Thread: Definitely recomended for genre fiction writers

So I'm new here, but I always like to recomend this to anyone writing genre fiction: pick up a copy of The Hero with a Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell. Probably the best resource I've ever found.

Sadly, I've never read it. But, in terms of its importance you're preaching to the choir Another good theorist is Joseph Campbell's friend, JRR Tolkien, who wrote a great essay called Tree and Leaf (or maybe that was the book, which he filled with his literary essays). Also, Robert McKee is pretty damn cool too.

I think I'm going to start hunting Campbell down. It surfaces as important very often, and it has eluded me long enough.

The Hero with a Thousand Faces is out of print, but it's not that hard to get your hands on. Any respectable(read: large) used book store will probably have a copy. What's neat is that once you pick out all the high points of the monomyth, you can basically take any great work of fiction and it will line up perfectly. From Tolkien's LOTR to Homer's Odyssey to Star Wars, it really works!

Pluss, the book has a lot of great stuff on Jungian symbolism, which I maintain has made me a much better writer.

It's out of print?!? I'm shocked to hear that, since it's so highly respected by anybody who respects the craft! o.0 Fortunately, I'm one of the sort that finds no real difference between reading online and reading on paper. Nothing goes out of print at my bookstore. (I do prefer to possess a book, but no beef with pdf).

I may be wrong about it being out of print(especially as its the sort of thing that gets reprinted) but again its not hard to obtain, I bought mine slightly used off Amazon.

I'm not sure if it's available electronically, I know I couldn't find it for kindle, but that doesnt mean a whole lot.