I Do Hereby Declare. . .

October is

FAIRY TALE MONTH

Once upon a time, in land far, far away, lived a writer who dreamed of someday writing about princes on white horses, princesses in sweeping castles, and happily ever after.

Okay, so I haven't written about two out of three of those things, but everything I write has a happily ever after. Call it the princess inside of me just longing to do some frog kissin'!

Since our first movie of the fall season is going to be Enchanted, I thought what a perfect time to discuss other "fairy tale" movies. My absolute favorite is Ever After! An adaptation of the Cinderella story, but told in a way that is believable. No singing mice. No pumpkin coach. But highly entertaining and ohhhh so romantic.

So, watch for posts on a fairy tale theme in October. Or beware! You might find a homely woman selling apples at your door.

The Dark Knight Review

In an attempt to escape the triple digit heat this weekend, my husband and I headed for the theater. The Dark Knight won the time lottery--you know, when you stand outside the building and stare at the digital marquee to see which, of the five summer movies you want to see, is the one you don't have to wait an hour for. This movie was on my personal list to see, but I so hoped Mamma Mia! would win the lottery. Ah Pierce, we'll meet later.

Okay, back to the movie at hand.

This much anticipated sequel to Batman Begins promised to deliver horrific bad guys, and it did. It also delivered a lot of loud vehicle chases and violent action. But my husband loved it. It was a long a movie, two and a half hours, and could have cut back on some of the action, at least 45 minutes worth, in my opinion. Much of it was too fast and hard to follow.

And loud. But some people like that, particularly male viewers who I imagine were the target audience.

The story line was solid, with edge of seat suspense and several "Oh, no!" moments--sprinkled in-between the aforementioned action.

Reasons this movie annoyed me:

• Batman's voice. Thank goodness he was involved in all those car chases instead of talking.


• Confusing scenes with too many characters. I lost the plot occasionally. But, hey, I was in an air conditioned building in the triple digit heat. I put up with confusing scenes.

Reasons to see this movie:

• Alfred, the butler. Brilliant casting of Michael Caine, the plucky servant who tells Bruce Wayne what he needs to hear. I wished there had been more of him in this movie, but I enjoyed the moments he had on stage.


• The ingenious creation on-screen of the villian, Two Face. It was worth waiting through two-thirds of the movie for this transformation.


• Heath Ledger as the Joker. If for no other reason, see this movie to view the actor's final performance. Of all the Joker's I ever knew, (not talking personally here, just four decades of watching the twisted villian played by everyone from Caesar Romero to Jack Nicholson,) Heath's depiction is the most believable portrayal of the arch enemy. From the trailers, I was afraid I'd be weirded out by this greasy psycho--and I was, but in a good way.

I rate this movie 4 out of 5 stars. I knocked it down a notch because of the excessive action, even though the men in my family, (and just now the two anchor men in the evening news,) have made it clear that explosions, loud engines, and general chaos is what makes this movie great. Oh, and don't get them started on the cool motorcycle! Apparently I don't have enough testosterone to appreciate it. But, honestly, what keeps this review high is Heath. If his star had to dim, I'm greatful this was the role people will be talking about for years to come.

I'm so ready for a good musical/comedy/romance! Hold on Pierce, perhaps we'll rendezvous next weekend!

AUGUST RUSH - Discovering the Heart

Author Constance Hale, in her book Sin and Syntax, divides her observations on style thus:

• Heart = idea. The germ of the story; its conception.
• Skeleton = plot. The bare bones of what happens.
• Sinews and muscles = motivation. Why it happens. How it happens.
• Flesh = characters and incident. What makes it interesting.
• Blood = dialogue. Communication between characters and reader.
• Skin = continuity and coherence. What holds things together on the surface.
• Carnal Pleasures = style. What elevates a book from readable to sublime. (Kathy's note: I prefer to call this the Nerve Endings, which sounds much less . . . carnal.)

Notice that the Heart is at the top of the list, and that the story, just like the living body, cannot survive without it.

While watching August Rush, let's concentrate on the Heart, or what I'd like to call Theme of the story.

In Plot & Structure, p 130, the theme is defined as the take home value of the story. In our group discussion after watching the movie on Saturday, we followed the three POVs of Evan, (later named August Rush,) his mother, and his father. I asked what theme these three followed, and several different answers popped up. Among these, persistence and searching. In my opinion, these both had the underlying theme of faith. Without faith, Evan and his mother (Lyla) would not have stuck to their convictions. Without faith, however late in the story it showed up, his father (Louis) wouldn’t have pursued his one true love.

In Beginning Writer's Answer Book, p. 170, the question is ask: How is the story problem different than the theme? It goes on to answer: The story problem is the vehicle for the presentation of the theme. In August Rush the problem is that all three characters are separated through no fault of their own. The vehicle is their journey back to becoming a family--with all of the conflict this naturally brings.

In Plot & Structure, p. 131, we’re told that themes deepen fiction, but we must be careful not to force it. The result will be “cardboard characters, a preachy tone, a lack of subtlety, and story cliché’s." To avoid this remember this one thing: Characters carry theme—always. Set your characters in “a world where their values will conflict with each other. Allow your characters to struggle naturally and passionately. Theme will emerge without effort.” The conflicts in the movie are numerous, but because they happen so passionately with the characters, we don’t feel we’ve been preached at.

In Write Away, (pp 163 & 166,) Elizabeth George admits to not always knowing her theme in advance, and often, even though she may think she has a theme, it changes half-way through the story. If you do know your theme beforehand, you can then plan your subplots accordingly.

• The subplot involving Lyla and Louis deals with faith in love. They meet while both are disillusioned with their lives. Their love creates a faith in another person. When they are torn apart, they flounder for twelve years, not even realizing it had been faith that made them alive.
• Lyla's search for Evan. When she realizes Evan is still alive, she says, “It’s as if I’ve just woken up.” Faith, renewed.
• Louis, who, after a twelve year funk, and several awkward tries, begins to have faith that his relationship with Lyla can be renewed. It's important to note, too, that although he comes from a strong Irish family, he loses faith in them when he loses Lyla.
• Richard, the social worker, has faith in his role in the system.
• Arthur, the street kid Evan first meets, has placed his faith in Wizard. But when Evan replaces Arthur to be Wizard's favorite, Arthur loses his faith, and eventually helps Evan escape.
• Wizard is the antithesis to the faith theme. He has no faith in the system, and we glean, through a small part of his back story through his conversation with Richard, that Wizard was once a lost kid in the system who later grew up on the streets. (This, btw, was an excellent way to introduce this bit of back story without interruption.)
• The little girl in the church has faith in Evan, even though she doesn't understand his gift.
• The pastor has faith in God, and believes, after an "arrow" prayer indicated by his eyes darting heavenward, that after Evan disappears, he will be found and that all will go right for him.
  

Sub themes are important, too. The strongest we found dealt with loss.

• Evan who lost his parents
• Lyla who lost Louis and her son
• Louis who lost Lyla
• Arthur who lost his family
• Wizard who also lost his family when young, and who loses Evan in the end
• The little girl in the church who lives there with her grandmother, apparently having lost their home
• Richard, who admits to Lyla that he had a child--once
  

In Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass, a whole chapter is dedicated to theme beginning on page 229. Here are some nuggets that I found, but if you can get your hands a copy, please read the whole thing. It explains theme, its importance, and how to integrate it into your story.

First, present any "A vs. B" formula that represents a genuine dichotomy, (i.e. "man vs. nature," "reason vs. emotion," etc. Maass says, "When conflicting ideals, values or morals are set against each other in a novel, it grips our imaginations because we ache to resolve that higher conflict." (p. 230)

If your theme eludes you, Maass has a unique approach to help you find it. This would be your take away or what you want to say to the reader.

Beginning on p. 236, "Imagine government agents bursting into your writing room, smashing your computer, grinding your backup disks under their heels, burning your hard copy and hauling you off to prison."

He goes to say that you lose the trial and are sentenced to hang. However, a week before your execution, "the compassionate warden of the prison lends you a typewriter and paper . . . but only ten sheets." There is time to type out only one scene from your novel . . . which one will you chose?

To take it a step further: A sadistic guard seizes the scene and rips it into little pieces. All that is left is a blank half sheet that flutters to the floor. There is only room for a paragraph from your novel.

Maass instructs emphatically: "Go to your word processor right now--yes, this minute--and type out the paragraph from your novel that you would have written in prison on the last day of your life. What does it say?" This, dear writers, is called narrowing your story down to its essence. If you try this exercise, please feel free to share your experience with us by commenting on this blog post.

And finally, from p. 235, he talks about symbols. Sometimes they can be stagy and obvious, but often, they occur in a story whether the author intended them or not. These are the symbols that occur naturally, making use of what is already there. And often, the normal reader, (as opposed to the abnormal writer who reads and looks for such things,) doesn't even know they're there, but have an intuition that something is right with the story--and they like it. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love symbolism. August Rush had a couple.

• The moon
  - Lyla and Louis fall in love to the song, "Moon Dance."
  - Evan, the boy later renamed August Rush, watches the moon from his orphanage window, knowing that his parents are watching the same moon. It helps him keep a connection with them. It's a physical thing on which he can pin his faith.

• The music
  - It was music that brought Lyla and Louis together. It was music that brought Louis back into Evan's life as they played their guitars together. And it was music that brought all three together at the end. Music, as it occurred naturally throughout the film, carried the faith theme from beginning to end.
  - Going back to the scene when Louis joined Evan on the street and they both played guitars together, this symbolized father and son in harmony. It was in this scene that the key phrase for the theme was uttered so simply by Louis, "You gotta have a little faith." In that moment, Evan decides he must break ties with Wizard, no matter what the cost.
  - Also, Evan's rhapsody runs throughout the film, only to be replaced occasionally by other songs that move the faith theme throughout. Listen to the lyrics of each song to see how they pull the viewer through the story theme.
  - And here's a great quote by Evan himself: "But I believe in music...The way that some people believe in fairy tales."
  

Other cool symbolisms in the movie that I can't fit into the faith theme:

• The professional musicians in the group discussion opened our eyes to what we had already gathered was an important part of the movie. During the parts where all three characters, Evan, Lyla, and Louis, are playing their own music, yet blending, we learn that this is called "melodious harmony." Two words that mean exact opposite of each other. Each character was playing his or her own melodies, yet were harmonizing. This symbolized that each were living their own lives, yet were still in perfect harmony with each other. A side note: The music was so beautifully and seamlessly done, we agreed that if there were no dialogue, we'd still understand what the story was about through the swells and beats of the music.
• Another interesting thing about the music: Lyla is concert trained, Louis plays in a rock band. Evan's musical style envelops both, just as closely as his genes made him to be a part of both parents.
• The archway--I never noticed this until it was mentioned in our discussion. A lot of things happened in that large cement archway, and it was suggested that this was the doorway to change.
• The cross necklace--Lyla loses her necklace at the point she loses Louis. A family torn apart. We see it fall to the ground, and in Writer World, this means something significant is going to happen with that necklace. I waited for it to show up again, and it did--around Wizard's neck. Wizard is lying under the stars having a father/son moment with Evan, usurping the parental role in his life. In other words, this symbolized "the passing of the parent" so to speak.
  

If you haven't watched August Rush, I encourage you to do so. It's a beautiful movie of faith, love, and yes, persistence.



RESOURCES:

1. www.suite101.com/lesson.cfm/16712/259
2. Plot & Structure, James Scott Bell, Writers Digest Books, 2004
3. Beginning Writers Answer Book, edited by Kirk Polking, Writers Digest Books, 1987
4. Write Away, Elizabeth George, Harper Collins, 2004
5. Writing the Breakout Novel, Donald Maass, Writers Digest Books, 2001

Get Smart review

Occasionally I will write a "Mini-Featurette" on this blog, in between our "Feature Presentations." Today's is a review of the movie, Get Smart with Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway.

Saturday, my husband and I celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary by taking in a movie and dinner. We were excited that the TV show we grew up on had been made into a movie, and prayed it wouldn't disappoint as so many remakes have a tendancy to do. (Dukes of Hazzard with Jessica Simpson? Come on!)

In the beginning, Max walks into a museum and admires three iconic items from the old CONTROL days. I had to wonder if these were the items that Don Adams, the actor who played Maxwell Smart in the '60s, used in the original television show. His shoe phone, his suit, and his red sports car were all on display and admired with respect by the new Max. Then he takes off down the corridor of slamming doors, (with one tiny glitch that made the walk uniquely Steve's) and disappears down the phone booth elevator, all to the tune of the original spy riff.

From a writer's stand point, this opening is brilliant. It lets the audience know that we are about to board a nostalgia ride, and that everything we loved as kids about this show will be treated with respect. Don't mess with the shoe phone! It ticks us baby-boomers off! Even their catch phrases -- "Missed it by that much." and "Oh, Max." -- are delightful to hear coming out of these new faces. Well done!

The plot is strong, with the goal, motivation, and conflict firmly in place for both of the main characters. I was happy to see that, as sometimes these remakes simply drag out a half-hour show to 2 hours. There was only one lame scene with one of the villains, but it had been set up so wasn't a surprise. I would have hoped for something stronger considering the rest of the story. However, it didn't ruin the movie for me.

Steve Carell is exactly the right person to play Agent 86, with his clean-cut looks and slight build. Anne Hathaway is perfect for Agent 99, although I had my doubts before seeing the movie. Even though I've seen her in other things, she'll always be a princess to me. However, she hadn't been on screen long before I was totally believing her as an athletic spy. And even though she doesn't look like Barbara Feldon, except for those enormous eyes, she manages to resemble the svelte actress about halfway through the movie as the two characters attend a fancy ball (given by the bad guy, of course.) Anne wears a 60's style brunette wig, bobbed at the chin ala her predecessor, and a silver sequined dress that she must have been poured into. At that point, my believability factor rose ten points.

All-in-all, I give this movie 4 stars out of 5. This was a delightful movie, and my husband and I laughed out loud in the theater along with everyone else. However, in modernizing it, the writers added rude humor, mild sexual innuendos, and a brief nude scene (backside only,) so please be aware of this if you bring the kiddos. Had it not been for that, it would have recieved four stars from me.

To read more about the movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0425061/

To read more about the television show: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058805/

Coming Soon -- AUGUST RUSH

August Rush

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0426931/

If you're in the Colorado Springs, CO area on July 19, we will be watching August Rush, a beautiful move about love, faith, and perseverance. Afterward, we will discuss how the author used these three threads to create a masterfully woven story.

If you can't make it in person, please tune back into Craft Cinema on Monday, July 21 for an article on what we learned.

GALAXY QUEST - Hero's Journey/Character Arc

Okay, I've made an executive decision and decided to place our discussion under a different post. In getting us started, I've created a lengthy lesson -- too much, at least, to be placed in the comment section. This is probably how I'll do it all the time. So, expect an introductory article on the assigned movie, then a second article to discuss on. If our discussion sparks sub-lessons, such as plot skeleton or archtypes, I'll post another article to discuss those things. Each article will be labeled under their movie title and lesson discussion, so readers can easily go to either the movie of their choice or the lesson they'd like to learn.

Clear as Beryllium mud?

Hey, just remember: NEVER GIVE, NEVER SURRENDER!

Here we go…

Trixie has taken your tickets and you are all settled in to watch Galaxy Quest! (Refer to my last comment on previous article.)

The movie opens with an episode of the original show, Galaxy Quest, starring Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen.) This is our prologue. We need this to understand that GQ is an old television show (note the mullet on our hero) so that when we start the story, we see how they've aged (note Tommy, the nine-year-old pilot of the ship who shaves now!) and have become cynical. One wonders why they're all still together when they're so unhappy. Could it be they yearn again for a captain to tell them what to do? Hmm.

The story actually begins in Jason's ordinary world, a GQ convention ala Star Trek. The actors are complaining about Jason not being there on time because he's booked another gig without them. This sets him up as one who isn't a team player. He wants all the glory for himself.

Remember this, it's important as we look at the Character Arc, or his inner journey.

I'm going to list what we came up with as a group. Jill, Diane, Danica, Bonnie, Darcie, and I discussed the following at length. As I retyped it in, I refined it some more, so if you were there on Saturday, please read on. I invite comments on any part of this, or list your own if you don't agree. I'm hoping this works well as a discussion board. Please remember when you comment for the FIRST time, to click the box that will send you email updates of the comments. This shows up after you've done your word verification and pressed the "Publish Your Comment" button. This is not Feedblitz! That will only send you the original posts.

In our discussion, we took the Hero's Journey (HJ) and the Character Arc (CA) and put them side by side. This is what we came up with:

HJ - ORDINARY WORLD: Galaxy Quest convention.
CA - LIMITED AWARENESS: Aliens visit Jason at convention table but he thinks they're fans in costume.

HJ - CALL TO ADVENTURE: Aliens visit Jason at home.
CA - INCREASED AWARENESS: Jason thinks he understands what they want, but has it wrong.

HJ - REFUSAL OF THE CALL: He doesn't really refuse, but, thinking these are just over-the-top fans, he "blows up the bad guy" and rushes off to his next gig.
CA - RELUCTANCE TO CHANGE: He still shows himself as self-centered
NOTE - It could be argued that his refusal actually happened when he first met them at the convention and blew them off. In his book, Myth and the Movies, Voytilla states that the stages are simply guidelines. Each step can shift somewhat, or be non-existent.

HJ - MEETING THE MENTOR: Mathezar, the good head alien, becomes his tour guide in this strange new world.
CA - OVERCOMING RELUCTANCE: Jason runs back to his fellow actors. This suggests that he's starting his journey of becoming a team player.

HJ - CROSSING THE THRESHOLD: Jason understands now that the evil alien, Sarris, is real, and so is the danger
CA - COMMITTING TO CHANGE: Knows he must help, and convinces the crew to join him, thus admitting that he can't do this by himself.

HJ - TESTS, ALLIES, AND ENEMIES: He and his crew must learn how to work the ship that was based on the television show. There are clear allies (The Thermians, or the squid people as our group called them,) and clear enemies, (Sarris and his evil hoard.)
CA - EXPERIMENTING WITH FIRST CHANGE: Takes over the ship as the commander, resuming the role he played on television. He has his team in place, each one unique in their gifts. He needs them to run the ship.

HJ - APPROACH THE INMOST CAVE: Jason prepares his crew for battle.
CA - PREPARING FOR BIG CHANGE: Jason is becoming his character, a captain with a crew. This is a precursor to how he will relate to them later on.

HJ - THE ORDEAL: The planet where they search for Beryllium spheres. This is where they meet physical adversity for the first time.
CA - ATTEMPTING THE BIG CHANGE: Jason must trust his crew to get him out alive.

HJ - REWARD: Sarris is defeated
CA - CONSEQUENCES (IMPROVEMENTS & SETBACKS): Jason earns respect of his crew members.

HJ - ROAD BACK: They bring the ship home!
CA - REDEDICATION TO CHANGE: Humble now, knowing he's part of the team, Jason goes a step further and enlists the teens help to bring them home safely.

HJ - RESURRECTION: Sarris is alive! Jason must battle him one last time.
CA - FINAL ATTEMPT AT BIG CHANGE: Jason sacrifices himself for the sake of his crew (and the audience who thinks it's all part of the show) and puts himself in harms way for his team.

HJ - RETURN WITH ELIXIR: Jason has survived the "special world." He's back at the convention where it all started. The "ordinary world," oblivious, is safe once again.
CA - MASTERY OF THE PROBLEM: Knowing he couldn't have done it alone, Jason includes the GQ crew in celebration rather than taking all the bows himself.

EPILOGUE: New episodes of Galaxy Quest with a new, and much improved crew!

We also found it interesting that as an ensemble piece, all of the crew had their own Character Arcs.

~ Alexander/Dr. Lazarus, whose catch phrase that he loathed -- "By Grabthar's hammer, you shall be avenged" -- becomes real and heartfelt when he loses the alien who looked up to him. Also, as Jason's main adversary, he comes to respect Jason.

~ Gwen/Tawny hates that the only reason she was on the show was as a sex symbol, even though she was vain about her appearance through most of the movie. By the end of the battle, her suit is unzipped and she doesn't care. Then, when she tumbles out of the ship at the convention, her hair is disheveled, and she makes no attempt to primp before her adoring fans.

~ Tommy/Laredo, gains new confidence in piloting the ship.

~ Fred/Chen, although seemingly in control, does break down when it's up to him to save Jason from the planet. When he accomplishes the task, albeit because of the girl alien gazing at him in pure faith, he gains new confidence in himself. And, I just thought of something. He always had food or was talking about food. After falling in love, I don't remember seeing him with food anymore. Hmm.

~ Guy/Crew Member #6. Gotta love him! He went from a sniveling coward who just wanted to be on the show, to a confident crew member, ready to do battle.

~ And finally, Mathesar. He felt he needed the Galaxy Quest crew because of his short-comings. But he had the makings of a commander inside, and embraced it when Jason "commissioned" him.

I found a link to the Galaxy Quest script, where I was able to read clearly the things I missed when I got lost in the movie. In the Bible, we pick out key verses of books and chapters. Here's an excerpt that foreshadows Jason's arc.

While signing his autograph at the first convention, Jason talks to some young fans:

JASON - Had I moved an inch to the left the beast would have killed me. On the other hand, my crew was in danger...
YOUNG BOY - How did you know what to do?
JASON - Come on! Without my crew, I'm not a Commander, huh.

And right there signals his Character Arc!

http://www.scifiscripts.com/scripts/galaxyquest_trans.htm

GALAXY QUEST - and Welcome!

GALAXY QUEST

Never give up. Never surrender.

Welcome!

If you're a fiction writer eager to study the craft through movies, you're in the right place. This month, we will discuss the hero's journey and how it relates to his character arc.


Who are "we?" This blog is my brainchild, Kathy Kovach, the American Christian Fiction Writers Rocky Mountain Zone Director. When I approached the ACFW Colorado folks about sponsoring a movie day, they were enthusiastic. Two people volunteered their homes and we settled on dates. ACFW is a national organization dedicated to spreading the gospel through the art of fiction. If you aren't familiar with ACFW, please visit http://www.acfw.com/ for info on this worthy organization.


I have had a love of movies ever since watching the late movie with my mom when growing up. My dad was a truck driver and on the road a lot. My sister was seven years older and had a life. That left Mom and me, and a large bowl of popcorn. Back in the sixties and early seventies, the late show was clean, popular in its classic style, and highly entertaining. We watched musicals, epics, westerns...you name it. But the movies themselves weren't the only draw. Time alone with Mom. Getting to know her as a best friend. That's why my love of movies grew. It was a positive experience that I continue to share with my family.


And now, I want to share it with you, my writing family.


If you belong to ACFW Colorado, we have scheduled our Movie Madness days on the third Saturday of the month. Denver will host June 21 at the house of Jill Hups and Colorado Springs will host July 19 at the house of Kim Woodhouse. (All times and dates subject to change.) ACFW Colorado is looking at opening more charters, so stay tuned. If you'd like directions, watch for an announcement on the ACFW Rcky Mt Zone loop, or email me. (See my profile.)


The beauty of this blog is that if you can't make it to the movie showing, you can watch the movie at your leisure and come back to discuss it with us. I will announce the movies in advance so you can prepare to discuss on the fourth Monday of the month. If you miss a month, I hope you will scroll through the comments anyway. We will all learn from each other.


I hope you can join us at Jill's house on Saturday, June 21 at 4:00, but if not, please rent the movie and come back here. We will begin discussing the character arc of Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen's character) on Monday, June 23 and continue until the topic is exhausted.

Please note that you can subscribe to this blog through FeedBlitz. Enter your email address in the box, upper right corner of this blog. Then you will never miss out on the fun!



WORKSHEET:

You may be familiar with the Hero's Journey which takes the character through a physical structure common to most stories that have been told throughout time. A good contemporary book that explains the mythical structure is The Writer's Journey - 2nd Edition by Christopher Vogler. A follow up to this book is Myth and the Movies by Stuart Voytilla. Using this book, we will follow the chart he's included on page 7. If you don't have the book, you might want to buy it, but it's not necessary for our assignments.


While the Hero's Journey is the physical movement of the character throughout the story, the Character Arc is the inward journey, or the growth of the character. We will look at both.


Watch Galaxy Quest and follow Tim Allen's character, Jason Nesmith. Look for the following things in his Hero's Journey. Make a brief note of what happens to him in the movie during these pivotal points.

• Ordinary world


• Call to adventure


• Refusal of the call


• Meeting the mentor


• Crossing the threshold


• Tests, allies, and enemies


• Approach the inmost cave


• The ordeal


• Reward


• Road back


• Resurrection


• Return with elixir

At the same time, follow the Character Arc:

• Limited awareness


• Increased awareness


• Reluctance to change


• Overcoming reluctance


• Committing to change


• Experimenting with first change


• Preparing for big change


• Attempting big change


• Consequences (improvements and setbacks)


• Rededication to change


• Final attempt at big change


• Mastery of the problem

Note that the Character Arc is the inward journey, while the Hero's Journey is the physical. Voytilla teaches that both are synonimous and makes for a well-rounded character. This is what we want in our own writing.