The Writer's Journey is an insider's guide to how master storytellers from Hitchcock to Spielberg have used mythic structure to create powerful stories. This new edition includes analyses of latest releases such as The Full Monty.

Originally an influential memo Vogler wrote for Walt Disney Animation executives regarding The Lion King, The Writer's Journey details a twelve-stage, myth-inspired method that has galvanized Hollywood's treatment of cinematic storytelling. A format that once seldom deviated beyond a traditional three-act blueprint, Vogler's comprehensive theory of story structure and character development has met with universal acclaim, and is detailed herein using examples from myths, fairy tales, and classic movies. This book has changed the face of screenwriting worldwide over the last 25 years, and continues to do so.

“Elegant, propulsive, and utterly unputdownable… The work of one of our most talented thriller writers at the very top of her game.” —Lisa Unger, New York Times bestselling author of Confessions on the 7:45 Fast-paced and brilliantly unpredictable, J.T. Ellison’s breathtaking novel invites you to a wedding none will forget—and some won’t survive. Jutting from sparkling turquoise waters off the Italian coast, Isle Isola is an idyllic setting for a wedding. In the majestic cliff-top villa owned by the wealthy Compton family, up-and-coming artist Claire Hunter will marry handsome, charming Jack Compton, surrounded by close family, intimate friends…and a host of dark secrets. From the moment Claire sets foot on the island, something seems amiss. Skeletal remains have just been found. There are other, newer disturbances, too. Menacing texts. A ruined wedding dress. And one troubling shadow hanging over Claire’s otherwise blissful relationship—the strange mystery surrounding Jack’s first wife. Then a raging storm descends, the power goes out—and the real terror begins… Don't miss J.T. Ellison's next thriller, IT'S ONE OF US, coming February 2023!

James A. Michener was one of the most beloved storytellers of our time, captivating readers with sweeping historical plots that educated and entertained. In this first full-length biography of the private as well as the public Michener, Stephen J. May reveals how an aspiring writer became a best-selling novelist. It is the only book to draw on Michener’s complete papers as well as interviews with his friends and associates. The result conveys much about Michener never before revealed in print. May follows the young Michener from an impoverished Pennsylvania childhood to the wartime Pacific, where he found inspiration for Tales of the South Pacific, a book that led to a string of best sellers, including The Source, Centennial, Chesapeake, and The Covenant. May provides insights into Michener’s personal life: his three marriages, his unique working methods, and his social and political views. He also reveals the author’s hypersensitivity to criticism, his egotism, and his failure on some occasions to acknowledge the contributions of his assistants. Examining Michener’s body of writing in its biographical and cultural contexts, May describes the creation of each novel and assesses the book’s strengths and shortcomings. His close readings underscore Michener’s innovativeness in presenting mountains of historical and cultural research in an engaging literary form. This probing biography establishes Michener’s place in twentieth-century letters as it offers an unprecedented view of the man behind the typewriter.

This book, by a psychologist with two decades of investment in writers, depicts his programs for instilling patience, pacing, constancy, and resilience in writing. He shows how writers proceed to comfort and fluency by detailing strategies, rules, and turning points for a diversity of writers--professional, professorial, and otherwise. The result is a thorough-going discussion of what helps writers and a review of the broad literature that program participants found most helpful.

Picking up where his immensely successful The Writer's Journey left off, Christopher Vogler and his colleague, David McKenna, have produced an authoritative guide for structure and character development. Screenwriters, novelists, game designers and film students: this set of precision tools will take your story, step by step, through a quantum leap in writing quality--Back cover.

From the #1 travel magazine in the country, a collection of travel tales from some of today's finest writers Travel writing maintains its seemingly endless popularity, and this volume offers a particularly transporting body of work, pairing exotic locales with writers of the highest caliber: Russell Banks writes on the Everglades, Francine Prose explores the secrets of Prague, Robert Hughes takes us on a tour of Italy, and more. From the most beautiful gardens to visit in Japan to the best free things to do in Provence, this book is as enlightening as it is entertaining. Whether off to the other side of the globe or to their favorite reading chair, wanderers of every sort will find this book truly indispensable. Other featured writers and places include: Nik Cohn on Savannah Philip Gourevitch on Tanzania Shirley Hazzard on Capri Pico Iyer on Iceland and Ethiopia Nicole Krauss on Japan Suketu Mehta on the Himalayas Edna O'Brien on Bath Patricia Storace on Provence and Athens James Truman on Iran Gregor Von Rezzori on Romania Edmund White on Jordan Simon Winchester on Mount Pinatubo William Dalrymple on his pilgrimage to Santiago John Julius Norwich on the Vatican Jan Morris on Hawaii