The reason the plot embryo / story circle structure feels so good to me is because I read a huge amount of Jungian theory in grad school. Understanding Jung’s transcendent function theory (individuation) will make understanding character arc a snap. My recommendations:
Nov 19, 2023·edited Nov 19, 2023Liked by Elnora Fareman
Thank you very much for sharing your insights !
I wonder if I'm a fish, because I struggle to see the medium that I swim in. There are depths of feelings below which I want to describe. There are entire realms of experience, imagination, sensation just above out of reach through that mirror surface. Sometimes I jump out of the wet into the void - gasp at the shock of being, feel naked, vulnerable - and want to return immediately to do the things, describe the things that I think I can. How do I do the things I don't yet know how to do.
Maybe I'm an earthworm. I chew my way through the soil, digesting, struggling, doing the thing, but then I can't see the whole, I just perceive what touches me.
Am I a kite pulled along by the story and the elements that come together ? Or am I a bird that has wings but flaps in a disorientated manner. There's a place...way over there... that I want to get to, yet I haven't learned how to ride the rising thermals, I struggle into winds instead of learning how to let them carry me. I'm not a hawk. I'm a booby with blue feet. I'm a loon with a plaintive honk.
Taking workshops and seeking to learn this thing. Let's imagine there's a beetle which gathers seeds instead of dung. There I am. Here I am rolling my seed ball along. I've got a nice collection of seeds. Find a fertile place, dig, dig, dig, plant the seed. Water it. Help what emerges to flourish. Woah, vines growing everywhere. Who can tell if this will be pumpkin or brambles or berries. So that could be my process at present.
The resources I found over the years that helped me pull all this together:
Courses by Susan DeFreitas: https://susandefreitas.com/courses/
"Story Structure 101" by Dan Harmon https://channel101.fandom.com/wiki/Story_Structure_101:_Super_Basic_Shit?fbclid=IwAR0eIiroCXaKr706X1Q71artqq68mBG5t-wAC3wyiv1VLNs71P_EDctoRaM
"Story Structure in Short Stories" by Philip Brewer: https://www.philipbrewer.net/story-structure-in-short-stories/?fbclid=IwAR1ZWS8SKgS_YOl8y_rY4VhtL81A_tBwLsT-Ia9r58VJEPAy7TXlpVufDqI
Rapid Story Development by Jeff Lyons https://a.co/d/i2WQCl5
Method Writing by Jack Grapes https://a.co/d/1i2276b (highly recommend zeroing in on the third concept)
Writing for emotional impact by Karl Iglesias https://a.co/d/bIQqMns
The Story Grid by Shawn Coyne https://a.co/d/1pjqhXm
The reason the plot embryo / story circle structure feels so good to me is because I read a huge amount of Jungian theory in grad school. Understanding Jung’s transcendent function theory (individuation) will make understanding character arc a snap. My recommendations:
"Writing Reflections on Carl Jung" by Scott Myers https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/writing-reflections-on-carl-jung-2c9879e2f186
"Jung on the Transcendent Function" by Sue Mehrtens https://jungiancenter.org/jung-on-the-transcendent-function/
The Portable Jung by C.G. Jung, edited by JosephCampbell https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-portable-jung-carl-g-jung/1123023826 Chapters 2, 5, 9 specifically
Thank you very much for sharing your insights !
I wonder if I'm a fish, because I struggle to see the medium that I swim in. There are depths of feelings below which I want to describe. There are entire realms of experience, imagination, sensation just above out of reach through that mirror surface. Sometimes I jump out of the wet into the void - gasp at the shock of being, feel naked, vulnerable - and want to return immediately to do the things, describe the things that I think I can. How do I do the things I don't yet know how to do.
Maybe I'm an earthworm. I chew my way through the soil, digesting, struggling, doing the thing, but then I can't see the whole, I just perceive what touches me.
Am I a kite pulled along by the story and the elements that come together ? Or am I a bird that has wings but flaps in a disorientated manner. There's a place...way over there... that I want to get to, yet I haven't learned how to ride the rising thermals, I struggle into winds instead of learning how to let them carry me. I'm not a hawk. I'm a booby with blue feet. I'm a loon with a plaintive honk.
Taking workshops and seeking to learn this thing. Let's imagine there's a beetle which gathers seeds instead of dung. There I am. Here I am rolling my seed ball along. I've got a nice collection of seeds. Find a fertile place, dig, dig, dig, plant the seed. Water it. Help what emerges to flourish. Woah, vines growing everywhere. Who can tell if this will be pumpkin or brambles or berries. So that could be my process at present.