Whilst getting to grips with the online element of the course this week was slightly stressful for me, I feel that I have already gained a lot. Reading John Yorke ‘Into the Woods’ was fascinating and I have always believed that stories are in their essence a way to communicate past the obvious, a way to explain, describe and convince other people of a situation or concept.
“The journey into the woods is part of the journey of the psyche from birth through death to rebirth” Hilary Mantel
For me, writing is so much more than just entertaining people, it’s a way to lay out your arguments, analyse and adjust them accordingly. It’s a way to process what I feel and believe and why I think in the way I do. And it’s my way of explaining to others how I feel, which I find very difficult when attempting to be understood without the medium of writing.
This is why I’ve decided to change my character into a professor of the written word so that she understands the concept of how literal her journey is, but is still tested by it. Transcension from our own egos can only happen when reading fiction that teaches us something we didn’t know, so she still needs to be taught something new so that she can go on a journey both in the woods and in her mind.
“The confrontation between opposites lies at the story’s very heart” John Yorke
The little girl comes into the story as both the professor’s challenge to keep her protected and as a symbol of the professor’s own innocence. The monsters and the child are the opposites and they need to be united under one belief.
