#Book Blitz #The Heroine’s Labyrinth by Douglas A. Burton #Non-Fiiction @Xpresso Book Tours10/6/2024
![]() The Heroine’s Labyrinth
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble -- EXCERPT: A DIFFERENT KIND OF JOURNEY So, why a labyrinth? While watching the film version of The Shining, I concluded that the story is actually about Wendy Torrance, the true heroine of the tale. The star power of Jack Nicholson misled me into thinking the story was about Jack Torrance. Once I rewatched the film as a story about a heroine, my entire understanding of the story shifted. Near the beginning of the film, Wendy tours the Overlook Hotel and comments, “I feel like I have to leave a trail of breadcrumbs.” Her statement, which also references the cautionary folktale, Hansel and Gretel, struck me as an intriguing piece of story exposition. The tour showed Wendy the many hallways, chambers, and dead ends she’d soon have to navigate at the Overlook Hotel. Wendy Torrance was in a labyrinth. As if to further emphasize this thematic reality, a real labyrinth—the infamous hedge maze—lay just outside, a perfect literary complement to the symbolism of the heroine’s setting. Th is first and most basic orientation sets the tone for the entire story you plan on telling, whether it’s fiction, a personal memoir, or even a roleplaying adventure. The nature of the journey determines the nature of the conflict, which often defines the villain. These are organic structures that emerge within a story. Th e hero’s journey plots a linear course, traveling from point A to point B, ever onward, further from home and into unfamiliar environs before returning home. However, many heroines in fiction go on a different journey, one characterized by repetitive circles and often closer to home. Indeed, most heroines never leave the native culture. The adventure hides behind closed doors and interior spaces of otherwise familiar places. The journey travels inward and creates incredible friction while the heroine develops her sense of identity and self-realization. So, many heroine-centric stories feature heroines in conflict with their native culture, and this conflict lays the groundwork for the entire narrative structure I call the “Heroine’s Labyrinth.” ![]()
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