First of all, for anyone who is thinking of writing children's stories or young adult (YA) novels, I recommend that you join SCBWI immediately. It is a great organization and a helpful group of people. As a member, many resources will instantly be at your fingertips. The encouragement for an aspiring writer is invaluable. For more information, go to my Links page and click on the link for The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

     
My own desire to write formed slowly. Painting was, and still is, an immensely satisfying occupation and is my primary way of keeping track of my inner self. "Painting is just another way of keeping a diary."- Pablo Picasso.

     
But then, somehow, the idea of writing began to grow within me. I realized that there were some thoughts that had to be expressed in words rather than paint. After a particularly disturbing dream, I woke up with a profound urge to write a short story. The trouble was that I had never written anything more complicated than a research paper for a history class and had not a clue about how to write fiction. I had much to learn, and I will always be a student of the writing craft. There is no end to what can be done with words!

     
I also see fiction as an avenue to express my perception of truth. Truth is of paramount importance to me. It is never easy. My favorite author, Flannery O'Connor, said, "The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it." Anyone who has ever read one of her gripping short stories will understand what she means by that statement.

     
The following is an article that I did for Borderlines, the quarterly publication of the SCBWI-Midsouth Region.

To Move the World: Writing the Hero's Journey 

   

"When you follow your bliss...doors will open where you would not have thought there would be doors, and where there wouldn't be a door for anyone else." -Joseph Campbell 

"I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."-
Robert Frost  

In the August 2004 issue of Writer's Digest, there is an article about Roald Dahl, author of James and the Giant Peach. Examples were given of Dahl's ability to tell the scary truth in a lighthearted manner without taking away a child's sense of safety. Roald Dahl often depicted children in dire circumstances, but he always managed to be reassuring without patronizing his young audience. I was especially struck by the article's emphatic concluding statement: "Kids long to be understood by adults. If you create a story that captures their imaginations and respects their intelligence, they'll love you forever."   

I must admit that I had to pause and think about that statement. Do kids actually "long" to be understood by adults? Longing seemed to indicate a very strong emotion. I grabbed my handy Roget's Super Thesaurus and looked up the word, just to be certain of all shades of meaning. As a verb, "long" means yearn, hunger, desire, crave, thirst, want, hanker, wish for, and pine. Indeed, every synonym for "long" was awash with strong feelings.  I asked myself if I, as a child, had ever hungered to be understood. For an uncomfortable moment, all I could recall were my rebellious teenage years when I seemingly cared little about the opinions of most adults and was instead hell-bent on proving them wrong. As a thoughtful teen, I was compelled to reject much of what I had been taught by my schools, my church, and my culture. It all seemed "wrong" somehow, although I lacked the verbal skills to articulate what was wrong with The System and instead tended to act out my feelings. Back then, what I would have given to have the gift of an understanding adult ear! What if there had been support for my powerful yet confusing emotions? What if I had been a reader back then and discovered trustworthy adult voices through literature? I can still feel the yearning, the burning hunger, and the incredible thirst-the "longing" of a girl who desired to be understood by sympathetic adults who were not out to brainwash or mold her into a cookie-cutter copy of what a girl was supposed to be. I now recognize that my plight was common among my peers and is still common today. Yes, then and now, kids truly long to be understood by adults.

Apparently, in every generation, many of us experience deep feelings of alienation, confusion, and rebellion. The Rebel is nothing less than an ancient, worldwide archetype for human beings of both sexes. As always, today's thoughtful teens undoubtedly notice the discrepancy between what adults say and what they do. The Rebel archetype remains alive and well to this day, and one may be living in your very own home, wearing outrageous clothing, coming in late at night, and sleeping until noon. Your Rebel may also be quietly laying the groundwork for a visionary life of doing wonderful things to change the planet into a better place to live.  

Art can lift the spirit, and in today's world filled with depressed kids, a good story can fill a great void.  "A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself." -Joseph Campbell. By reading a story about transformation, today's young Rebels may change themselves into tomorrow's Hero. In a story, kids may find the inspiration to continue their own great quest.

In literature, this arc of events has always been known as the Hero's Journey. It is the classic tale of personal transformation and hope, ever-changing but always the same. Stories such as this resonate with people of all ages, but particularly with youth. The Hero's Journey includes elements of separation from one's familiar world, where old ways of thinking are changed or even destroyed. After successfully meeting these challenges, the initiate takes the journey's final step, the return to his world, where he finds that his community now treats him as an adult, with greater respect, rights and privileges. 

A familiar theme in both paintings and novels is the knight slaying the dragon. This is an excellent metaphor for slaying one's fears. Within our own lives, we each have our personal dragons. For example, as writers or artists, we must conquer self-doubt. The need for approval and fear of rejection are dragons that we must face over and over in our lives, from childhood on. In myths and other heroic tales, we see how others have faced their personal dragons and draw courage from their example.  

To read more about archetypes, myths, and the Hero's Journey, I recommend the following books: The Power of Myth, by Joseph Campbell; The Hero Within, by Carol S. Pearson; Sacred Contracts, by Caroline Myss. (The appendix has an excellent listing and description of archetypes).