Happy Friday the 13th! But we usually don't think of this date as a happy one, do we? No, we associate Friday the 13th with dark places and scary events. And that darkness and fear is a very necessary part of being human...and telling a story.
Years ago, whenever I was creatively procrastinating upon a tough job at work, or doing my best to avoid a task that involved conflict, a guy in my office would give me some of the best advice I’ve ever gotten in life: Go where it’s scary.
The only way to work through the problem, to get to the other side, is to face it head-on. Whimping out and avoiding it, as I liked to do, truly didn’t do me any good. It just prolonged the pain.
I’ve always remembered my colleague’s advice, and that phrase, “Go where it’s scary,” comes to mind whenever I find myself dragging toward something I dread but know I must do. This is especially true with my writing. Being the polite Southern girl that I am, I often hesitate to inflict conflict upon my characters, or even worse, have them confront and deal with their innermost pains and fears.
As in life, confronting and traveling through our fears is an essential part of being human, it’s even more so with our characters, our heroes. And no part of story construction addresses “go where it’s scary” more directly than the approach to the innermost cave of the Hero’s Journey.
The Hero's Journey
The Hero’s Journey and its Abyss, or Inmost Cave, is a concept described within Joseph Campbell’s groundbreaking
The Hero With a Thousand Faces. A comparative mythologist, Campbell studied myths separated by continents, centuries, and cultures and discovered that most shared a basic framework, the hero’s quest, which he broke down into 17 steps. Christopher Vogler, a scriptwriter and film producer, simplified Campbell’s work into 12 steps in
The Writer’s Journey, making it more accessible to writers and the film industry. Campbell’s and Vogler’s Journey have been used in storytelling in everything from
Star Wars to
About a Boy to
Harry Potter to insertyourowntitlehere.
At the heart of the Hero’s Journey is the sending forth of the hero from his home clan to begin a series of trials and temptations that lead to his victory over their adversaries, which culminates in his triumphant return with a reward that enriches the clan as a whole. You can see why this basic story structure would have primordial appeal to the human psyche — it is how any human unit, whether that unit be a clan, a family, or a nation — has survived and prospered throughout millennia.
The Abyss:
The Abyss is the point in this journey where the heroine approaches her most intense conflict, her Ordeal. It is in the innermost cave that she must face and conquer both her outward foe and her own personal demons. Cave analogy harkens back to our days when the darkest places we had to fear held deadly creatures that often lurked deep in the places we called our homes. The abyss, or underworld, was the place of loss, where all bodies must eventually travel…that final, unknowable journey.
Whether in the underground, snake-filled “Well of Souls” where Indiana Jones recovers the ark but loses it to the Nazis, or the lonely, cave-like home of Will Freeman in
About a Boy where Will must confront the emptiness of his life, to the underground chamber beneath Hogwarts where Harry confronts Voldemort and the loss of his parents in
Sorcerer’s/Philosopher’s Stone — modern storytellers are still going underground/deep into their cave to set their Ordeal.
In the abyss, the hero meets death and triumphs over his deepest fears, which symbolizes his death to his old life and resurrection to the new. Victory is won — whether that triumph is achieved through vanquishing the antagonist or through atonement with his Shadow. Or, as Joseph Campbell said, “
It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.”
Real Life:
And if our hero can do it in a story, then we can do it in real life. We live vicariously through our hero’s success. If done well, when the book is closed or the movie concluded, we then feel equipped to go back into our life and confront our own demons and monsters. This is the heart of catharsis, and this is why the bestselling books and best remembered movies are those where the hero triumphs over a tremendous obstacle with deep, personal ramifications. It does not matter whether those obstacles are pitched on the intensely personal level or the high-stakes world-wide scale.
As writers, we must remember to send our heroine into the heart of fear. She must go where it’s scariest for her to venture, face those fears head-on, triumph and be forever changed. Only in this way can she return to her world to enrich her clan and ultimately we the writer and our reader.
What abyss have you or your character recently faced and conquered? Picture credits: National Geographic, Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces and Warner Brothers’ Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.About the Author:
 |
| S.P. Sipal |
Born and raised in North Carolina, Susan Sipal had to travel halfway across the world and return home to embrace her father and grandfather’s penchant for telling a tall tale. After having lived with her husband in his homeland of Turkey for many years, she suddenly saw the world with new eyes and had to write about it.
Perhaps it was the emptiness of the Library of Celsus at Ephesus that cried out to be refilled, or the myths surrounding the ancient Temple of Artemis, but she’s been writing stories filled with myth and mystery ever since.
Website |
Twitter |
Amazon
 |
| Gabi & her crows |
Did you hear the news story that was going the rounds a couple of weeks ago about the
young girl in Seattle who has been feeding the crows in her backyard for years and they repay her kindness with gifts? From buttons to broken beer glass to paperclips to a Lego piece, the crows bring the mini-human who feeds them faithfully the plunder of their scavenging. And she saves, documents, and treasures each one.
Perhaps it is because I have a backyard full of crows, or because my own daughter has always had a fascination with birds (or any animal for that matter), but this story really touched my heart. However, when I looked at the picture of some of Gabi's prized gifts, it was my imagination that was stirred. I saw something else...pieces for a mosaic.
 |
| crow gifts |
Mosaics, traditionally made from shards of colored glass or stones, may have always been a product of recycling, even in ancient times. But recently, a new practice of "found-art" mosaics has grown in popularity. Taking bits and pieces of our discarded culture, of items considered worthless trash, these artists create stunning images that also say something about the way we live.
Much as Gabi's crows have done for her and the people who've heard her story. From birds usually seen as pests, comes a collection of debris a young girl treasures as priceless. A lovely mosaic is formed of the surprising connection that is still possible between human and nature when we pay attention.
So much of storytelling, it seems to me, is built upon feeding the crows. In the beginning, as fledgling writers, we flit about on the changing winds of craft and market, trying to find our way. We gather nuggets of advice, some good, some bad, and hoard it close, hoping to come upon the one piece that will transform us from ugly duckling to published author.
For most of us, time passes...and passes...and passes. Yet if we keep faithfully feeding our muse, writing new stories, making connections with other writers, living a full live, and always observing the people we interact with...then somewhere down the line, our crow of a muse may just gift us with one shiny, ocean-rubbed piece of glass. A request for a full. Or perhaps a sale of a short story.
Encouraged that this muse we thought had bird brains has finally been paying attention, we seek her guidance faithfully. And, eventually, the scattered shards of our writer's life comes together to form a beautiful picture. A sale of a novel. A touching letter from a fan.
And this is the point, it seems to me, where the gathering transcends our personal interests. For while we have been crafting our writer's life, we have also been gluing together the elements of our story. The tip of the hat from the old man at our corner grocer that works its way into our character's goodbye. The clean trace of a tear (last seen on our child) through a soot-covered cheek of our firefighter hero. The rough shards that make up the work we create are brought forth from a faithful feeding of of our muse. Authentic storytelling emerges from the life we live...more fully when we pay attention...and touches the lives of people beyond ourselves.
Writing can be a long and lonely road. But gradually, if we're patient, and if we keep feeding the crows, and value the bits and pieces of experience and connection they bring us, then one day we can piece together all these shiny discards into something harmonious. An amazing found-art mosaic of Story.
To celebrate the release of
Southern Fried Wiccan, I am giving away a beautiful bee pendant. The honey bee was a symbol of Artemis of Ephesus, who greatly influenced my young heroine, Cilla. This handcrafted pendant also symbolizes the shards of inspiration that come together to form a story...like a beautiful mosaic.
a Rafflecopter giveawayAnd "bee" sure to check out another giveaway on my
home blog for a Turkish tea set!
About the Book:
 |
| Southern Fried Wiccan by S.P. Sipal |
Cilla Swaney is thrilled to return stateside, where she can hang up her military-brat boots for good. Finally, she'll be free to explore her own interests--magick and Wicca. But when she arrives at her grandma's farm, Cilla discovers that life in the South isn't quite what she expected. At least while country hopping, she never had to drink G-ma's crazy fermented concoctions, attend church youth group, make co-op deliveries...or share her locker with a snake-loving, fire-lighting, grimoire-stealing Goth girl...
...Who later invites her to a coven that Cilla's not sure she has the guts to attend. But then Emilio, the dark-haired hottie from her charter school, shows up and awakens her inner goddess. Finally, Cilla starts believing in her ability to conjure magick. Until...
...All Hades breaks loose. A prank goes wrong during their high school production of
Macbeth, and although it seems Emilio is to blame, Cilla and Goth may pay the price. Will Cilla be able to keep the boy, her coven, and the trust of her family? Or will this Southern Wiccan get battered and fried?
Amazon |
Kobo |
Barnes & Noble |
Goodreads About the Author:
|
| S.P. Sipal |
Born and raised in North Carolina, Susan Sipal had to travel halfway across the world and return home to embrace her father and grandfather’s penchant for telling a tall tale. After having lived with her husband in his homeland of Turkey for many years, she suddenly saw the world with new eyes and had to write about it.
Perhaps it was the emptiness of the Library of Celsus at Ephesus that cried out to be refilled, or the myths surrounding the ancient Temple of Artemis, but she’s been writing stories filled with myth and mystery ever since. She can’t wait to share
Southern Fried Wiccan with readers.
Website |
Twitter |
Goodreads 
The AYAP team is sad to say goodbye to Alyssa Hamilton, who has been a staple of our WOW Wednesday features for the past couple of years. She’s finishing up school and working full-time, so while you’ll still be able to find her at Swept Away by Books, she’ll be taking a break from AYAP for a while.
I (Susan Sipal) and Shelly Z will be taking the feature over, and we’ll be rolling out some additional options that we’re really excited about. We’ll still have great authors guest posting, but now we’ll expand the options for topics, and one of the topics we’ll discuss periodically is authors talking about what they wish they could say to their teen selves about writing and how that translates to what they’re doing now as writers.
That being the case, I’m going to kick off our very first
Dear Teen Writer post for WOW Wednesday...
Dear Teen Writer -- What Can I Learn From You? by S.P. Sipal
I used to lead a teen writing club at my kids' school. We didn't have tons of students attending, but those that did, ranging from 7th to 12th grades, were extremely passionate about writing. What blew me away every time they read from their stories was the freshness of their ideas and the originality of their writing styles. These were not kids who'd devoured every craft book published or adhered to every rule they'd learned at workshops or from critique groups. Rather they were writing from the gut of their life, the passion of their teen experience, and the original fantasies of their active imaginations. A few of those stories were so unique and alive, I still remember them.
Some of the kids were writing with an eye toward publication. Most were writing for themselves and to share with their friends. Writing helped them put sense to the often senseless and emotional turmoil of their lives. But when they would ask me the likelihood of having their stories published, I measured my response carefully. Their trust was sacred to me. I absolutely did not want to discourage, but also did not want to mislead. Publishing is, after all, a business. And not all stories that have merit get published.
However, looking back on the advice I gave those kids, I realize now that
I should have been taking advice from
them. To be very honest, for this "Dear Teen Writer" post, instead of me giving writing advice to teen writers, I'd like to channel the teen writers I've known and share what they can teach those of not quite so...uh...young.
Write From the Gut
Write from what terrifies you, hurts you, excites you, or makes you weak at the knees. Don't choose the easy route and write about what you understand. Sometimes it's the not knowing, the feeling that you're walking into an impenetrable forest as you create your story, that brings out the deepest emotions in you as a writer and the sense of walking off a ledge for your reader.
Write From the Heart
 |
| image from andysukma.com |
Let the words tumble out of your mind and onto the screen/paper in all sorts of chaotic, tumultuous passion. Forget about market. Forget about trends and rules and the style you've worked so hard to perfect. Just get that emotion out. There is a time and place for hard-core editing, but (for most of us) it's not when overcome by the passion of telling our story for the first time.
Write From the Unchained Depths of Your Imagination
Experimentation is the root of all creativity. From the story itself to the manner of telling that story, the teens I worked with never did anything "by the book." They wrote stories that were often "unmarketable" or broke every craft rule I'd learned. Most of them rarely sat down in front of a Word document to type. Many were constructed in bits and pieces on fansites or by back-and-forth sharing with friends on role-playing sites or game boards. One girl I knew was texting her story into her phone (
aagh that tiny screen) whenever she had a moment between class. And it was brilliant. Every time I see her, now years later, I ask about that story. I still want more. But, alas, she has moved on.
Write Like You're Invincible
For most teens, nothing bad is ever going to happen to them...or so they think. While this quality may drive worrying parents into endless nights of sleepless pacing, for writing it's actually a useful tool. There's none of this self-doubting every other word you write or every bright and shiny idea that pops into your head. Your story is golden and publishers will be lining up to throw buckets of money at you.
Ah, hem. While most of us may not be able to dive that deep into fantasy thinking, we must remember that our confidence in ourselves and our story (or lack thereof) will show on the paper.
Believe in yourself or no one else will.
For those of us writing YA or MG, these points are especially important. Remember, teens of today have a multitude of ways to get their story fix without ever having to crack a book (or ebook). They have MMORPGs and fansites and Netflix and the list goes on. They will compare your story against those written by their young peers, and they're not necessarily going to analyze how well you constructed that metaphor or developed that style. They'll seek out stories that reflect the gut-wrenching, heart of their teen lives back at them in a way, perhaps, that help them understand and cope just a bit better. And make them want to come back for more.
In the end, as writers, for us to reach these talented teens, we need to open our ears and listen to what they have to say.
About the Book:
Cilla Swaney is thrilled to return stateside, where she can hang up her military-brat boots for good. Finally, she’ll be free to explore her own interests—magick and Wicca. But when she arrives at her grandma’s farm, Cilla discovers that life in the South isn’t quite what she expected. At least while country hopping, she never had to drink G-ma’s crazy fermented concoctions, attend church youth group, make co-op deliveries...or share her locker with a snake-loving, fire-lighting, grimoire-stealing Goth girl…
…Who later invites her to a coven that Cilla’s not sure she has the guts to attend. But then Emilio, the dark-haired hottie from her charter school, shows up and awakens her inner goddess. Finally, Cilla starts believing in her ability to conjure magick. Until…
…All Hades breaks loose. A prank goes wrong during their high school production of Macbeth, and although it seems Emilio is to blame, Cilla and Goth pay the price. Will Cilla be able to keep the boy, her coven, and the trust of her family? Or will this Southern Wiccan get battered and fried?
Southern Fried Wiccan releases March 24, 2015 from BookFish Books.
Twitter |
Goodreads |
Website 
