The Key: How to Write Damn Good Fiction Using the Power of Myth [Hardcover]

James N. Frey (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0312241976 | ISBN-13: 978-0312241971 | Publication Date: June 8, 2000 | Edition: First Edition

In his widely read guides How to Write a Damn Good Novel and How to Write a Damn Good Novel II: Advanced Techniques, popular novelist and fiction-writing coach James N. Frey showed tens of thousands of writers how--starting with rounded, living, breathing, dynamic characters--to structure a novel that sustains its tension and development and ends in a satisfying, dramatic climax.

Now, in The Key, Frey takes his no-nonsense, "Damn Good" approach and applies it to Joseph Campbell's insights into the universal structure of myths. Myths, says Frey, are the basis of all storytelling, and their structures and motifs are just as powerful for contemporary writers as they were for Homer. Frey begins with the qualities found in mythic heros--ancient and modern--such as the hero's special talent, his or her wound, status as an "outlaw," and so on. He then demonstrates how the hero is initiated--sent on a mission, forced to learn the new rules, tested, and suffers a symbolic death and rebirth--before he or she can return home. Using dozens of classical and contemporary novels and films as models, Frey shows how these motifs and forms work their powerful magic on the reader's imagination.

The Key is designed as a practical step-by-step guide for fiction writers and screen writers who want to shape their own ideas into a mythic story.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"You don't begin with meaning," according to fiction writer Rick DeMarinis, "you end with it." A critic approaching a story from a mythological standpoint might find a mythological theme, but "there are as many themes in a story as there are critical theories." Hogwash, says James N. Frey. "Mythic structures, forms, motifs, and characters ... are 'The Key' to writing more-powerful fiction," and it is a fiction writer's job to imbue his or her work with them. In The Key, Frey describes each of the mythic qualities (ascribed to the mythic hero, the "Evil One," the "Call to Adventure," and the other elements of the mythic journey) and offers examples of how to use them in one's writing. Don't get the wrong idea. Frey is not interested in academic or overly intellectual writing. Sure, he invents a Proust-reading Nevada cowboy to illustrate the concept of "The Hero's Lover," but there are more references here to James Bond than to Homer. Frey advises using first-person journal writing to get to know one's characters. He emphasizes fiction's need for conflict at every turn. And he recommends working from a premise, as it helps one know what to leave out (everything in the story must work to further the premise). Frey defines every possible mythic character or situation, then insists one not feel confined by them all. "The mythic pattern is not a straitjacket," he says, "it's Play-Doh. Have fun with it." --Jane Steinberg

From Library Journal

In this well-written and witty how-to, Frey, a writing teacher and author of the "Damn Good" writing books, focuses on the tradition of myth as a recipe for storytelling. Drawing from Joseph Campbell's The Power of Myth, Frey explains that people respond strongly to mythic images and will essentially read the same stories over and over again; readers of romances are a good example of this concept. The first half of the book is especially interesting, for it examines the mythic structure in such diverse works as Robin Hood, Beowulf, and Jaws and looks at myths that function in everyday modern life. In the second half, Frey provides the reader with a sample novella titled "The Blue Light" to illustrate the use of myth as a writing tool. Expect beginning writers to use this informative guide along with the author's other books. Recommended for public libraries.DLisa J. Cihlar, Monroe P.L., WI
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; First Edition edition (June 8, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312241976
• ISBN-13: 978-0312241971
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,070,659 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

James N. Frey is the author of internationally bestselling books on the craft of fiction writing, including How to Write a Damn Good Novel, How to Write a Damn Good Novel II: Advanced Techniques, and The Key: How to Write Damn Good Fiction Using the Power of Myth. He is also the author of nine novels, including the Edgar Award-nominated The Long Way to Die. He has taught at the University of California, Berkeley, Extension, the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, and the Oregon Writers' Colony, and he is a featured speaker at writers' conferences throughout the United States and Europe. Former students include recent Anthony award-nominees Betty Winkleman and Cara Black, and many best-selling authors including Marjorie Reynolds, Melba Beals, and April Sinclair.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Power of Myth, June 25, 2000

By 

Kay Hudson (Seabrook, TX USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Key: How to Write Damn Good Fiction Using the Power of Myth (Hardcover)

If you've struggled with other versions of the Hero's Journey and found them too obscure, too formulaic, or too screen-oriented, James N. Frey's The Key may be just what you are looking for. Frey goes back to the structure and study of mythology and concentrates on characters and their interactions rather than plot structure, an approach much better suited to novelists. He also gives examples from a wide variety of novels and films, and demonstrates his points with a novel outline (which I'll buy if he ever gets around to writing it). He shows you how to develop character bios based on mythic patterns and includes several examples of journal entries written in character voice ("show, don't tell" is a rule more writing teachers should apply to their own writing!). You don't need to have read Frey's "How to Write a Damn Good Novel" series to appreciate this book, but once you've read it you will probably want to add those two volumes to your collection as well. The Key is an excellent and accessible book which I intend to recommend to my writing buddies.

88 of 92 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Power of myth, May 16, 2000

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Nancy Boutin (Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Key: How to Write Damn Good Fiction Using the Power of Myth (Hardcover)

In countless interviews George Lucas told us how he used the power of myth to create his masterpiece, "Starwars." So why was "Phantom Menace" no more satisfying than a spectacular videogame? After you read "The Key," you'll know the answer. Mythic storytelling requires more than throwing archetypes and classic plot elements onto the page. Mr. Frey shows us how to tap into the deepest human emotions using a structure that has been with us since before the written word. He shows us how to look at our own writing and decide where the various aspects of myth might make our story stronger. Walking us through the development of a myth-based novel, Mr. Frey "auditions" characters, steps, and complications. Some work and are incorportated into his story, some don't work and are tossed. This is an extension of techniques he outlined in his two previous "how to" books, but here the process is even more accessable. "The Key" is not the first book on fiction and the hero's journey, but it's the best I've read. In "The Key" we learn to use the hero's journey as a tool, not a formula. I've already ordered copies of "The Key" for my writer friends, my teenagers, and their creative writing teachers. Perhaps if Mr. Lucas had read "The Key" we would have seen him at the Academy Awards this year.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unlocks the key to Writing Today's Novel, September 25, 2000

By 

Roger Paulding "author, The Pickled Dog Caper" (Stafford, TX United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Key: How to Write Damn Good Fiction Using the Power of Myth (Hardcover)

Frey takes the key and unlocks the theories of Joseph Campbell [Hero with a Thousand Faces] and Chris Vogler [The Writers Journey] in making myths work in the modern novel. This is one of the most lucid books on the subject. Frey tells you what is expected of your hero/heroine as well as how to construct your villain or shadow character. Never has it been put more clearly. If you are working on a blockbuster novel, this book will be of great help.