Folks, just as characters go a journey, so do you as a writer. I could argue this statement for just about any craft. Heck, I could argue this for life. But for our purposes, if you are passionate about storytelling, then you have probably experienced something like the “Wordsmith’s Journey” below. Unless you decide to quit. Don’t quit! If you didn’t have to go through it, then I suppose you can have a proverbial gold star. And yes, I’m jealous. But also, I’m happy for you. The internet has made it possible for many people to share their insights and methods with you. So, go forth and sift through all of the rules and then go break them all. Have fun with it. Don’t give up. Or give up. Then come back. Or not. Whatever. Ahhh whiplash! Just remember, no journey is alike, yet so alike… none of us are ever truly alone in the pain of transforming our writing chops when we are pursuing the craft of fiction. So, in light of Dan Harmon’s Plot Circle ...because why not? It’s been on my mind. So thus, I present a story where you are the hero, fair writer. May you emerge from the fires tempered and renewed. The Wordsmith's Journeyby: G.E. ZhaoYou are a budding fiction writer. Ideas and worlds are floating in the periphery of your imagination waiting to burst out. They are but ghosts in your mind, happily haunting you to the point of insanity until you finally sit down and jot them out. You realize there’s something there in those worlds, you just know it.
But, alas! That isn’t enough. Imaginations and worlds are meant to be shared. You want to share them. They are you and just as much as you are them. But, alas again! They stink like someone has let your dirty socks stew with fish in a vat of bile. And you are called to cleanse the stench from ink and paper. So, off you go on the adventure of craft. You search high and low for the hammer to shape your words. And, oh shit! You realize you need a forge too. Then you manage to find a community to hold your hand through the burns you get when you light up the fires that stoke your imagination. At times, you duel viciously with those around you. How dare they? Those words are you. At times, you wish to throw away your hammer. You feel rejected and are blinded by being too close to the fire while you resist the tempering process. But temper you must. These trials hurt to be sure, but eventually, your skin thickens and adapts to the heat. Your need to share outweighs the pain. You have found a rhythm that is still you, yet this time it is sharper. You have figured out how to fold metals into your words and worlds by paying the humble price of pride and an open heart. With this knowledge, your word forge is now new and shiny. Yet, you know it can still be more. So, indeed you forge on, brave Wordsmith. You give back to the community who held your hand because, without them, you wouldn’t have experienced the transformation.
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