  Short Stories
This week: M is for Mentor 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 Mentor.
Welcome to the Short Stories Newsletter. I am Shannon and I'm your editor this week. |
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"Colleagues are a wonderful thing, but mentors--that's where the real work gets done." ~ Junot Diaz
Nursing school was one of the most stressful experiences of my life. It's not that it was particularly difficult, but it was all-encompassing. I lived and breathed it for four years, and by the time my final semester rolled around I was SO beyond done with school. I'd had enough of the grueling curriculum and unapologetically-rigid instructors (there's something to be said for positive reinforcement). I can't tell you how many times I witnessed my classmates dissolve into tears, but one professor tried her best to ease our pain.
At the beginning and end of each class, Margaret Puccinelli would turn off the lights and light a candle before leading us on a 15-20 minute guided meditation. I can't tell you how thankful I was for her and those rare moments of peace! She also required us to keep a nursing journal in which we wrote what we'd seen, heard, experienced, thought, felt, and worried about each day. We'd turn the journals over to her at the end of every week, and the following week she'd pull us aside, one by one, to discuss what we'd written. She honed in on my introspective tendencies and proclivity for writing. She complimented and encouraged both. "I fully expect to see your name in nursing journals," she said. "And if you're not interested in that kind of writing I'll look for it elsewhere. I know I'll see it." She was always calm, always professional, always approachable. She was ex-military, and she had this way of giving you her undivided attention. She rarely spoke. She watched. She listened. It was unnerving, unsettling, and I'd invariably develop diarrhea of the mouth, saying way more than I'd originally intended. Margaret was my mentor, and I will never forget her.
The word "Mentor" originated with Homer's The Odyssey in which the character "Mentor" (the goddess Athena in disguise) helps young Telemachus find his father, Odysseus. A Mentor's role is to teach, train, guide, impart wisdom (and/or plant information), act as the Hero's conscience if need be, protect, and/or present a gift that will aid the Hero on his or her journey (map to find the buried treasure, access code to disable a missile launch, password to open restricted computer files, key to enter a secret room, a magical weapon to slay the monster). "This is a good rule of thumb: The gift or help of the donor [Mentor] should be earned, by learning, sacrifice, or commitment" (Vogler 41).
"Another important function of the Mentor archetype is to motivate the hero, and help her overcome fear" (42). But sometimes ... well, just as there are anti-Heroes, there can be anti-Mentors--people who influence others to join them down a very dark and dangerous path (Kiefer Sutherland as "David" in The Lost Boys, Catherine Keener as "Gertrude Baniszewski" in An American Crime, and Bryan Cranston as "Walter White" in my favorite television series of all time, Breaking Bad, for example).
Characters don't have to wear the same hat throughout the story. Sometimes your Hero can be another character's Mentor. Maybe the Mentor switches into the Threshold Guardian's costume for a few pages. Perhaps the Ally morphs into the Trickster toward the end. Remember, "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).
Play with your characters. Get creative. Try different things. Rewrite it until you get that "Ah-ha!" feeling (you know the one I'm talking about). Then you'll know it's just as it should be.
Thank you for reading, and join me on February 26 when we discuss the next archetype, The Threshold Guardian.
Works Cited:
 Vogler, Christopher. The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. Studio City: Michael Wiese Productions, 1998. Print.
"Writers should bear in mind that they are Mentors of a kind to their readers, shamans who travel to other worlds and bring back stories to heal their people. Like Mentors, they teach with their stories and give of their experience, passion, observation, and enthusiasm. Writers, like shamans and Mentors, provide metaphors by which people guide their lives--a most valuable gift and a grave responsibility for the writer." ~ Christoper Vogler in The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, page 124
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!
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A BIG thank you to sdodger for recommending a few of this week's featured selections. 
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The following is in response to "I Need a Hero" :
One Breath Away says, "I think there are many people who need to see this. Not just on here, but just writers in general. There are so many people who write based on this perfect character/hero, and they don't understand that when you make the hero perfect, there are no flaws; there are no mistakes. It's horrible to read, and I don't understand how they stand to write it. I also really enjoyed the cites and quotes in the newsletter. I never really thought about what some of them said. I can't wait for the next newsletter!" Thank you so much!  I'm glad you found it useful.
brom21  says, "Thank you for your article, I found it most helpful. I’ll try to I incorporate any points as I can. Let’s say your hero is Jesus. In this case the protagonist would be portrayed as perfect, humble and gentle. Would it be hard to create character with such redeeming attributes? What are your thoughts on this? I can honestly say that this article is one of the most informative newsletters I’ve ever read. I hope you have good new year!" Wow, thank you! I'd say Jesus is an exception. Perfection is really the only way to write Him, but we mere humans are at a slight disadvantage; we lust and hate and love to marinate in negativity. No one is perfect, and any author who creates such a character is selling you a bill of goods. 
Quick-Quill  says, "Shannon, Thank you for this list. I need it. I wasn't sure I'd done all I could for my 'hero'. I think he's a likable character and we see his strengths at the beginning of the novel and his quiet fortitude throughout the rest. Thanks for the measuring tool. I'm keeping it for my next novel. I think I like to write novels." Thank YOU! And I hope you share your chapters with the rest of us. 
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Short Stories: January 29, 2014 Issue [#6124]
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