Synopses & Reviews
In his widely read guides
How to Write a Damn Good Novel and
How to Write a Damn Good Novel II: Advanced Techniques, popular novelist and fiction-writing coach James N. Frey showed tens of thousands of writers how--starting with rounded, living, breathing, dynamic characters--to structure a novel that sustains its tension and development and ends in a satisfying, dramatic climax.
Now, in The Key, Frey takes his no-nonsense, "Damn Good" approach and applies it to Joseph Campbell's insights into the universal structure of myths. Myths, says Frey, are the basis of all storytelling, and their structures and motifs are just as powerful for contemporary writers as they were for Homer. Frey begins with the qualities found in mythic heros--ancient and modern--such as the hero's special talent, his or her wound, status as an "outlaw," and so on. He then demonstrates how the hero is initiated--sent on a mission, forced to learn the new rules, tested, and suffers a symbolic death and rebirth--before he or she can return home. Using dozens of classical and contemporary novels and films as models, Frey shows how these motifs and forms work their powerful magic on the reader's imagination.
The Key is designed as a practical step-by-step guide for fiction writers and screen writers who want to shape their own ideas into a mythic story.
Review
"You could struggle through learning the basics of storytelling by trial anbd error or you could just read this book. I wish I had this fifteen years ago."—Sara Pariott, screenwriter for
The Runaway Bride"For me, the mythological approach has indeed been the key to creating stories that have a far greater impact on the reader than anything I'd written before."—Tess Collins, author of The Law of Blood and The Law of Revenge
"This well-written and witty how-to [focuses] on the tradition of myth as a recipe for storytelling. Drawing from Joseph Campbell's The Power of Myth, Frey explains that people respond strongly to mythic images and will essentially read the same stories over and over again; readers of romances are a good example of this concept. The first half of the book is especially interesting, for it examines the mythic structure in such diverse works as Robin Hood, Beowulf, and Jaws and looks at myths that function in everyday modern life. In the second half, Frey provides the reader with a sample novella titled 'The Blue Light' to illustrate the use of myth as a writing tool. Expect beginning writers to use this informative guide along with the author's other books."—Library Journal
"Everything I know about plotting a novel, I learned from Frey."—Marjorie Reynolds, author of The Starlite Drive-In
Review
"You could struggle through learning the basics of storytelling by trial anbd error or you could just read this book. I wish I had this fifteen years ago."—Sara Pariott, screenwriter for
The Runaway Bride"For me, the mythological approach has indeed been the key to creating stories that have a far greater impact on the reader than anything I'd written before."—Tess Collins, author of The Law of Blood and The Law of Revenge
"This well-written and witty how-to [focuses] on the tradition of myth as a recipe for storytelling. Drawing from Joseph Campbell's The Power of Myth, Frey explains that people respond strongly to mythic images and will essentially read the same stories over and over again; readers of romances are a good example of this concept. The first half of the book is especially interesting, for it examines the mythic structure in such diverse works as Robin Hood, Beowulf, and Jaws and looks at myths that function in everyday modern life. In the second half, Frey provides the reader with a sample novella titled 'The Blue Light' to illustrate the use of myth as a writing tool. Expect beginning writers to use this informative guide along with the author's other books."—Library Journal
"Everything I know about plotting a novel, I learned from Frey."—Marjorie Reynolds, author of The Starlite Drive-In
Synopsis
From the author of the "Damn Good" writing instructionals comes a clear-sighted and down-to-earth guide on using the power of myth in novel writing.
Synopsis
Myths, says James N. Frey, are the basis of all storytelling, and their structures and motifs are as powerful for contemporary writers as they were for Homer.
In The Key, novelist and fiction-writing coach Frey applies his popular "Damn Good" approach to Joseph Campbell's insights into the universal structure of myths, providing a practical guide for fiction writers and screenwriters who want to shape their ideas into a powerful mythic story.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [257]-260).
About the Author
James N. Frey is the author of two internationally best-selling books on the craft of fiction writing,
How to Write a Damn Good Novel and
How to Write a Damn Good Novel II: Advanced Techniques, as well as nine novels. He has taught at the University of California at Berkeley, Extension, the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, and the Oregon Writers' Colony, and he is a featured speaker at writers' conferences throughout the United States and in Europe. He lives with his--he says, "truly heroic"--wife, Liza, in Berkeley, California.