CREATIVITY SPARKS^TM
June 2008

Be Hero of Your Book Writing Adventure
Discover Your Writer Archetype
by Beth Barany

"Without fixed and steady reference points, we are almost sure to become hopelessly lost." – Margaret Mark & Carol S. Pearson, The Hero and the Outlaw: Building Extraordinary Brands Through the Power of Archetypes.

Being a hero in your book writing adventure can give you focus, direction, and structure, so you will know where you are every step of the way.

Yes, be hero of your book writing adventure. What does this mean? It means that you are the hero of your creativity and of your writing. You are a Writer, with a capital “W” emblazoned across your shirt. You get decide what this means. I’m not going to tell you what it means, but I will help you figure it out for yourself. So, read on to learn more about discovering your writer archetype, and why being a hero on a book writing adventure is important.

Thinking of writing a book, whether it be fiction or nonfiction, in terms of "hero" and "adventure" frames your actions, motivations and goal in perhaps an entirely new light than you’ve ever seen before. An adventure implies excitement, joy, and risk, and demands courage, curiosity and chutzpah. Also, seeing that you are a journey, on a book writing adventure helps you remember that the journey is as much or more the point as the goal of haven written a book. A book that you want to feel good about, are proud of, and care to publish.

Note here: I say that the goal of every artist is to have an impact on the world. And we writers and authors are artists. A client wanted to know the difference between a writer and an author. Here’s my take: A writer is concerned about craft, story, voice, and grammar. Writing is the tool of our communication. An author has something to say, says it through writing, and often has editors polish his or her writing to a fine sheen. Both are artists in different ways; both have something to say to the world.

So, what kind of hero are you? One way of answering this question is to see that we all fit into one main archetype. According to Carl Jung, who defined the term, an archetype shows "the existence of definite forms in the psyche which seem to be present always and everywhere." (From The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, Collected Works). In other words, archetypes live within all of us and are a way to view and filter the wolrd around us. Here is a summary of 12 archetypes as defined by Pearson and Mark in The Hero and Outlaw.

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Note: There are different systems of archetypes, Jung, Caroline Myss, to name a few. I choose this one because it’s fun, compelling, and can be adapted easily to our needs. Additionally, I like using The Hero and The Outlaw for my work on archetypes because implicit in using this book is the idea that a writer needs to brand him or herself. If you’re writing for publication or as a marketing tool for your business, you need to know your writer or business brand archetype, and your book needs to reflect that too.

Now that you’ve reviewed the archetypes and found one or several that you relate to, what do you do with this information? How do you determine which archetype you are? Well, there are several options. One, you can read Mark and Pearson’s book, especially chapters 4 through 15 to really get a feel and see which archetype(s) suit your writing self. And/or, you can take this archetype test for $16. In full disclosure, I have no financial or affiliate relationship with them.

Once you've take the Personal Archetype Assessment Instrument (PMAI^TM), take these three steps to help you sort through the information.

1. Read the accompanying pages they send on each of your strong archetypes and your shadow archetype.
2. Focus on your strengths and how they can help you with your current concerns.
3. Then, look at your shadow archetype and see what comes up for you, and how that contributes to understanding your current challenges.

By becoming the hero of your book writing adventure you can place the ups and downs in context, and understand the difference between the reality, and the illusion of writing a book. Many people have the false idea of how to go about writing a book. They seem to have the idea that all you do it sit down and, well, write the book in one sitting. Boom – it’s done. Um, not quite. At least not for most people. Ideally, if you write a page a day, you could have a book completed in a year. Yes, it takes time to write a book. You could do it in less time than a year, if you wanted to. For example, NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) supports you in writing a novel in November. I wrote one of my novels in six weeks, a first draft, mind you. Your book writing adventure is an adventure with rewards and trials, joys and sorrows, and all for the ultimate reward of getting your message to the world.

So, bring out your hero and begin the adventure!

Next Steps:

1. Start writing: 15 Minutes: The most powerful 15 minutes of your life
2. Be clear on why you write: The Writer's GMC: Know What You Want
3. Take a workshop
4. Take a free, self-paced class. You’ve received this if you’re a newsletter subscriber; if not, sign up here.

c. 2008 Beth Barany

"Literature is a luxury, but story is a necessity." -- Philip Pullman, author of The Dark Materials Trilogy

"It is no disgrace to try a single path as many times as you need, for there is only one test of a true path – that it brings you joy. The way out is through, and the only person who knows what is right for you – is you." -- Carol S. Pearson, Ph.D, from The Hero Within: Six Archetypes we Live By

"All that counts is that, for this day, for this session, I have overcome resistance." -- Steven Pressfield, from his book, The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Creative Battles