the hero's journey

by Rain Trueax

Last time I wrote about rejection, something most creative people have to learn to deal with if they want to continue creating original work. Copying what someone else did is different-- whether a painting or a book. Where it comes to fiction, there is work that has been proven successful and rules that help someone duplicate the exact pattern (in a romance that is when the couple might first kiss or have sex) and possibly have economic success. 

As a reader/writer, I've seen where certain specific plots get repeated over and over (some say that Shakespeare created all possible plots-- hence generally speaking, there is nothing new). One hopeful writer studied bestselling writers, came up with a pattern, followed it perfectly and wrote her own bestsellers. She was not trying to do creative work but rather make a living-- nothing wrong with that. Copying what has been successful has appeal for many readers and writers. There is a kind of security in it. 

I won't say I don't have certain similar elements in my books (historical, contemporary or paranormal), which readers might come to expect and will find. Some of that has been influenced by Joseph Campbell's work where he taught about the classical hero as well as the pattern found in surviving mythologies. Most being with a gate-keeper experience and end with the hero's return, having learned much from his/her adventure. [Joseph Campbell books]

from Wikipedia

If you haven't read Campbell and are interested in attempting to be the kind of writer who satisfies the deeper needs of readers, things they might not even realize they need, by finding elements that work rather than copying plots, I do recommend his books. There are also some good documentaries on his work and interviews he did before his death.

There is no exact time in a novel where each of these elements must appear. If you think about it, these elements are in our own lives, as we are also on the hero's journey. Aren't we the hero of our own life-- if we're not, what are we? A bit player?

The thing I said about rejection relates to this way of writing. If you feel good about what you did, even if you can't get others to see that work, even if they don't like it, you have the satisfaction of feeling your work has value. 

When I began with self-publishing, that was what I thought about. I had seen what was popular out there. I didn't think mine fit that mold, but I thought if readers don't want what i offer now, someday they will. I still believe that as I think anyone who sticks with creative work has to feel or they'd quit.

So, because I put the six Portland contemporaries into Kindle Unlimited, I thought I'd write a little about each of them. First, what I thought when I began them, then what i feel they offer beyond the classical structure, and why I think each might not have found the success with readers that I'd have liked. Since this blog went a little long, that'll be next Saturday for Moon Dust, Second Chance, Evening Star, Bannister's Way (the book that came ahead of it isn't in KU and isn't based in Portland), Hidden Pearl, and Her Dark Angel (none are supernatural).