The Way of Story: The Craft & Soul of Writing [Paperback]

Catherine Ann Jones (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2007

Offering an integrative approach to writing all forms of narrative, this illustrated book contains evocative insights from the authors own professional journey. The emphasis on the integration of both a solid craft and an experiential inner discovery makes this writing book unique.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Cathrine Ann Jones is in possession of a powerful talent...nothing is more rare in my opinion. -- Norman Mailer

On every page, something teaches, delights, or opens the soul to creative depth. A masterwork based on an astonishing career. -- Dianne Skafte, Ph.D., author of Listening the Oracle

The author has great insight into the human condition and the ability to create characters about whom we care. -- Stephen Simon, Oscar winning producer --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Cathrine Ann Jones is an award-winning writer whose films include The Christmas Wife (Jason Robards), Unlikely Angel (Dolly Parton), Angel Passing (Hume Cronyn, Calista Flockhart) which screened at Sundance and went on to win fifteen awards, and the TV series, Touched by an Angel. Ten of her plays, including Calamity Jane and On the Edge, have been produced both in and outside of New York City. Winner of the National Endowment for the Arts Award among others, Ms. Jones, a Fulbright Scholar, has served on the writing faculties of The New School University(NYC), University of Southern California (L.A.), Pacifica Graduate Institute, and the Esalen Institute. Ms. Jones lives in Ojai, lectures internationally and serves as a story and script consultant. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 193 pages
• Publisher: Michael Wiese Productions (August 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932907327
• ISBN-13: 978-1932907322
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #370,479 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Catherine Ann Jones has played major roles in over fifty productions both in and out of New York City, as well as television and film. Disappointed by the lack of good roles for women, she wrote a play about Virginia Woolf (On the Edge) which won a National Endowment for the Arts Award. Ten of her plays, including Calamity Jane (both play and musical) and The Women of Cedar Creek, have won several awards and are produced both in and out of New York. Her films include The Christmas Wife (Jason Robards & Julie Harris), Unlikely Angel (Dolly Parton), Angel Passing (Hume Cronyn & Teresa Wright) which played at Sundance and went on to garner fifteen awards here and abroad, and the popular TV series, Touched by an Angel. A Fulbright Scholar to India studying shamanism, she has taught writing at The New School University, University of Southern California, Pacifica Graduate Institute, and the Esalen and Omega Institute. She has a graduate degree in Depth Psychology and Myth from Pacifica Graduate Institute. Her memoir/book on writing, The Way of Story, is now required in several writing programs as New York University. Ms. Jones lives in Ojai, California, leads The Way of Story & Heal Yourself with Writing workshops throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. For online courses visit www.dailyom.com, for r workshop schedule, blog, and story/script consultant service please visit www.wayofstory.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book for Veterans and Beginners, August 2, 2007

By 

Matthew Terry (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Way of Story: The Craft & Soul of Writing (Paperback)

This book could not come at a worse time for me. In the middle of buying film equipment, trying to put finishing touches on two scripts, editing a friend's screenplay and working through an out-sourcing at my work - the last thing I needed was a book with a lot of "high-falutin'" words and abstract comments when it comes to writing. Just tell me about story and lets get on with it.

That, of course, was my assumption. How pleasantly surprised I was when the book I read was an honest, open and easy read about "Story." I will admit that, sometimes, I want to get away from books that take storytelling to a level of grandiose and mythic proportions. Where I almost tremble with fear when I put pen to paper or digits to keyboard - but this book is not that. This book is a straight-forward and very basic book about story. ALL about story: Character Development, Structure, Dialogue and, of course, Conflict. And more.

Is it a book for "Beginners?" I do not know if I would classify this book as "How to Write a Story 101" - but I can tell you that Ms. Jones's format is one that is very basic and very truthful and that anyone starting to write or an old (unproduced) veteran such as myself can learn something in these pages and can grow as a writer. In some ways I would say this book does an excellent job of reeling in the abstract to get a writer back to the basics and I, frankly, think we all need that once in a while.

Where the book falters, a bit, is in the fact that most every chapter ends with "Exercises" to do. Out of all my classes and many conversations with writers I've never met one person who said that they did the exercises found in books such as these. Most of the time they're too excited and want to move on to the next chapter. I would rather the exercises be moved to the back of the book or removed altogether and replaced with more horror (and not so horror) stories of Ms. Jones's journey from the stage to Hollywood. And yes, dear readers, this book is written by someone who has actually had success in Hollywood and knows what she is talking about.

One other plus in this book is that she fills the book with quotes on writing. Wonderful quotes from all across the spectrum. I will include one of my favorite quotes that she did not include:

"There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit at a typewriter and open a vein." Walter ("Red") Smith - American Sportswriter

Bottom line: Ms. Jones does a wonderful job reminding the reader that it is all about the story. This is a great book for beginners and professionals alike.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The ins and out of writing, February 6, 2008

By 

Aadip Desai "Writer/Musician/Comedian" (Hollywood, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Way of Story: The Craft & Soul of Writing (Paperback)

The Way of Story may appear as a deceptively simple memoir/manual, but it is not. Catherine rockets you into the essentials of craft, as well as urging you to dig deep into yourself and transmit your emotions to the page, and the story.

Few books simultaneously pay equal attention to both the architecture AND the soul of the story. Finally, I think the book offers gems to both novice and experienced writers, including advice and a bounty of challenging exercises to get the ideas out of your head and onto the page. I wish I'd had this book when I started!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Writing Comes From The Soul, December 29, 2007

By 

Story Circle Book Reviews - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Way of Story: The Craft & Soul of Writing (Paperback)

It was the subtitle of this book about writing that drew me to it: The Craft and Soul of Writing. The use of the word "soul" in connection with writing stopped me in my tracks. I too believe that good writing comes from the soul, yet my writing always has sounded more like a lawyer's brief than a soulful memoir or story. And so I wondered... Might this book free me from my mental prison? My hopes soared when on the first page, I read, "The whole of life can be a meditation, even writing." Clearly, I was in the hands of a philosopher as well as a writer. Here was a book which combined practical guidelines with spiritual experience.

I left the bookstore, looking at the book's unusual cover--a picture of an elderly fellow seated in a large old rowboat, its empty space in the rear crowded with colorful flowers. He uses a single wooden oar to paddle through the wide open sea as sprays of watery foam hit his face and obstruct his view. I see this as a metaphor for the obstacles and endlessly murky situations humans encounter as they row their way through each and every day, experiencing both the beauty they enjoy and the unpredictable vicissitudes that inevitably become obstacles along the way.

Numerous brilliant, relevant quotes by famous people appear on every page of The Way of Story. They remind the reader of the importance of soul to writing, of the path that writing must take in order to include the elusive soul. I read the profound and unique philosophies of such luminaries as Winston Churchill, Rimbaud, Harold Clurman, Lao Tzu, and many more, all of whom guide us to honor the soul. And we honor the soul by listening, by being still, by believing passionately in ourselves. "Passion," Jones writes, "must come first, then craft. The essence of Art is to use the outer form to convey an inner experience. This sacred thread, your innermost being or Soul, binds you emotionally to what you write, and if given respect, will lead you on to the desired end. Stories written from this center will move mountains--and even create livelihoods. Years ago, when interviewed by the New York Times about my approach to teaching, I was quoted as saying, 'We've become lopsided living only in our heads. Writing, in order to serve the Soul, must integrate outer craft with the inner world of intuition and feeling.'"

This book has become my bible because I am among those who are lopsided. And for all those writers who believe they are lopsided, Jones offers excellent guidance. Among the numerous suggestions she offers is a remarkable exercise called Soul Dialogue, in which she guides us to envision our soul, to learn from it what it wants, what it truly wants, and sincerely wishes to communicate to others. This message pervades her book. One of the many quotes I will always remember comes from another spiritual teacher--Butoh, a famous Japanese dancer: "The Soul is the important thing. Form will follow."

Form is the craft; soul, the art and passion. The author insists that the goal of writing is to reach the essence of feeling. She shares stories revealing how she has achieved this. An example was a day when Jones was in an acting class with the famous teacher, Uta Hagen. Jones was playing Ophelia. Having already played Shakespearean roles for a well known director in England, she felt confident that her improvisation was a good one. Until Ms. Hagen shouted, "I want you to play an Ophelia I believe goes to the bathroom!" At the time, she was stunned by her failure, but she carries this lesson over to writing. "Characters," she reminds us, "must be three-dimensional, grounded, and not just an extension of the writer's projected aesthetic imagination."

The essence of the author's advice is to dare to be personal. Jones reminds us that how we remember is how we give meaning to our lives. Lao Tzu asks, "How do I know about the world?" His answer: "By what is within me"--five important words I have placed on my mirror where I can see them each morning before I begin my day.

Catherine Ann Jones does not overlook the supreme importance of craft, and she is nothing less than inspiring in her chapters delineating the various genres. She covers the more obvious and less interesting ones (to me) such as structure, rewrites, outlines and dialogue. But her book is about so much more--about the voice of character and how to convey it, the unexpected synchronicities of writing, the resource of memory, the writer's voice, discovering your personal myth, one woman's remarkable story. She believes we must pay no attention to what will happen to the work, whether it will succeed in the marketplace, whether it will even reach the marketplace, quoting Robert Frost... "All the great things are done for their own sake."

There is no way to do this book justice in a brief review. Like most things in life, this book must be experienced to be fully known and appreciated. I can promise any student of writing, experienced writers, and anyone merely interested in learning more about the craft that this book will make you glad you did not leave it behind in the bookstore.

by Duffie Bart
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women