I wrote my first book at twenty-nine, not because I wanted to so much as I had to. It started a decade earlier when I was at Art College. We’d been given an assignment based on the theme “Let there be Light” and as I sat painting the moment of creation as a spectrum… an…
By Mary Mackey. Revisited guest post from 10/10/16. Your unconscious is packed with ideas, metaphors, visions, plots, dreams, colors, characters, emotions—in short, everything you need to write a great visionary novel. But how do you get to it? How do you step out of the social agreement we call “reality,” and dip into this incredibly…
Nothing inspires me more than the idea that the impossible can be made possible…that stories have the power to transform the final arbiter of reality—the human mind. What could be a more “visionary” undertaking than to embark on a writing journey whose mission is to change the very nature of reality by influencing human perception?…
“I am the little sister of Jesus,” the young Caucasian man said. Dressed in time-faded jeans, a tee shirt and Hush Puppies, he slouched on a couch in a cottage on the grounds of the Miramar Hotel. Overly thin with blondish-brown hair and wearing Superman glasses, he epitomized the look of a writing nerd. It…
A Two Part Entreaty by V. M. Franck Part Two – My Entrance into the Circle of the White Rose Do high beings exist or is it wishful thinking? It’s comforting to think so, but I really don’t know. I can prove nothing. No one can, no matter how certain they are of their beliefs….
A Two Part Entreaty by V. M. Franck Part One – The White Rose Society Is there such a thing as pure and perfect love, and if so, how do we find it? I’ve been told that within the heart of each of us glows a white flame. When the flame expands in pure and…
While pondering a visionary approach to story structure, I realized that what helped me the most as a writer was becoming aware of the archetypal pattern of storytelling. I call it the Circled Cross. This system is based on the ever-changing cycles in nature where story is no exception. Finding this beneficial, I felt inspired…
In the mystical inlets of my being there lives a little nymph I named Violette. She is the best in me. She’s an old-time storyteller, one who desires to change the world for the better through the weavings of her mind. Her desire to come into her own was conceived when I read Jonathan Livingston…
I am always reluctant to describe myself as a writer, because although I have written 7 books and published 5, I didn’t really write them. Well, I was responsible for researching the material, typing them up, and publishing them, and of course I am the sole recipient of the royalties for the books, but did…
Nona had spent this morning, like so many mornings before, rooted in the expanse of an open field, rooted in the shadow of the great temple she now stands above, rooted in a field opened through the sacrifice of countless scores of martyred shrubs and trees; a holy site signifying the cycle of plantly existence….
Nona flicked the match against the edge of the box. The strike ignited, causing light to dance on the head like a ghost materializing from aether, evaporating order into chaos. She raised the stick above her head, stretched her elbow straight, and rocked up to her tiptoes to lift the match as high as possible….
We’re familiar with hypothetical, “What If?” conjectures. What if I have to declare bankruptcy? What if North Korea attacks the United States (or vice versa)? And what if the President is impeached—what happens then? All of these speculations, some personal, some apocalyptic, suggest a story will follow—an answer, explanation, or procedure that addresses the initial…
I would like to honor one of my favorite writers, Mr. Clive Staples Lewis, briefly showing how his intuitive genius made him a famous exemplar through works closely related to the “visionary fiction” genre. C.S. Lewis is the author of the well-known Chronicles of Narnia series, as well as a less known but most inspiring…
“The word that can be spoken is not the true word.” – Lao Tzu In my version of the People’s Story we were all born into a guessing game in which reality is continuously poking us with the question – “What should you do?” Through both our actions and our inactions, we are continuously responding,…
This is the concluding part of this mini-series on how Woody Carter’s possession experience inspired his novel, Narada’s Children: A Visionary Tale of Two Cities. For the first part, click here. I sat in Nana’s chair overwhelmed by what I had experienced and being released from spirit possession, until I had an epiphany: What’s to…
Mindfulness meditation is all the rage, now. It’s promoted in public schools nationwide, and in colleges and universities. In a Huffington Post blog, Candy Gunter Brown, PhD, argues that public education has gotten around the U.S. Supreme Court ruling prohibiting religion in public institutions by replacing the terms “meditation” and “Buddhism” with words like “neuroscience”…
Vision is not mere fantasy devoid of pragmatic realism but an expression of our core values linked to universal experiences. For a nation that used to pride itself on a universal concept of E Pluribus Unum (out of many, one), we have politically divided and compartmentalized ourselves in the “Pluribus,” but have precious little “Unum”…
Black Elk, a Native American visionary and Lakota Sioux medicine man chronicled by John Neihardt in Black Elk Speaks, believed a coherent vision to be central to a people’s well-being. Black Elk’s prophetic message was clear—“Without vision, the people perish.” A vision encompasses not only the values and goals a people strive to honor but…
This is what archaeologists have learned from their excavations in the Land of Israel: The Israelites were never in Egypt, did not wander in the desert, did not conquer the land in a military campaign and did not pass it on to the twelve tribes of Israel. Perhaps even harder to swallow is that the united…
Editor’s Note: Karen Rider’s insightful article was originally published in January, 2013 on our VFA blog site. We thought the discussion it catalyzed was worth having it reposted. We invite you to enjoy and comment! Setting the Literary Stage for Visionary & Metaphysical Fiction Rapid-fire change is ongoing in the publishing industry—and it’s not just…
In Part I, we began exploring the turning of the Wheel of Fortune. We moved past the idea of chaos, chance, and fate and introduced the idea of perfection. The Wheel of Fortune and the World imply continuous turning: the unending flow of time. A journey does not solely cover distance, but also time. Consider,…
Visionary Fiction writers take us on a Hero’s Journey. Not only are the heroes and journeys archetypal, but so are the many characters and situations encountered along the way. Another version of the Hero’s Journey is the Fool’s Journey, which specifically refers to the Major Arcana of the Tarot, but also the variations as I…
It’s a long way from Pennsylvania to Mount Everest. I’m still on the road (a bit closer – now living in New Zealand) but don’t know if I’ll ever get there. It’s not unlike the journey from being born to understanding, or at least making peace with, the meaning of life. I’m an American man married…
I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that those of us writing Visionary Fiction have had some sort of vision, be it a lucid dream, an unexpectedly successful meditation, a trip brought on by a substance outside the normal diet, or even a near-death experience. It may have lasted several hours, possibly…
Scene descriptions of real, physical spaces within Visionary Fiction writing engages and enthralls readers.
Have you ever wondered what makes certain stories more powerful than others? Could there be such a thing as a story’s fifth element. If so, what is it? Although in recent times, the basic elements have been recognized as four, in most ancient cultures and religions there are five. Hinduism acknowledges five great elements—earth, water,…
We are living at a crucial moment in the advancement of humanity. Everything is in flux. Materialism and reliance upon ever more sophisticated technology has reached unprecedented extremes, while in parallel a new yearning for purpose and a path to attainment is swiftly gaining ground. Visual and literary visionary creators have a key role to…