#mythology

Russell F. Hirsch

Descriptive Language that Sparkles

Kill your darlings! Get to the point! Plot over prose! How many times have you heard advice about simplifying your writing for middle...

Russell F. Hirsch

SIWC - Simply Inspiring Writers' Conference

We all know the feeling of finding our tribe. Whether we were kids discovering new friends on the playground, teens navigating a new...

Russell F. Hirsch

Graced with Epic-ness: Kristin Cashore’s Series Structure

In this post, I finish my examination of Kristin Cashore’s excellent Graceling Realms series. (Part one here!) The title of the post may...

Russell F. Hirsch

Bull by David Elliot (Guest Review for The Book Wars)

Sometimes, I have the privilege of writing guest book reviews for the incredible folks at The Book Wars. You can check out my review of...

Russell F. Hirsch

The Hero’s Journey – Reward

The Hero’s Journey – Reward Well that last post on the Ordeal was so frightening, I almost couldn’t go on! But after a bit of a break,...

Russell F. Hirsch

The Hero’s Journey – The Approach

We really shouldn’t go in there—but we have to! We’re now well into the Middle Phase (Act 2) of a story. The characters have started to...

Russell F. Hirsch

The Hero’s Journey – An Introduction

So far, as a writer, I have found no theory more useful or compelling than that of the “Hero’s Journey.” When I go to writing conferences...

Russell F. Hirsch

Wishing Well

I visited the National Leprechaun Museum—it’s a real place!—in Dublin earlier this summer. Inside, the tour guide filled us in on all...