Vince’s Daily Journal – Day 19
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*Movie/Book Analysis*
In trying to learn more about the craft of writing, I’ve been talking a lot with one of my friends here who writes screenplays. He loaned me a book called ‘The Writer’s Journey’ – an updated and craft-centered take on Joseph Campbell’s “Hero of a Thousand Faces”. His central theory is that all stories – whether a novel, a feature film, an tv episode, or an ancient myth – share a common structure and a common cast list, breaking all stories down to a set of 12 plot-points and 8 character archetypes that are involved in nearly every story. In the book, the author – a Hollywood story consultant whose worked on a whole bunch of well known films, especially from 21st Cent. Fox and Disney – uses a few movies to illustrate his point. I decided to try doing that myself – both to movies and to novels – and I’ve found it really helpful in understanding writing better, in immersing myself fully in those stories, and remembering them afterwards. I talked with my support network and got some feedback and decided that I’m going to continue that practice and start posting them here. I’ll still be doing book reports according to their template for non-fiction, but I’ve realized that the fiction I consume for fun can also help me grow as a writer.
I worried at first that this project wouldn’t fall within the scope of what this program is intended for (demonstrating preparation for success now and upon release) – which is where my support network showed how awesome they are. I reached out to them and within a couple hours got back 3 very helpful and insightful messages that helped me to recognize that – as an aspiring author – these exercises are an education for me, and can be shown in the light of career-prep (a whole lot of thanks to Megan, Nicole, and Leona for that!). So, expect to start seeing those posted here as well! The other thing is that I obviously struggle finding things to write about every day, and this can help fill in those days where I may not have an essay to write. Better to post something every day, even if it’s not a journal entry, than to skip days and fall out of the habit!
Expect to see the first one within the next day.
