  Short Stories
This week: The Ally Edited by: Shannon  
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We've all heard of Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Christopher Vogler adapted the Hero's Journey into The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. Vogler said, "The archetypes [the Hero, the Mentor, the Threshold Guardian, the Herald, the Shapeshifter, the Shadow, the Ally, and the Trickster] can be thought of as masks, worn by the characters temporarily as they are needed to advance a story" (24).
With the help of Vogler's The Writer's Journey, today I'd like to discuss The Ally.
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"There are no words to express the abyss between isolation and having one ally. It may be conceded to the mathematician that four is twice two. But two is not twice one; two is two thousand times one." ~ G.K. Chesterton
As I read the "Ally" chapter in Vogler's The Writer's Journey, some of my all-time favorite duos came to mind: Matthew Corbett and Hudson Greathouse, Mulder and Scully, Inspector Clouseau and Cato, Winnie-the-Pooh and Christopher Robin, Laverne and Shirley. "Heroes on their journey may need someone to travel with them, an Ally who can serve a variety of necessary functions, such as companion, sparring partner, conscience, or comic relief. It's useful to have someone to send on errands, to carry messages, to scout locations. It's convenient to have someone for the hero to talk to, to bring out human feelings or reveal important questions in the plot. Allies do many mundane tasks but also serve the important function of humanizing the heroes, adding extra dimensions to their personalities, or challenging them to be more open and balanced" (Vogler 71).
There's nothing quite like knowing someone's got your back. We all have acquaintances, but very few people make it into our most trusted circle of friends and allies. We trust the opinions of our besties and depend on their support. Their presence gives us confidence and courage, and we love them like they're our own flesh and blood.
Allies create diversions, act as confidants, provide backup, and offer moral support. They conduct research, go undercover, make us laugh when we're sad, and put us in our place when we're wrong. Their actions help move our stories forward, and each action reinforces the importance of their relationship with our Hero.
Who is your favorite Ally from literature or film? What about him attracts you? What do you see in her that surpasses all others? Send in your comments and I'll share them in next month's newsletter.
Thank you for reading, and please join me on July 16 when we discuss the next archetype, The Trickster.
Works Cited:
 Vogler, Christopher. The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. Studio City: Michael Wiese Productions, 1998. Print.
For other newsletters in this series, see the links below:
Part 1--"I Need a Hero"
Part 2--"M is for Mentor"
Part 3--"The Threshold Guardian"
Part 4--"The Herald"
Part 5--"The Shapeshifter"
Part 6--"The Shadow"
Part 7--"The Ally"
Part 8--"The Trickster" |
I hope you enjoy this week's featured selections. Please do the authors the courtesy of reviewing the ones you read. Thank you, and have a great week!
|  | The Better Half (13+)
A ghost returns to her boyfriend, but then must decide if she will stay with him.
#1430416 by Xylch  |
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The following is in response to "The Shadow" :
Quick-Quill  writes, "Oh My! another very great NL! I have to check my storage to see if I have this Vogler book. What you described drew to my mind the HBO Series Carnavale'. What made this 3-part series so good were the characters. Convex, convoluted, twisted, and hidden. I can't begin to tell you the set up except good against evil and evil as well as good isn't what you perceive. Like a lot of writers who write something great and then have to continue, they go off the deep end. It got very bizarre the last year. The first two had me and my son hooked (we were watching after it was taken off the air) and I did research on it and its author. You just have to go with this series as it seems so far out there, yet as a writer you are fascinated by the characters and of course the casting. As a writing teacher I would want my students to watch and pick a character to follow and critter. I'm still in awe of the writer/director and casting." I was a Carnivàle fan, too. Love Clea DuVall and Clancy Brown, but as you said, the series just got too bizarre. I'm glad you liked the newsletter. Thank you for reading! 
aegreenfield writes, "I've learned much from this newsletter. I will get a copy of Vogler's book to help me create my own characters." Yay! I'm glad the newsletter was helpful. 
V. Andrew writes, "Another very recognizable herald, and probably my favorite, is Gandalf in both the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. He informs the characters and calls them out on adventures and is actually the herald for almost every character and civilization in Middle Earth." Yes! 
Elfin Dragon-finally published  writes, "I just want to take the time to thank you for choosing my story "Bank Robbery - Heist Aborted" as an Editor's Pick. It gives me lots of smiles.  " You betcha! It was my pleasure. 
brom21 writes, "I found the shadow aspect of a character interesting. I thought your reference to Dart Vader was a prime example. All though he was evil he changed at the end turned out to be good at the core. I love it when bad guys turn good; I think it gives them depth. In a lot of stories there is no easily shown shadow, but a fascinating journey. In Dante’s Inferno it is a narrative describing hell. Another example might be A Call in The Wild where it is not man versus self, man versus man but it is man versus nature. That is just how it appears to me, I may be wrong. Thank you for this edition of character elements. It is always fun!" Yes, there is a pattern, and and it's fun to read a story, picking out the different archetypes. Thank you for reading and commenting! 
BIG BAD WOLF is Merry  writes, "Try the StarCraft and WarCraft games. In the games, you follow those who turn out to be far from heroic. For obvious reasons, I won't tell you who." My son loves those games. Perhaps I should have him give me the rundown. 
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Short Stories: June 18, 2014 Issue [#6376]
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