Morning Miracle Reading – Thoughts

A friend of mine suggested the Miracle Morning, by Hal Elrod. I listened to the audiobook, learning most of what I needed by the halfway mark but finished the short, nonfiction audiobook. Good stuff.

Mr. Elrod has an mnemonic called SAVERS. For the purpose of today’s-lightning quick blog, I will only be talking abut the ‘R.’

Which is for reading, of course. My current nonfiction selection is 20 Master Plots and How to Build Them, by Ronald B. Tobias. Each morning, after silence, affirmation, visualization, and exercise, I read nonfiction for twenty-five minutes. (Fiction is pretty much squeezed in during every free second for the rest of the day, via audiobook.)

Thoughts from today’s selection: The Quest Plot.

First off, I was glad to see elements I am using in my work-in-progress, Bayonet Dawn (available for pre-order), which is at least partly a quest by the definition in Mr. Tobias’s book. I enjoyed his clarification of how a quest should begin, the difference between Intent and Motivation. My biggest takeaway from the section on Act 1 was the discussion of supporting characters, the reason the exist, and when they should appear.

Very nice, Mr. Ronald B. Tobias.

I also liked the examples he used from Gilgamesh, Don Quixote, Jason and the Golden Fleece, and The Wizard of Oz. (Often this kind of analysis is a bit tedious, to be honest, but this time it worked well.)

Mr. Tobias also gives Act 2, commonly known in many circles as “The Muddle” some respect. Basically the middle / muddle is there to make things interesting, and I am paraphrasing here, worth reading.

Thanks for stopping by. Now it is time to write. My work-in-progress is the best part of my day right now; I’m really thankful I’m a writer!

Peace.