LifeWorks: Developing Your Personal Mythology

Jane
I read all of this. This has "bestseller" written all over it. It ranks alongside Julia Cameron's work in terms of accessibility and user-friendliness. I would buy this. I have been looking for a book like this for ages! I've heard it said that the tv soaps (from Coronation St to Dallas) base the characters on archetypes--- might be worth giving some illustrations from these programmes?
I love it. Already backed
Frank

Hi Jane. I NEED THIS TO BE PUBLISHED!!!!!!!!!! I am a lecturer in film/scriptwriting/media etc and I need a clear, beautifully written text like this for my students. The best I've got is Chris Vogler's book about 'The Writer's Journey.' But this is even more succint and the very fact that you have taken these established archetypes and appropriated them to our lifestyles is just genius. I've never, ever thought of that. I only ever used them in a Propp/Campbell way, always relating to film/literature. In some ways this could be the publishable book on the site. truly fascinating. And I would be first in the queue to buy it, my students close behind.xxxx

LIFE SCRIPT: DEVELOPING YOUR PERSONAL MYTHOLOGOY, By Jane Bain

There’s no substitute for “characters” than those that surround you and shape your everyday life. LIFE SCRIPT is a wonderfully written book. The author’s educational and studied experiences shine through in this inspirational work. What attracted me most to the piece is how easy it was to read. It flowed naturally, more like a story than a self-help book. Simple examples—like the game of “Consequences” described in the third chapter—provide anchors for the reader to grasp the philosophical discussions that follow, providing valuable insight into how a reader might improve his or her own life.

This is a masterful book that is immediately publishable. Congratulations. Backed.

Richard Bard
BRAINRUSH

I only intended to get a 'taste' of this book by reading the introduction and summary, but found myself totally immersed, both in the wonderful tales and by Jane's unique and thought-provoking commentary. Speaking as an under-educated philistine in this field, I found it instantly absorbing and very user-friendly. Someone puleeese publish this book. This is something I would like to share with my teenagers, with my daughter, with my mother....
Highly recommended for those of us saddled with the pessimist gene or who wear a mantle of martyrdom through life. A wonderful empowering without the encumbent psycho babble. Amanda White.

Hello Jane,

I read through the intro and part 1. Your work has an authentic voice which differ it from the rest of the works here. A menu garnished with motivational wisdom words. I like "Your life is a story. You are the author of your life script, and the main protagonist." What esoteric thought burn out here. I love works and tales which go beyond optical comprehension. Wish you well with it.

I've read all Joe Campbell's books and I love what I've read of this. Will come back frequently and poke through.

Well written narrative. Actually, I’m gonna force my 16 y.o. to read it. Hopefully he’ll learn something.
You’ve got my vote.

Dear Jane
this book cover grabs and cannot be passed by. I started to read this book some time ago and have just finished. congrats on a well crafted book. Love this genre, just looking through windows into the lives of others. This book gives me so much, showing such growth that it encourages one also. I still have not read it all, and would love you to put more up. please. I will carry on reading and comment further on as I would like to get this book of yours backed t
Backed for sure my me. ..I would really appreciate it if your would look at my book, COMMENT , and back it. If not that is OK also
The VERY best of luck with your book

Denise
The Letter

Wow, when this gets published I see it going very very far! Good luck with everything! Loved it all :)

A famous military axiom is "The best of plans always fail the first contact with the enemy." I cant help thinking that this book has only had contact with an ideal world. War, pestilence and famine make a mockery of life and its choices, let alone self aims. Patrick Barrett (Cuthbert-how mean is my valley)

I first learnt about scripts when receiving and providing training in Transactional Analysis some thirty plus years ago. Always found it interesting and this is a fascinating book, just from the chapters already posted. Not only good in terms of personal psychology but also for writing novels! Backed with pleasure. Paddy

Life Script: Developing Your Own Personal Mythology, by Jane Bain

I think this is a very timely book. As the trend towards the re-evaluation of traditional techniques (ie. "make-do- and-mend" mentality) gains universal appeal, Jane shows us that traditional stories retain contemporary relevance as well. Whether traditional stories or traditional techniques, people instinctively respond.

Myths act as multi-layered, collective narratives and experiences, and exposes dualities that exist within us all. Our human stories - the memories -are always the starting point, and Jane's text provides a way to rework the past into the present.

Well done, and congratulations. A wonderful achievement.

i like your style . now if i could pin down my own archetype...damn thing keeps jumping around . ah well....Greg Ryan

Loki has always been af favorite of mine and I love Ch. 6, told in his voice. I also like how you relate tales of the Trickster to the writer. How can one use the virtues and weaknesses of the trickster in your own character development? I wish you very much luck with this. It is clearly written and understood and could be very helpful to students and writers.
Susan
Flirting in Spanish

This is an interesting read and extremely thought provoking. Good luck with it. Gerry

Hi Jane, i can't offer an in-depth critique of your content (i'm not a mythographer). however, the writing is clean and easy to follow.
on my shelf.
i've read most of Campbell's works, inculding Hero With A 1000 Faces, all the Masks of God books, etc. - as well as his biography, Fire in the Mind. from what i've read of your work, you borrow from his oeuvre. i have no prob with that at all; in fact, it makes perfect sense to me. just wondering, how deep do you get into Jung's oeuvre when you present archetypes? i take it you are targeting a "unviersal" audience. i hope, though, that you dig down at times. take the reader to the core ;)
fascinating and important work.
all the best, andy

"...over your life story than YOU realize."
"...your encounters influence the next INSTALLMENT."
"...like a dramatic novel, at others, like a series..." A comma not a semi-colon as the clauses are dependent and not independent
"Conventions evolved THAT helped..."
folk tale is not hyphenated
You need not highlight certain words by using apostrophes or quotes. Their place in the sentence is sufficiently highlight, unless you want to use italics. The use of that and which is confused. Other than the last two tendencies, and they are very common, this is well written and personal. The tone is conversational with just enough of a feel of a lecture to give the writing and tone weight.

I like this. The writing is clear and concise, the plan laid out meticulously. I look forward to reading more.

JMC

Chapter 6 on the Trickster is especially illuminating! Great stuff! Backed, of course!

For a book which deals with all of life's big questions this is a surprisingly easy read.
You've certainly given a lot of time over to thinking about the subjects of which you write, and you've also given equal time into how best to explain your thoughts and conclusions to others. I think presentation will be a key component to this book, so I'd agree with francis and invest time to get the right illustrations or find an artist you think would transmit the feelings you are aiming for.
Backed
David
Bailey of the Saints

Dear Jane, Again, I want to tell you how thankful I am for having read your book. I was identifying with my Mom in my, "Tell Me True Love Stories," "My Precious Mom." You moved my heart. I loved my Mom so much. :) I got so excited when I saw that you had backed it. :) Since I have already backed & commented on your book before, I came to your "comment" page to help it advance even more. I will also put you on my watchlist to help "Life Script" move up. I want your book to go to the top so all can read it & it will come out in all of the stores.. :) Love, Susie :)

Dear Jane, I got so excited when I saw that you had backed my book. :) Since I have already backed & commented on your book, I came to your "comment" page to help it advance even more. I will also put you on my watchlist to help it move up. To help my other book to advance, would you please back & comment on my unedited version? "Tell Me True Love Stories" Thanks, Susie :)

i found that alot of what your saying is once I thought about it. backed with pleasure

I definitely have to read this. How much of Jung and Joseph Campbell's work has influence your thinking?

J M Cornwell

It's really shocking that our POV is the same about life. WONDERFUL.
Backed. Wid pleasure ofcourse.
I'm grounded(The Stories of life).

Dear Jane, I love that you have the table of contents & introduction, so I can see exact what you are going to say. Then, you say it - very well & thorough. Your book is a good read because you create interest by having titles & short paragraphs, which makes me want to keep reading to find out what's going to happen next. I'm BACKING/COMMENTING on your book to help advance it. :) Would you return the favor by taking a moment to BACK/COMMENT on my TWO Books, ... "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not" ... and the UNEDITED version? ... "Tell Me True Love Stories"
Thanks, Susie :)

I love books that stimulate thoughts and ideas. I go back to Julia Cameron's 'Artist's Way' again and again.

I think that Life Script, once it's published, will become part of my Personal Mythology and join the Artist's Way on my inspiration shelf.

Backed 100%.

Preston

Jane - What an interesting and moving book this is. I do look forward to being able to
make the whole journey through it. WedShef

This is a book filled with good advice. I can see where it would have a wide following as so many people are searching for a way to improve their life. On top of good advice, you have an easy writing style that makes this easy to read. Burgio (Grain of SAlt).

Hi Jane, Wonderfully informative. You employ just the right tone and pace to really make your points come across effectively. An enjoyable read for certain!. Shelved. JupiterGirl. (Twins of the Astral Plane)

This is great stuff and very useful. Backed.
Cheers,
Simon

Hi Jane
The excerpts are tantalising! You have certainly rehabilitated mythology in a most thought provoking manner.
David H

Hi Jane, I'm enjoying this, and finding that it's very clear and well-written but don't want to short-change you with a platitude, so consider this a holding comment until I get to it properly. Sorry. Thanks for the prod. I've looked around here today for the first time despite having registered two years ago (when I was in a red hair phase, now ended...) Frances

Life Script:

I came to this book more out of curiosity than anything. Didn’t know what to expect but it was so interesting I read to the end of the Trickster chapter (by the way, little typo with comma missing on “Good work, mate” I said.)

Will return to read more of this, and it’s already on my shelf.

Cáit ~ Muckers ~

I've been waiting for a book like this for so long! As a novelist, I find this very perceptive and analytical approach to the way we create characters absolutely fascinating. It becomes immediately clear why some characters work, and some simply don't, but at the same time giving us an insight into universal mythology, and how we can harness it to understand our own lives and the roles we play. I only intended to read a paragraph or two, but I COULDN"T STOP READING THIS! It is compelling, beautifully written and essential reading for all writers of fiction. This is a book which MUST BE PUBLISHED!
Jane Bailey, novelist.

Reply: My namesake has published several historical novels. Thank you, Jane!

I've been waiting for a book like this for so long! As a novelist, I find this very perceptive and analytical approach to the way we create characters absolutely fascinating. It becomes immediately clear why some characters work, and some simply don't, but at the same time giving us an insight into universal mythology, and how we can harness it to understand our own lives and the roles we play. I only intended to read a paragraph or two, but I COULDN"T STOP READING THIS! It is compelling, beautifully written and essential reading for all writers of fiction. This is a book which MUST BE PUBLISHED!
Jane Bailey, novelist.

This is a wonderfully crafted book..... immensely readable and easy on the mind...we are encouraged to think, to reason, it's not rammed down unwilling throats, rather it is offered in a conversational tone...at once comfortable and pleasing to the inner ear we all hear the written word with. A book that must be published...this is an addition to 'Everymans' bookshelf that can be drawn on again and again..
Suzannah Burke (Dudes Down Under')

Reply: Thank you!

Jane,

As a life-long student of literature, I find the theory of narrative patterning and a limited palette of archetypal characters and stories compelling. For me, this began with Grendel and the externalisation of fear in a primitive and insecure society. There is some fascinating material here, expertly researched and written. Backed!

Rachel

Jane, I've read your Intro and Part 1. Well-written work. It's obvious you have invested a lot of research in this.

Happy to back your work.

Joffrey (The Silver Spoon Effect)

Jane, this is a wonderfully crafted book. I admit I was uncertain when I began reading...expecting paragraph after paragraph of indechipherable psychobabble....lesson one, don't judge a book by it's hook.

This is an immensely readable and easy on the mind...we are encouraged to think, to reason, it's not rammed down unwilling throats, rather it is offered in a conversational tone...at once comfortable and pleasing to the inner ear we all hear the written word with.

I congratulate you wholeheartedly on a book that must be published...this is an addition to 'Everymans' bookshelf
that can be drawn on again and again...
already backed with pleasure.
Suzannah Burke

[Life Script]
The short pitch was a bit hard to read and from that, I didn't really make out what you were hinting at. I started reading with the idea: let's see what we have here.

I read through the book till chapter 3 (included) and I loved it. It is not a book I would have picked up from a shelve, but that would be my loss. As do the others, I think this is a publishable book, except maybe for the market.

Backed.

Peter
(A Shadow In A Shady Country)

This is a book I would buy. I hang on to every word because I never know when another piece of the jigsaw will slip into place. I think every writer on Authonomy would gain a lot by reading this. Take elements of this book and apply them to your writing and it will have more meaning, depth, and breadth.

Jane,
Great to read a book that weaves together such a range of subjects into a strong and hopeful message. A thought provoking piece but not one that leaves you believing that thinking is the only thing the reader can do.
Backed.
Mike

Really great stuff, Jane. Backed, of course. Borderline brilliant, and I've only read a handful of chapters; will be sure to revisit and leave more comments. A question/quibble, though: I'd like to know, up front, more cleanly what your thesis is. What I'm asking is, is this a historical/cultural/sociological study of story structure, is it a self-help book, or is it both? I think I'd like to know from the start exactly, EXACTLY, what you hope to accomplish/what you hope your reader will walk away with a better understanding of, so that as I read I know how to direct my brain to interpret what is being said.

I want a specific goal as a reader.

Great stuff, great stuff...
- Tom H. (Race McCloud)

As someone who's studied myth from an anthropological context, I quite approve of this message and its application to the 'self-help' genre. Is the final version of this going to include foot/endnotes? I think it would benefit from a little more direct attribution--for instance, who first popularized the notion of an archetype (from the psychological end, Carl Jung?)--but I'm also not a usual reader of the self-help genre, and this might be appropriate for it.
P. Chand (Terminal Velocity')

Reply: The completed book does indeed contain footnotes and an extensive bibliography.

Jane,
A well done presentation of myth made accessible to the layperson. Perhaps due to my academic background, I felt a sense of loss or deficit at not finding more targeted references to such as Krippner, Campbell and Jung.
Otherwise, well-written and (I believe) marketable.

Alan

Life Script: Developing Your Personal Mythology
Jane Bain

Jane,
I read your pitches and had a look at chapters 1 and 2.

"Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going? What should I do now...?" You start off by engaging your reader at a very deep level. Many philosophers and religionists commence with similar questions so you are in the very best of company here. I like the idea of a "life script" - "We make sense of the world through stories" - well, most writers do anyway, but your take is good here because you combine theory with stories. A "personal mythology" is a good idea - I am sure everyone could benefit from developing their "own life script". I like your terminologies. I would love to be able to assess my cogninitive style, identify archetypal characters in my life, and to begin to write my own life story - I am not sure if you mean here to literally physically write such a story, or whether you mean this figuratively, to "live" it by following your guidelines and suggestions so I am keen to find out and will defifnitely return to read more as time permits. This piece of writing reflects reasonable and interesting scholarship to me on a very significant topic. Well done.
Best wishes in finding a publisher Jane,
Zan

Jung, Campbell, and Bain. Each have a "story to tell." I know that my last novel was a large part of the story I had to tell after this Bizarro World we have been facing the past decade. Your book makes it clear that "you can start to direct your own life script." I know that most of the people on Authonomy are fully aware of that point. This is a website full of storytellers with "newly-composed narratives of our own lives." Or the lives of the characters that are "primal figures which arise spontaneously within" our minds. Simply, you are backed with pleasure.

Hi Jane,

Just read your sample offering and I think you have produced the companion book to "The Writer's Journey."
I'm already thinking of ways to step out of the box regarding established character archetypes. I also enjoyed the task based approach you provide at the end there. Well written, thought provoking, and certainly should be read by all writers of Fiction, I would think. I would've benefited from this if it were required reading in my creative writing course (sigh). I'll add your name and title to my "to buy" list and hope for the best.

Regards,
Keith

As someone who's studied myth from an anthropological context, I quite approve of this message and its application to the 'self-help' genre. Is the final version of this going to include foot/endnotes? I think it would benefit from a little more direct attribution--for instance, who first popularized the notion of an archetype (from the psychological end, Carl Jung?)--but I'm also not a usual reader of the self-help genre, and this might be appropriate for it.
Backed!

Jane, it appears that you are attempting to straddle the chasm between popular culture and academia in this work. In its analytical capacity as a work offering a coherent theory it is well suited to a more academic audience. However, it seems to me that the concept of 'story' is one of several possible identity sense-making approaches that can be deployed in the contemporary situation.

The interesting thing for me is that I truly appreciate the way you articulate and agree with virtually everything you say that I have thus far read in terms of substantive assessment - yet I have caveats.

There has certainly been a loss of mythology within Western culture - one that in my view is proving truly catastrophic for the human imagination; and I think your work brings a timely corrective to that loss.

Still, 'story' should not be instated as a panacea for all contemporary ailments. I think within popular culture this is especially so and I think your work will in any case prove too complex to assimilate for the people who would benefit from it the most. Narrative approaches are not exactly new and although a hybrid with myth is a stimulating idea, such carries certain drawbacks - not least of these is around the sociology of relations of power within social stratification in terms of education and mental health for example.

People need 'technology' and solutions that they can wield, in order to have a sense of power over their environment and circumstances. In a sense, while story can empower people in many ways it is a form of analogical thinking which may easily break down once the harsh realities of 'powerlessness' grip individuals and communities. The problem with stories is that they can become escapist. They have their place but sometimes it is better not to think in terms of stories - 'story' cannot amount to a theory of everything.

This is why as a self-help manual there is always going to be a difficulty. A story is a definitive conceptual framework but our lives are often loosely framed and when the frame is shaken it can't always be made to make sense. No-one will ever pen the words "I died" - and that be accurate (including by near death story tellers).

Having said all of the above I very much enjoy the emphasis that you are bringing to the table. This work is better as an assessment and general case for mythological thinking and the use of story in identity construction that has its place in impacting human agency rather than as an individual's self-help resource in my estimation. It would require counterpart theory in neuropsychology, in my view, to help provide a problem-solving focus and rationale for contemporary Westerners who face a level of complexity in their existence that is not reducible to solution via story-identity.

But I'm still very impressed. This book is strong and timely. It is currently better suited to a specialist market than a popular one but it is a book I would certainly purchase for my academic shelf and a very stimulating catalyst to the kind of conversations that 21st Century humans need to be having.

Since I'd put this on my 3D shelf, I must place it on my authonomy shelf. I'd only ask you to consider your envisaged market seriously. This book might be best disseminated as a web-based project with regular blogging. This would help you to bring in a self-help modality by drawing on breadth of expertise and by focusing down frameworks into specific strategies for problem solving situational complexity - books are made up of chapters after all.

By the way, I tend to think of my life more as a poem at the moment!

Best Wishes

Alexander

Congrats! We'll make "Life Script" our gift to others world-wide, especially when it's translated into the languages of the sources. Such myths and fairy-tales have sustained humanity for millennia - it would be pleasing to see their influence spread across today's troubled globe via "Life Script".

I read all of this. It made me think, and particularly it made me notice some things in my own work that I hadn't quite realized were there. I do think it's how people work, turning their life into a story and basing many of their decisions on the story they think they're in. I had a friend who claimed that her religion was based on this: that all the meaning in life came from seeing it as a story and that the goal of life is to live a good story. She said it all came to her in an epiphany while reading the Hogfather.

I was a bit disappointed that the excerpt you have here stopped just as you were going to get into exactly how one could use a knowledge of myths and archetypes to ones advantage, because I'm very curious about what you do with that, but I guess I'll have to wait till this gets published to find out. I'm pretty confident that it will.

I almost forgot to say this, but I really like the stories you include! Particularly I liked Loki's voice. You have a knack for retelling these things in an interesting way but also one that doesn't lose sight of the original story. I like it a lot.

My only criticisms are personal-preference-I-don't-like-this-but-I-know-other-people-who-do type things, so feel free to ignore. I do feel like the beginning especially is very repetitious. It's repetitious because you're writing it like an academic paper where you have an introduction and a thesis statement and then an outline of how you're going to support your thesis all before you get into the actual supporting. It's something I find quite annoying, but it's part of the style you're writing in, so I see why you're doing it. And then the discussion questions seem out of place and not very interesting to me. I either thought about them already while I was reading the chapter, or I'm not interested in them. But that's how discussion questions usually feel to me, so again, if they work for you and for other readers, keep them.

I'm very happy you asked me to read this. It's given me some interesting things to think about. Best of luck with it!

An interesting exploration into the necessity of stories to the human development and to our common humanity.
I have experienced first hand the social problems that can result in a lack of stories. Working with small children from deprived environments, I have again and again been struck by how their lack of understanding of others wants and needs goes hand in hand with their lack of story telling. They have no understanding of "once upon a time" or "and they all lived happily ever after".
They also fail to "see" the archetpyes and this deprives them of one of the foundation stones of what society views as a common morality.
Your book defines the necessity for a common cultural hook for society to hang the clothes of morality upon. You show again and again these hooks are there in oral as well as written traditions, going beyond the bindings that religion or modernity might like to constrain them with.
I was struck by your idea that we are all a product of our own invention. I am not entirely sure I can agree with you here, I feel very often we can be the unwilling participant in someone else's story. Your book is a guide to removing oneself from that saga and re-writing another of your own.
I would very much have liked to have read all the archetypes, The Clever Girl and The Trickster rang out across the ages loud and clear.
For me, story telling is the glue that holds me together, from the destruction of my enemies, to re-capturing the times of joy and even inventing situations conducive to sleep each night in the hope of finding it. In this book you have managed to make me feel normal and I am a great deal better for believing it.

Hi, This is very interesting. My brother also teaches Mythology, along with Classics so he would love this. Backed with pleasure. Kop - The Lucky Bean Tree.