The “aha” From a Science Fiction Writer’s Workshop

Tonight I attended a writer’s workshop presented by Nina Munteanu. Nina is a noted author and her latest work is a sci-fi novel called Darwin’s Paradox.

I am always curious to learn new tools, techniques to give me any advantage that might help my writing in general. I rarely follow the rules, however Nina presented an overview of “The Hero’s Journey”. This is the basic plot structure for every Hollywood Blockbuster. I am writing a screenplay and I knew much of this structure intuitively (probably from reading too many “airplane” novels while on tour) however in the context that Nina described the Hero’s Journey inspired me to ingest this ancient plot style and commit it to memory. From fairytale myth to a Greek three act play,  every Rocky movie and Indiana Jones film follows this incredible formula. Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell and more recently, Christopher Vogler, have all expounded on this psychological elixir for humans.

“aha” . . . The Plot Thickens . . .

I plan to exploit this magical blueprint in as many devices as I can to practice the craft – even the title of this blog post draws the curious into my tepid plot looking for the “aha” pay off the writer has discovered. Nina recited Ray Bradbury claiming it to be her favourite quote saying, “Every Single Word is Important – Everthing is a METAPHOR”

I am going to post this quote on my wall and “Advertise it to Myself”. (<<< detect hidden meaning:)

My songs, stories, screenplays and yes . . .ahem . . . blog posts, can all benefit from that little chunk of shiny wisdom – Thanks Ray and thank you Nina.