Teresa Jade LeYung's BLOG

Posts Tagged ‘memorable characters’

When weaving a story, keep “it” simple.  “It” = story-structure.

One of my favorite stories is E. B. White’s Charlotte’s Web.  This timeless tale has wonderful hooks, memorable characters, universal themes and a compelling yet simple plotline.   Writers, I recommend your dissecting this book and your favorite books if you want to understand story structure for fiction or narrative non-fiction.

Cheers!

May your writing projects take on new form and new vitality in the new year!

Sincerely,

Writing Coach/Manuscript Consultant Teresa LeYung Ryan

author of Love Made of Heart (recommended by the California School Library Association and the California Reading Association)

http://writingcoachteresa.com

Motoko Rich’s article in The New York Times got me running to my bookshelves to look for my copy of The Portable Jung that was edited by Joseph Campbell. Jung’s text was translated by R.F.C. Hull.

On the same shelf is The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler–this book (about archetypes and stages of the hero’s journey) is one of the secret tools in my Writer’s Tool Box.

When I edit a manuscript, I always look for ways to help my client identify the archetypes in his/her story.  Memorable characters make for a good read.

Rich says that The Red Book is considered the Holy Grail by many Jungians. Speaking of the Holy Grail, I saw Angela Berquist, Ph.D. and her husband Michael Betts at the California Writers Club party in San Mateo this month.  Angela is the author of The Grail Reclaimed: A New View of An Old Symbol.

Motoko Rich’s article in The New York Times “Dreamy Sales of Jung Book Stir Analysis”
Published: December 24, 2009

Excerpts from Motoko Rich's article "Dreamy Sales of Jung Book Stir Analysis" in The New York Times

Excerpts from the article:
As online and big-box retailers hustle to outdo themselves in discounts, “The Red Book” by Carl Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychology, has surprised booksellers and its publisher, W. W. Norton & Company, by bucking the economy and becoming difficult, and in some cases impossible, to find in bookstores around the country.

“We were absolutely amazed,” said Elaine Petrocelli, an owner of Book Passage, an independent company with bookstores in San Francisco and suburban Corte Madera, Calif. “Here you have a $195 book in what’s supposed to be a bad time, and we have many, many orders for it. I think we have over 20 orders for it.”

The book is considered the Holy Grail by many Jungians, who for years had only heard rumors of its existence. For decades Jung’s descendants kept the original, leather-bound volume, which Jung worked on between 1912 and 1928, locked in a bank vault.

Full article on:  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/25/books/25jung.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=cm_dly_lnk