A readable, refreshing entry in the cluttered world of writing advice.
Burton pitches a female counterpart to the “Hero’s Journey” story structure in this craft book and writer’s guide.
The author, a writer and speaker, was deep into writing his first novel, Far Away Bird (2020), when he noticed a problem. He’d long relied on the “Hero’s Journey” structure coined by mythologist Joseph Campbell, who famously used a theory of primordial archetypes to identify a “universal” story pattern of a central hero leaving home and crossing a threshold into an unknown world to defeat evil. Burton found that in many woman-led stories, protagonists didn’t leave their home or “native culture” to confront conflict, but rather moved deeper into it, uncovering its labyrinthine secrets. From this key difference, Burton argues, an entirely different story structure unfolds, one that “exists now, has always existed, and will continue to exist for as long as there’s still a heroine to write about.” This “heroine,” while generally female, can be any protagonist whose story follows this “inward” journey. Burton guides us through what he has identified as key “heroine” archetypes, presented not as inviolable, linear story beats, but in the more “intuitive” form of overturned tarot cards, creating “a loose story structure for your imagination and creativity.” The archetypes, including figures like the charming but villainous Masked Minotaur and story beats such as the Captivity Bargain, are grouped under three linear acts: Orientation (Immersion), Exploration (Self-Realization), and Permutation (Rearrangement). Each chapter ends with a deft, bullet-pointed summary of the archetype and its function in the “Heroine’s Labyrinth,” as well as a series of writing exercises encouraging the reader to identify the archetypes for themselves in popular movies and TV shows (The Hunger Games series, Moana, and Ex Machina feature prominently). A final rundown of popular genres from horror to memoir notes which “Heroine’s Labyrinth” archetypes may be more or less prominent within them.
Burton’s prose is accessible, lucid, and concise without sacrificing detail: He moves quickly through the traits that make up his “Heroine’s Labyrinth,” substantiating his theories with more than 200 examples from texts, from the Bible to Barbie. The book can be useful for developing and conceptualizing structure, even for readers who don’t subscribe wholesale to archetypal theory. The book occasionally runs the risk of taking a gender-essentialist approach to its story structure. Luckily, Burton largely sidesteps this trap, noting that the “heroine” structure can apply just as easily to some stories led by men (Amadeus, The Dark Knight, and Fight Club, to name a few) and repeatedly emphasizing the first rule of the labyrinth: “Even under the most oppressive, worst-case scenarios, we must see the heroine as the sovereign being.” His work smartly illuminates the way that the same “home” that serves as comfort for Campbell’s male hero figure may be both cage and battleground for protagonists subjugated by the society they live in. The result is an incisive, highly quotable work that doubles as both applicable writing advice and sharp cultural critique.
A readable, refreshing entry in the cluttered world of writing advice.Pub Date: March 25, 2024
ISBN: 9781733022156
Page Count: 274
Publisher: Silent Music Press
Review Posted Online: April 10, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
