement or Abyss - Emily risks her life, sneaking under the Berlin Wall to get the final pieces of the Sidenstrasse Tapestry. The Sidenstrasse Tapestry: An Indiana Jones Fan-Fiction - Chapter 60: KBG Interrogation Room, Russian Sector, Berlin 1960
Apotheosis/Deitification - Emily’s life is threatened as she’s captured by villains and faces them down… using all the skills and training she has to win. (This is also heroes vs. bullies, conflict to collision step.) The Sidenstrasse Tapestry: An Indiana Jones Fan-Fiction - Chapter 63 - Dark Chamber, KBG Building, Berlin 1960
The Ultimate Boon/Treasure - The missing pieces of the Sidenstrasse Tapestry are found! The Sidenstrasse Tapestry: An Indiana Jones Fan-Fiction - Chapter 72 Museum Basement, Communist Sector, Berlin 1960
Refusal of Return - Indy tells Emily that she needs to go back and that he’ll rescue Emily’s sister Annie, but Emily doesn’t listen. She doesn’t go back, because she knows her dad is going to need help in the rescue. The Sidenstrasse Tapestry: An Indiana Jones Fan-Fiction - Chapter 73: Sewers of Berlin, 1960
Magic Flight - This is the entire chase through Soviet Berlin… with the entire Jones family…. Indy, Marion, Emily, Annie and Annie’s kids. The Sidenstrasse Tapestry: An Indiana Jones Fan-Fiction - Chapter 85 - Outside Dawson's Apartment, Communist Berlin, 1960
Rescue from Without - Indy, Emily’s dad, is on the other side of the Berlin Wall, giving her a helping hand to crossover…. provided she can get there in time! The Sidenstrasse Tapestry: An Indiana Jones Fan-Fiction - Chapter 111: Streets of Free Berlin, 1960 and The Sidenstrasse Tapestry: An Indiana Jones Fan-Fiction - Chapter 112: Streets of Communist Berlin, 1960
Crossing the Return Threshold - This is literally Emily attempting to cross the Berlin Wall… and crashing into a signals intelligence spy listening post on the way. The Sidenstrasse Tapestry: An Indiana Jones Fan-Fiction - Chapter 113: Overhead of the Berlin Wall, 1960
Master of Two Worlds - Emily has the artifact, and she’s not only proven herself as a capable young woman, she’s used all the skills she has to defeat the villians and rescue her sister and family. She can be exactly who she is and take on the challenges that others attempt to threaten her with… because she’s not just an archaeologist - she’s the daughter of Indiana Jones! The Sidenstrasse Tapestry: An Indiana Jones Fan-Fiction - Chapter 114: American Intel Signals Apartment, Free Berlin, 1960 and The Sidenstrasse Tapestry: An Indiana Jones Fan-Fiction - Chapter 115: Streets of Free Berlin, 1960
Freedom to Live - Emily has her family back together. She’s found the artifact. She is free of the need to please or be taken seriously by the professional archaeological establishment - because her dad has always trained her to do what she loves and is willing to back her up. The rest of the people don’t matter. She’s ready for the next adventure! The Sidenstrasse Tapestry: An Indiana Jones Fan-Fiction - Chapter 116: American Safe House, Free Berlin, 1960
PS: The next adventure is The Seven Swords of Diya.
The Seven Swords of Diya: An Indiana Jones Fan Fiction
You got a little bit of a spoiler when I shared, “It Wasn’t Fun - But You Won” and also with “Fighting the Darkness”. These pieces are in The Seven Swords of Diya, which is the sequel and has some of Michael Heiser’s research in it.
The Seven Swords of Diya will wrap up in December. I will probably have links to The Hero’s Journey monomyth series through that in the comments, just like I did with Sidenstrasse. I also have plans in 2024 to delve into character development and exploration through writing. (IE: How to change your mind through characters and fiction, and there’s quite a character journey in Diya.)
Their third adventure, with the niece/grandchild mentioned in It Wasn’t Fun - But You Won, will be released in 2024, titled The Serpent Mound of Bashan. (With more of Michael Heiser’s research, but I haven’t written it yet, so I can’t tell you what happens. Welcome to pantser writer brain, please hold while I make something up. If you like action adventure fiction, you can follow me on Wattpad. Wattpad will let you sign in through your Facebook, Google or email and you’ll receive notifications whenever I post something of my work.)
If you read Sidenstrasse and then re-read “It Wasn’t Fun - But You Won” (The Road of Trials with excerpt and the analysis of It Wasn't Fun - But You Won Part 2) section of Diya, you’ll see that Emily’s healing process is ongoing. Just because she had one adventure, got confident in her skills, brought her family back together, and solved an ancient archaeological mystery, doesn’t mean she has it all together. Healing isn’t as easy as you take one course, read one book, get some counseling, do some crying and magically you’re healed. Its ongoing - which means when adventure calls, or your emotions flare up, its a signal that you’re getting better - but you’re not there yet.
You’ll notice that not every single plot point in this process directly aligns with the healing steps that we talked about through the monomyth… but this is fiction. In fiction, not everything has to match the monomyth. That’s the beauty of storytelling…. as long as you get the emotions out of your body and mind, that’s what counts.
Next, we’ll do this with non-fiction!
Perpetual Disclaimer for this series:
I am not a counselor or a mental health professional. I am going to attempt to avoid things which will cause alarm or harm, but I can't know what will trigger each individual. If you need to speak to a mental health professional please know that there are resources available.
Your stories are amazing!
Chronic Writer
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A. R. Mitchell's Goodreads Page
October 26, 2023
Putting It All Together
Putting It All Together
Part 2
Putting It All Together
A few months ago I did a series on The Hero’s Journey Through Trauma. Many writers use that as an outline for their stories.
An outline is what some authors use to help organize their brain so that they can focus the events of their stories and what the characters are doing.
I’ve never been good at this.
There are two types of writers… ones that need an outline because they need the brain organization and it helps them make sure that they’re covering all the pieces of story that they want. These are called plotters, because they plot out all the story elements (also called a plot).
The other type of writer is the discovery writer, or the pantser… because they write by the seat of their pants, making up the story and discovering things as they go along. These process is more chaotic and for me usually involves several drafts of the story.
Schools prefer the outline method and they teach that because it shows them that the students weren’t cheating. However, this means a lot of excellent discovery writers are left struggling - because for them outlining sucks the creativity and excitment, along with any project completion drive out of their minds.
I am a pantser of a writer and I only look organized because I work ahead. Resources for pantser/discovery writers are difficult to find because every writer does things differently. So don’t be discouraged if you’re a discovery writer and you can’t find resources that fit you.
The only outline method I truly enjoy is the mythology monomyth of The Hero’s Journey. Earlier this year we went through the whole monomyth.
I mentioned that this Hero’s Journey could be used for writing fiction and non-fiction.
I don’t want you to be overwhelmed, because The Hero’s Journey can look like a big project. That’s why I stuck with the plot basics of beginning, middle and end.
However, the Hero’s Journey is divided into three parts, which act like the beginning, middle and end.
Beginning is the characters seperation from their normal world.
Initiation is the middle where the characters struggle through challenges which are eventually going to help heal and train them for the next adventure.
Return is the end where the characters come back to their normal world which we saw in the beginning - but the characters are different because of their experiences and ready for the next adventure, or to be a mentor to a person who’s stuck in the situation they were once in.
Next week, I’ll take you through the Hero’s Journey for one of my free fiction stories on Wattpad, and the following week we’ll go through the Hero’s Journey for non fiction.
The Sidenstrasse Tapestry on Wattpad
Also, for the month of November some writers participate in National Novel Writing Month, also called NaNoWriMo. This is where writers set a daily word count, decide to write every single day of that month with the goal of starting a novel on November 1st, and finishing the first draft by November 30th.
Don’t feel like you have to set yourself a challenge like that. You are not writing to churn out a piece of work to satisfy a word count or life goal. You are working on healing. Healing has no timeline and it has no time limit. Healing also does not require a word count. A good writer can get their point across with less words.
My view is focus on your story - the words that heal are less about how many are on the page, and more about making the right kind of impact on yourself and your audience.
Perpetual Disclaimer for this series:
I am not a counselor or a mental health professional. I am going to attempt to avoid things which will cause alarm or harm, but I can't know what will trigger each individual. If you need to speak to a mental health professional please know that there are resources available.
Your stories are amazing!
Chronic Writer
Share Chronic Writer by VintageInkSlinger
Thanks for reading Chronic Writer by VintageInkSlinger! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
A. R. Mitchell's Goodreads Page
October 19, 2023
Putting It All Together
Putting It All Together
…One thing at a time.
I’ve tried to keep things very simple and clear of rules and confusion.
Today we’re putting things together with a few new elements -
We started with description.
We talked about plot elements. The plot is what happens in a story. It has a beginning, middle and end.
Characters are the population of the story. They have their own personality, and this means they will all act and react differently to the events that make up the plot.
I said for the work we’re doing here, you’ll need a character who is you, or who is like you, and a protect/comforter character.
So if you’ve been following along up this point you should have all those things.
Here’s a quick equation which might help with your writing:
Description + Plot Action + Emotion = StoryThe description is how you create the world and the characters you interact with. Its important because it lets you and your audience ‘see’ into the world you’ve created. If its about a location the description is called a ‘setting.’ If its about a character or actions in the story then its called description.
Plot action is what happens in the setting to the characters. It also involves the characters actions and reactions. Plot actions and reactions should have a beginning, middle and end.
Your characters should have actions and reactions to what is going on, either between them in the story, or in the setting of the story. These actions and reactions should move the plot through the beginning, middle and end of the story.
These characters actions and reactions should have emotions with them. Try to focus the emotions in the direction of healing. If you can’t and you need to write out something dark, go ahead and do that. I’ve written a lot of dark stories - sometimes writing the dark or bad things can help you heal from them. My only rule with writing dark things is that you will have to bring your readers from that dark place into a place of light, hope and healing. If you can do that - you can find healing for yourself along the way.
(I also feel like it creates more mental health issues and its irresponsible as a writer to leave yourself or the reader in a dark and hopeless place.)
Remember, this is not a one day project. Healing is never a one day project - neither is writing. Do not feel like you need to accomplish this in one day, or that it has to look perfect. Don’t feel like you have to share it, if you don’t want to. If you want to share it, find someone you can trust who will nuture your skills as a writer, as well as help you in your process of healing.
Perpetual Disclaimer for this series:
I am not a counselor or a mental health professional. I am going to attempt to avoid things which will cause alarm or harm, but I can't know what will trigger each individual. If you need to speak to a mental health professional please know that there are resources available.
Your stories are amazing!
Chronic Writer
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October 12, 2023
Author Voice
Author Voice
Part 5
Working with Emotions
Working with Emotions
Most people have a difficult time with emotions because we’re not taught as a society how to deal with them. Most people can’t even identify what emotions are, other than… “feelings that you feel.”
Emotions live in our bodies. Trauma or life wounds along with culture have often taught us how to behave or not behave. Toxic families view emotions as threats to the status quo and emotions are often labeled disruptive.
But here’s the truth - emotions live in our bodies whether we want to feel them or not. It is a symptom of trauma if we are unable to feel them. This is a response that benefits our survival in the short term, but we need to let the emotions out in the long term.
There is some reasearch that suggests not letting emotions out of your body can lead to chronic stress and chronic illness.
So what is a safe way to feel all these things that our life experiences have taught us are dangerous to feel?
Again, return to your story. This is the place where your emotions are allowed, until you heal and feel safe about them in the real world.
Whatever you need to let out can be contained here.
Last week I told you about creating a character you can hide yourself in if you didn’t feel safe writing about yourself interacting with your protector character. Thinking of it like putting on a suit - you may not feel like you’re ready to go to a business meeting, but your clothes say you’re ready to go to work.
Hiding yourself in a character can do the same thing. Your wounds have become their wounds, and often trauma makes us empathic to others who carry the same wounds. This helps the emotions go toward someone else who is ‘us’ in a sense. As we write that character, we end up discovering our wounds, and healing them.
This is also a back door to let the feelings out in a safe way. In a sense its, “I’m not having the emotions - they are. And I’m working through my emotions by being them.”
Again - this is fiction, if it gets too much or too overwhelming you can always say ‘its not real,’ and go do something else to calm yourself.
There are no rules. Everyone has their own emotions. Everyone has their own writing or storytelling style. Everyone has their own wounds that need healing, and everyone is going to find different characters to help them through.
The important thing is that if this helping you - keep doing it!
Perpetual Disclaimer for this series:
I am not a counselor or a mental health professional. I am going to attempt to avoid things which will cause alarm or harm, but I can't know what will trigger each individual. If you need to speak to a mental health professional please know that there are resources available.
Your stories are amazing!
Chronic Writer
Share Chronic Writer by VintageInkSlinger
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A. R. Mitchell's Goodreads Page
October 5, 2023
Author Voice
Author Voice
Part 4
Creating a Character Who Can Heal You and Others
As we write, we slowly open up our emotions on the page. This helps us feel safe, and as we build confidence in our abilities to be safe, we explore more of what we’d closed off in our hearts, minds and bodies in the name of survival.
Notice I didn’t say you were gaining confidence in your writing. The writer’s technique isn’t the point. It certainly helps if you end up wanting to share the story, but its not a mandate. There are plenty of books and internet resources which can help you with technique, I want to focus on story and healing.
Safety is our main goal. It is in safety that healing occurs.
Last week I talked about creating a character who can respond. I’ve also mentioned that we’re used to telling stories through worry and fear.
This week, or when you feel safe enough in your storytelling journey, let yourself feel a little bit. You’ll feel some of the wounding, but your protector character will be there. Your protector character is going to react and respond, giving you the opposite of what your mental highways and rotten life experiences gave you.
They are going to give you the safety to show them your wounds, and then they are going to respond with the things you need. You can let yourself feel them - or you can give the character that is you, a different name, if you don’t feel safe enough exploring the emotions yourself. Or you can tell the story as if you’re watching it from outside the character’s interactions.
There are two ways of telling a story:
First person and Third person
First person uses ‘I’ and stays in a limited viewpoint of just that one person. Everytime I tell a personal story on this blog, I’m using first person. Red Trouble is told in first person with Hawk Morrison. Bo McCarren’s series Snake Catcher is also first person.
Read Snake Catcher on Amazon Vella
Third person uses a viewpoint that can see all the events from any of the scenes or characters. Most movies are told in third person. You are ‘watching’ or interacting with the story and can see everything. The Sidenstrasse Tapestry and The Seven Swords of Diya are told in third person.
Mist Walker is told from multiple viewpoints… including first person events from several different characters, and sometimes the chapters are in third person.
It’s your story. You can tell it however you’d like - the only catch is that you have to make sure when using multiple viewpoints that its clear which viewpoint the reader is ‘seeing’ or experiencing the story through.
You can use any way of a telling a story that you’d like. There is no right or wrong way to do this. What matters is that you start to feel safe in this story and that safety opens the door to feeling things and healing them.
Do you have to feel things?
No. Your character can feel things and react the way you were not allowed to. And then your healing or protector character can step in to help comfort and restore. You can even have them start a conversion. The only rules are - it has to be safe and it has to be healing.
Remember, you can put the project down at any point and return to the picture that you’ve established as your safe space. You can steady yourself in that image by imagining what your five senses are experiencing there.
Is it helpful to feel things?
Yes and no. That depends on how much you can handle. There are some emotions that are so awful I take them like medicine… one dose at a time. But I’ve learned that letting myself experience that emotion is better than allowing it to be bottled up.
The next piece is more secondary level, but I’m sharing it to be helpful. When you are ready, create a different character, one who is like you, who has been through the same or similar traumas you have been and then bring them to face your healing protector character.
I’m suggesting this, because that different character can create a buffer zone between you and the emotions, because the emotions are about the character - not you. You can hide yourself in this other ‘not you’ and get healing.
This is because emotions are the same, whether you’re writing about you and your experience - or someone else and their experience.
Perpetual Disclaimer for this series:
I am not a counselor or a mental health professional. I am going to attempt to avoid things which will cause alarm or harm, but I can't know what will trigger each individual. If you need to speak to a mental health professional please know that there are resources available.
Your stories are amazing!
Chronic Writer
Share Chronic Writer by VintageInkSlinger
Thanks for reading Chronic Writer by VintageInkSlinger! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
A. R. Mitchell's Goodreads Page
