I'm Christopher Husberg, fantasy author (of the Chaos Queen Series), desultory blogger, and zombie apologist. Also Buffy fanatic. Ballroom danced a bit. Etc.
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
It's the little things...
...like seeing someone talk about me and my books on a webpage that I have not made nor had any hand in making. Check out the official announcement from my friends in the UK (DID YOU KNOW I HAVE FRIENDS IN THE UK WELL I DO), Zeno Literary Agency! DUSKFALL has officially sold both UK and US rights!
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Guess what, folks!
IT'S OFFICIAL!
Let it henceforth be known that I, Christopher Husberg, shall have a novel, published and in bookstores and on Amazon and everything, in 2016!
I'm ecstatic to announce that Duskfall, book one of the Chaos Queen Series, will hit shelves roughly eighteen months from now, published by Titan Books, and I couldn't be happier about it...
...
...except for the fact that they're actually going to publish all five books in the series*, ZOMG YOU GUYS CAN YOU EVEN BELIEVE IT?!?!
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| Image courtesy of robynize |
So, basically, this is PHENOMENAL news and everything is wonderful and life is full of roses and smooth baby bottoms no wait that's not right life is as smooth as a baby's bottom yes that's what I meant because a life full of baby bottoms would be weird anyway if a picture is worth a thousand words than a gif is worth a thousand pictures right so that's like a million words so here's a few million words worth of me being excited:
Image courtesy of wedoitbetta
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| Image courtesy of PeetaEverdeen |
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| Image courtesy of ReactionGifs |
* A book a year, beginning next year! Yay! Except...wait...a book a year, that's 150-200k words per book, which means...maths are hard, wait, it means...it means...
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Story Structure Round-Up
So, a little less than a year ago I did a series of blog posts on story structure, examining a few different archetypes. I only recently (um...) wrapped that series up, so I figured now would be as good a time as any to give you a round-up of those posts, so you can see them all in one place. So, here you go! If you're interested in outlining, the Hero's Journey, Joseph Campbell, story structure, Dan Harmon, feminism, or especially all of the above, then you should check out the following:
1. Dan Harmon's Story Structure (my personal favorite of all the structures I've examined)
2. Joseph Campbell and the Hero's Journey
3. Kim Hudson and the Virgin's Promise (Part I)
4. The Virgin's Promise (Part II)
5. Stephen King's Writing Advice (a review of On Writing)
6. Analyzing Frozen using The Virgin's Promise and The Hero's Journey
While I'm sure this won't be the end of what I have to say about story structure, I think it makes a pretty good start.
1. Dan Harmon's Story Structure (my personal favorite of all the structures I've examined)
2. Joseph Campbell and the Hero's Journey
3. Kim Hudson and the Virgin's Promise (Part I)
4. The Virgin's Promise (Part II)
5. Stephen King's Writing Advice (a review of On Writing)
6. Analyzing Frozen using The Virgin's Promise and The Hero's Journey
While I'm sure this won't be the end of what I have to say about story structure, I think it makes a pretty good start.
Saturday, March 07, 2015
I Wrote 37k in a Week, Like a Total Boss
I did a fantastic thing this last week: I went to a writing retreat.
The "Retreat to the House on the Hill I" was at David Butler s house in Utah Valley, a fantastic space where myself, Dave, Steve Diamond, and E.J. Patten (and Robison Wells, who was able to join us towards the end of the retreat along with his delightful canine companion, Annie) were able to hunker down and write. And write. And eat a few things. And then write some more. And then eat dinner. And then more of the writing. And then play some board games, and sleep, and wake up, and repeat the whole process. Basically, the idea was to create a space where we could all get as much writing done as possible in a week's time, and let me be the first one to tell you, it totally worked. Here's my personal breakdown for the week:
Day 1 - I got there about halfway through the day, but still ended up writing 5100 words. That's a great day for me, any way you look at it.
Day 2 - I really hit my stride, and pumped out over 8000 words. Almost superhuman, until you look at the next day.
Day 3 - More than 8700 words.
Day 4 - More than 9200 words.
Day 5 - Things slowed down for me a bit here, being close to the weekend and me already feeling really great about what I'd produced that week, but I still hit almost 6000 words.
So, all told, I wrote more than 37,000 words in the past five days. That, for me, is a truly incredibly feat. To put it in perspective, my normal daily writing goal is between 2-3000 words, so I was producing 3-4 times the quantity of what I normally get out in a day. In fact, 37k is closer to what I produce in a month.
Not only that, but I was able to finally blow past the problematic midpoint in my current WIP (Dark Immolation, Book 2 of the Chaos Queen Series), and now only have about 1/4 of the manuscript left to write. That is a great feeling.
So, the retreat was certainly worth it. Not only for me, but for the other writers as well. Dave estimates we produced around 140,000 words between the five of us last week, which he compares to two full mass market paperback novels, written in five days. That isn't exactly true for me--the final draft of Duskfall is around 160k, and Dark Immolation is looking to be a bit larger than that. Such are the woes of writing epic fantasy, though. Sigh. What can I say? I'm long-winded.
Anyway, the retreat was a phenomenal success, and if Dave ever decides to hold another (which he says is a likely thing), I'll be the first in line to beg entrance.
The "Retreat to the House on the Hill I" was at David Butler s house in Utah Valley, a fantastic space where myself, Dave, Steve Diamond, and E.J. Patten (and Robison Wells, who was able to join us towards the end of the retreat along with his delightful canine companion, Annie) were able to hunker down and write. And write. And eat a few things. And then write some more. And then eat dinner. And then more of the writing. And then play some board games, and sleep, and wake up, and repeat the whole process. Basically, the idea was to create a space where we could all get as much writing done as possible in a week's time, and let me be the first one to tell you, it totally worked. Here's my personal breakdown for the week:
Day 1 - I got there about halfway through the day, but still ended up writing 5100 words. That's a great day for me, any way you look at it.
Day 2 - I really hit my stride, and pumped out over 8000 words. Almost superhuman, until you look at the next day.
Day 3 - More than 8700 words.
Day 4 - More than 9200 words.
Day 5 - Things slowed down for me a bit here, being close to the weekend and me already feeling really great about what I'd produced that week, but I still hit almost 6000 words.
So, all told, I wrote more than 37,000 words in the past five days. That, for me, is a truly incredibly feat. To put it in perspective, my normal daily writing goal is between 2-3000 words, so I was producing 3-4 times the quantity of what I normally get out in a day. In fact, 37k is closer to what I produce in a month.
Not only that, but I was able to finally blow past the problematic midpoint in my current WIP (Dark Immolation, Book 2 of the Chaos Queen Series), and now only have about 1/4 of the manuscript left to write. That is a great feeling.
So, the retreat was certainly worth it. Not only for me, but for the other writers as well. Dave estimates we produced around 140,000 words between the five of us last week, which he compares to two full mass market paperback novels, written in five days. That isn't exactly true for me--the final draft of Duskfall is around 160k, and Dark Immolation is looking to be a bit larger than that. Such are the woes of writing epic fantasy, though. Sigh. What can I say? I'm long-winded.
Anyway, the retreat was a phenomenal success, and if Dave ever decides to hold another (which he says is a likely thing), I'll be the first in line to beg entrance.
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Wait! I went to New York!
So, I almost forgot. Raych and I went to NYC/NJ in January, and it was a blast. Some good friends of ours are professional ballroom dancers out in New Jersey, and we finally got around to making out way out there to see them. The trip was fantastic. We ate at swanky restaurants, saw a very cool, very powerful play*, hung around Manhattan, and overall got to hang out and get our chillin like villains on.
We also met up with my agent, which is always a fun time, and did some...other things while we were there, that I can hopefully talk about soon.
In the meantime, look! Pictures!
* Disgraced was a fantastic play about race--how we view ourselves, and how we view others (as the Other and otherwise...yeesh that's a lot of other...). Phenomenal acting, and it was one of those truly great pieces of media that sort of changes the way you think about things.
We also met up with my agent, which is always a fun time, and did some...other things while we were there, that I can hopefully talk about soon.
In the meantime, look! Pictures!
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| Hanging out in Times Square. |
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| A great view from where we took the bus into the city. |
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| Said view in the nighttime. |
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| And...other things... |
* Disgraced was a fantastic play about race--how we view ourselves, and how we view others (as the Other and otherwise...yeesh that's a lot of other...). Phenomenal acting, and it was one of those truly great pieces of media that sort of changes the way you think about things.
Friday, February 27, 2015
FROZEN (and the Virgin's Promise)
I know it's been a while, but I've been meaning to examine the structure of the Disney film Frozen within the framework of the Virgin's Promise (an altered version of the hero's journey I discussed...um, almost a year ago...yikes!). So, without further ado...
~
Frozen is an interesting film in that it has two central protagonists: Elsa and Anna. Both sisters have
their own arc and journey. At first, I assumed Elsa's arc would resemble the Hero's Journey, while Anna's might be closer to the Virgin's Promise. For some reason Elsa seems a more active, perhaps even a more masculine character (there's gender bias at work, folks), so I figured hers would be the Hero's Journey. But when I tried to hash it out that way, I just couldn't make it work. I then tried fitting both of their arcs into the Virgin's Promise, but it still didn't gel--Elsa and Anna's stories are just too different. Finally, I found something that worked: Elsa's arc as the Virgin's Promise, while Anna's as the Hero's Journey.
Let's look at Elsa's arc first. Oh, and in case you're wondering, yes, spoilers follow.* (But if you haven't seen Frozen by now, I can't imagine you actually care.)
ELSA
Elsa's Dependent World mainly consists of Arundel and her parents; she is dependent upon them for material survival, of course, and for protection. But she also depends heavily on social convention (apparently people with crazy elemental powers are frowned upon). She also craves love and acceptance, and she depends upon Arundel for that love and acceptance. And, later, she is dependent on the imposed security measure of "conceal, don't feel."
Price of Conformity: The first three segments of the Virgin's Promise are sort of all thrown at us within the first five minutes of the movie, and kind of in jumbled order. Elsa has two major prices to conformity: the first that, as a princess, she naturally lives with restricted boundaries, but the second and far more important happens after the incident while she and Anna are playing: Elsa must conceal, not use her power, and she must spend time isolated and away from her sister.
Opportunity to Shine: This happens when Anna and Elsa wake up early and Elsa uses her magic as they play together. Elsa is using her magic for good, she is bringing joy to her sister, and the moment is pure and genuine until Anna is hurt in the process.
Dresses the Part: Elsa fully realizes the meaning of "conceal, don't feel"--she completely isolates herself from her sister and her Arundel. She is doing what she thinks she needs to do, what her parents have instructed her to do in order to stay attached to her dependent world. But, of course, she is not happy doing it.
Secret World: Elsa attempts to please everyone--her parents by hiding her power, her kingdom by playing the part of future Queen, etc.--except herself.
No Longer Fits Her World: After the coronation, when Anna asks Elsa's permission to marry, Elsa can no longer contain her power; she literally can no longer fit in the world she has been trying to make for herself, and she is Caught Shining--her power is revealed for the whole Kingdom to see.
Finally, Elsa Gives Up What Kept Her Stuck in the iconic song "Let it go."
But both of her Kingdoms are now in Chaos: her old Kingdom of Arundel is suffering a crisis of succession and wondering what on earth happened to it's Queen, and later her new ice kingdom comes under attack by Hans' men.
When Elsa fatally wounds Anna, she Wanders in the Wilderness. This is her moment of doubt, where she wonders whether all the changing she is going through is worth it.
Chooses Her Light: This segment is embodied by two moments: first, when Elsa escapes the prison in which Hans placed her, knowing she can no longer continue to use her power and remain in her old kingdom--her dependent world--as she knew it. And second, later, when Elsa realizes she can use another form of her power--love--to save Anna.
Re-Ordering/Rescue: Anna saves Elsa from Hans, while the other Lords watch from the balcony. Elsa is rescued from without and reconnected in a positive way to her kingdom as the Lords watch her heal Anna.
Kingdom is Brighter: The people of Arundel realize that Elsa is a better person--and ruler--when she embraces her power, and Elsa finally finds her place, both with her magic and ruling her kingdom, as she and everyone she loves skate around on the little ice rink she has created.
Fits in pretty well with the Virgin's Promise, if you ask me! Of course there are some slight deviations in the order of things, and the arc is certainly open for interpretation, but that's the way all stories should be--none should fit into the premise perfectly.
~
Now, let's look at Anna's Hero's Journey.
ANNA
Anna's story begins a bit later than Elsa's: her Ordinary World is basically described in the song "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" She lives a somewhat lonely life in her family's castle, isolated from her sister and the rest of the kingdom.
Anna has a few different Calls to Adventure. In the first rendition of "For the First Time in Forever" the castle doors are opening and she'll get to interact with real, live people. That's a call in and of itself--Anna is given a reason to change something. Another call happens when she meets Hans and he proposes to her. Perhaps her most important call is when Elsa's public use of magic causes her to flee, and Anna is faced with the decision of what to do next. (This use of magic could also be deemed a Supernatural Aid that get's Anna out the door and on her adventure.)
When Anna leaves her castle and ventures out into the now-wintery kingdom to find her sister, she Crosses the Threshold.
Anna's Road of Trials consists of finding winter clothing, meeting Kristoff, fighting off the wolves, meeting Olav, and hiking to Elsa's palace. These conflicts and meetings are what begin to forge Anna into the hero she needs to be by the end of the story.
Anna's Meeting with the Goddess occurs when she finally reaches Elsa, with the reprise of "For the First Time in Forever." This could also be deemed a version of Atonement with Father when Elsa reacts the way she does, and one of her shards pierces Anna's heart. (Other versions of Atonement with Father in Anna's journey could be her meeting with the troll rock people thingies, or when she finally reunites with Hans only to discover he does not love her after all and has betrayed her and her sister. Incidentally, those encounters could also fall into a "Part 2" of the Road of Trials--see what I mean when I say this is fluid?)
Anna's Apotheosis occurs a bit later, when she manages to save Elsa from Hans' sword, sacrificing her own life. Her Ultimate Boon, in turn, is the "true love's kiss" she receives from Elsa that saves her (this could also be deemed her Rescue from Without).
Finally, Anna Crosses the Return Threshold when she returns to her Kingdom, having changed her perspective on the world, love, and life in general. She is now the Master of Two Worlds with the Freedom to Live as she sees fit. She and Kristoff, of course, get together, Anna is reconciled with Elsa, and they all live happily ever after.
~
Frozen really is a great film, and it's protagonists fit the Hero's Journey and Virgin's Promise story structures in clear, but interesting, ways. Not only that, but the film does a great job of weaving the two arcs with one another, allowing significant parts of one major arc to compliment and sometimes juxtapose with significant parts of the other arc (a topic for another day, perhaps). Anyway. This stuff is kind of fun to think about, and hopefully it helps you understand what I'm talking about when I talk about story structure.**
* I highly recommend you read my previous articles about the Virgin's Promise and the Hero's Journey as context to this examination. It'll help a lot, I think. So, here's some links!
The Hero's Journey
The Virgin's Promise Part 1
** In fact, I've been thinking about the recent film Interstellar and how Matthew McConnaughey's character arc is actually closer to the Virgin's Promise structure than it is to the hero's journey. Something I may go into more detail later.
~
their own arc and journey. At first, I assumed Elsa's arc would resemble the Hero's Journey, while Anna's might be closer to the Virgin's Promise. For some reason Elsa seems a more active, perhaps even a more masculine character (there's gender bias at work, folks), so I figured hers would be the Hero's Journey. But when I tried to hash it out that way, I just couldn't make it work. I then tried fitting both of their arcs into the Virgin's Promise, but it still didn't gel--Elsa and Anna's stories are just too different. Finally, I found something that worked: Elsa's arc as the Virgin's Promise, while Anna's as the Hero's Journey.
Let's look at Elsa's arc first. Oh, and in case you're wondering, yes, spoilers follow.* (But if you haven't seen Frozen by now, I can't imagine you actually care.)
ELSA
Elsa's Dependent World mainly consists of Arundel and her parents; she is dependent upon them for material survival, of course, and for protection. But she also depends heavily on social convention (apparently people with crazy elemental powers are frowned upon). She also craves love and acceptance, and she depends upon Arundel for that love and acceptance. And, later, she is dependent on the imposed security measure of "conceal, don't feel."
Price of Conformity: The first three segments of the Virgin's Promise are sort of all thrown at us within the first five minutes of the movie, and kind of in jumbled order. Elsa has two major prices to conformity: the first that, as a princess, she naturally lives with restricted boundaries, but the second and far more important happens after the incident while she and Anna are playing: Elsa must conceal, not use her power, and she must spend time isolated and away from her sister.
Opportunity to Shine: This happens when Anna and Elsa wake up early and Elsa uses her magic as they play together. Elsa is using her magic for good, she is bringing joy to her sister, and the moment is pure and genuine until Anna is hurt in the process.
Dresses the Part: Elsa fully realizes the meaning of "conceal, don't feel"--she completely isolates herself from her sister and her Arundel. She is doing what she thinks she needs to do, what her parents have instructed her to do in order to stay attached to her dependent world. But, of course, she is not happy doing it.
Secret World: Elsa attempts to please everyone--her parents by hiding her power, her kingdom by playing the part of future Queen, etc.--except herself.
No Longer Fits Her World: After the coronation, when Anna asks Elsa's permission to marry, Elsa can no longer contain her power; she literally can no longer fit in the world she has been trying to make for herself, and she is Caught Shining--her power is revealed for the whole Kingdom to see.
Finally, Elsa Gives Up What Kept Her Stuck in the iconic song "Let it go."
But both of her Kingdoms are now in Chaos: her old Kingdom of Arundel is suffering a crisis of succession and wondering what on earth happened to it's Queen, and later her new ice kingdom comes under attack by Hans' men.
When Elsa fatally wounds Anna, she Wanders in the Wilderness. This is her moment of doubt, where she wonders whether all the changing she is going through is worth it.
Chooses Her Light: This segment is embodied by two moments: first, when Elsa escapes the prison in which Hans placed her, knowing she can no longer continue to use her power and remain in her old kingdom--her dependent world--as she knew it. And second, later, when Elsa realizes she can use another form of her power--love--to save Anna.
Re-Ordering/Rescue: Anna saves Elsa from Hans, while the other Lords watch from the balcony. Elsa is rescued from without and reconnected in a positive way to her kingdom as the Lords watch her heal Anna.
Kingdom is Brighter: The people of Arundel realize that Elsa is a better person--and ruler--when she embraces her power, and Elsa finally finds her place, both with her magic and ruling her kingdom, as she and everyone she loves skate around on the little ice rink she has created.
Fits in pretty well with the Virgin's Promise, if you ask me! Of course there are some slight deviations in the order of things, and the arc is certainly open for interpretation, but that's the way all stories should be--none should fit into the premise perfectly.
~
Now, let's look at Anna's Hero's Journey.
ANNA
Anna's story begins a bit later than Elsa's: her Ordinary World is basically described in the song "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" She lives a somewhat lonely life in her family's castle, isolated from her sister and the rest of the kingdom.
Anna has a few different Calls to Adventure. In the first rendition of "For the First Time in Forever" the castle doors are opening and she'll get to interact with real, live people. That's a call in and of itself--Anna is given a reason to change something. Another call happens when she meets Hans and he proposes to her. Perhaps her most important call is when Elsa's public use of magic causes her to flee, and Anna is faced with the decision of what to do next. (This use of magic could also be deemed a Supernatural Aid that get's Anna out the door and on her adventure.)
When Anna leaves her castle and ventures out into the now-wintery kingdom to find her sister, she Crosses the Threshold.
Anna's Road of Trials consists of finding winter clothing, meeting Kristoff, fighting off the wolves, meeting Olav, and hiking to Elsa's palace. These conflicts and meetings are what begin to forge Anna into the hero she needs to be by the end of the story.
Anna's Meeting with the Goddess occurs when she finally reaches Elsa, with the reprise of "For the First Time in Forever." This could also be deemed a version of Atonement with Father when Elsa reacts the way she does, and one of her shards pierces Anna's heart. (Other versions of Atonement with Father in Anna's journey could be her meeting with the troll rock people thingies, or when she finally reunites with Hans only to discover he does not love her after all and has betrayed her and her sister. Incidentally, those encounters could also fall into a "Part 2" of the Road of Trials--see what I mean when I say this is fluid?)
Anna's Apotheosis occurs a bit later, when she manages to save Elsa from Hans' sword, sacrificing her own life. Her Ultimate Boon, in turn, is the "true love's kiss" she receives from Elsa that saves her (this could also be deemed her Rescue from Without).
Finally, Anna Crosses the Return Threshold when she returns to her Kingdom, having changed her perspective on the world, love, and life in general. She is now the Master of Two Worlds with the Freedom to Live as she sees fit. She and Kristoff, of course, get together, Anna is reconciled with Elsa, and they all live happily ever after.
~
Frozen really is a great film, and it's protagonists fit the Hero's Journey and Virgin's Promise story structures in clear, but interesting, ways. Not only that, but the film does a great job of weaving the two arcs with one another, allowing significant parts of one major arc to compliment and sometimes juxtapose with significant parts of the other arc (a topic for another day, perhaps). Anyway. This stuff is kind of fun to think about, and hopefully it helps you understand what I'm talking about when I talk about story structure.**
* I highly recommend you read my previous articles about the Virgin's Promise and the Hero's Journey as context to this examination. It'll help a lot, I think. So, here's some links!
The Hero's Journey
The Virgin's Promise Part 1
** In fact, I've been thinking about the recent film Interstellar and how Matthew McConnaughey's character arc is actually closer to the Virgin's Promise structure than it is to the hero's journey. Something I may go into more detail later.
Monday, February 23, 2015
Journey
So, speaking of the Hero's Journey, I was totally at a Journey concert the other day...
My wife works for this great tech company called Qualtrics, and they had this big conference summit thingy last week, and part of it included them hosting a Journey concert (to say they treat their employees and customers well is an understatement). So, Raych and I went to that, and it cool. And look! Videos:
My wife works for this great tech company called Qualtrics, and they had this big conference summit thingy last week, and part of it included them hosting a Journey concert (to say they treat their employees and customers well is an understatement). So, Raych and I went to that, and it cool. And look! Videos:
"Separate Ways" is certainly not a bad way to start:
"Lights," with some very literal accompaniment:
"Faithfully," perhaps my favorite Journey song:
And of course what song could you end with but "Don't Stop Believin'":
It was a fun thing.
In other news...well, there is a lot of other news. Stay tuned for updates.
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