Russell Hirsch

Today is Harry Potter’s 37th birthday and in homage to the birthday boy-who-lived and the continuing summer festivities marking the 20th...

It’s All Fools’ Day and so I’m devoting my April posts to books about the colourful court jester characters of children’s literature. A...

Well, we’ve turned the page on 2016 and are getting into the swing of the new year, but if you’re still seeking fresh inspirations for...

Further Resources on the Hero’s Journey I hope you’ve found my summary of hero’s journey plot lines useful, but there is really no...

Happy New Year to all! We have reached the 10th and final stage of a hero’s journey plot line and a fitting stage it is for January 1st...

Huzzah! We have reached the Climax, the grand hurrah, the big shebang, a moment so exciting that only funny-sounding words can express...

The beginning of THE END! We enter the third and final phase of a hero’s journey plot line. Act 3 Propelling Event Climax (aka Death &...

The Hero’s Journey – Reward Well that last post on the Ordeal was so frightening, I almost couldn’t go on! But after a bit of a break,...

We really shouldn’t go in there—but we have to! We’re now well into the Middle Phase (Act 2) of a story. The characters have started to...

Writing a book is like building a puzzle made out of magnets. My last post, about how a character’s wishes can kick-start a story, made...

I visited the National Leprechaun Museum—it’s a real place!—in Dublin earlier this summer. Inside, the tour guide filled us in on all...