Kim Hudson - The Virgins Promise: Writing Stories of Feminine Creative, Spiritual, and Sexual Awakening

While everyone is keenly aware of the imbalance between the number of male vs. female focused movies, few screenwriters have known where to turn to find help composing plot s enthralling enough to tip the scales. The Archetype of the Virgin is a clever one to chose, as it evokes innocence on the one extreme, and solid self-possession on the other, an arc author Kim Hudson deftly delineates in The Virgins Promise.

Mary Trainor-Brigham, M.A., author of Deep Cinema

A comprehensive answer to the age-old riddle of what do those feminine characters really want.

John L. Geiger, co-author, Creativity & Copyright

Far too many talented, hardworking women and minority screenwriters are underemployed compared to male screenwriters, and womens perspectives are far too often marginalized, trivialized or ignored in the film and television industries of our world. Kim Hudsons The Virgins Promise will help both male and female screenwriters think about whats involved in creating more viable female characters, and provides a ready template for those who need one. I look forward to recommending this book to my screenwriting students.

Alexis Krasilovsky, Professor, Dept. of Cinema and Television
Arts, California State University, Northridge

The story of the Virgin is as old as recorded history. Kim Hudson has given that story new life through her book. She has allowed readers to expand their imaginations to create a contemporary vision of this mythical character. A must have for any writers collection.

Ken Rotcop, author of The Perfect Pitch and creator of Pitchmart

Behind every great film is a great story of transformation. In The Virgins Promise, Kim Hudson gives screenwriters a clear explanation of the archetypal journey toward feminine creative, spiritual, and sexual awakening. Highly recommended.

Tony Levelle, author of Digital Video Secrets and co-author of
Producing with Passion

The Virgins Promise finally delivers the inversion of the much-discussed Myth of the Hero. A long-overlooked female exploration of transformation, Hudsons analysis is revealing, engaging and informative. Screenwriters, scholars, and social studies grad students alike will be thanking her for years to come.

Jay Miles, media instructor, East Haven (CT) High School

Kim Hudsons new book, The Virgins Promise, is both a powerful writing manual and a treasure of insight into the feminine nature. It will not only help you master the ability to write powerful female characters and develop the virgins journey in fresh ways, but also help you see the deeper meaning in the stories of our lives. I admit Im a sucker for this kind of stuff, but I believe Hudson has added a valuable volume that should be part of any writers or student of humanitys library.

Derek Rydall, author of I Couldve Written a Better Movie than
That! and Theres No Business Like Soul Business, founder,
ScriptwriterCentral.com, EnlightenedEntertainer.com.

The Virgins Promise is a groundbreaking and profound addition to the canon on screenplay structure. With great clarity Kim Hudson offers a method for understanding and writing successful screenplays about characters whose dramatic journey follows an internal path to discovery and acceptance of their true identity in spite of formidable obstacles. I am certain that many important and successful new films will be inspired by this book.

Sharon McGowan, producer of Better than Chocolate and The
Lotus Eaters

A story well told can change the world. Hudson unlocks the secret to writing stories of self-fulfillment in this lovely and inspiring book. A must read for all story tellers and screenwriters.

Mireille Soria, producer of Ever After

For a work as thought provoking and even profound as this, The Virgins Promise is thankfully accessible and not for a minute esoteric during its read. The icing on the cake is Hudsons style and use of language. At once simple and yet complex. The Virgins Promise is a bit like the perfect haiku: Sparse and philosophical.

Deepa Mehta, screenwriter/producer of Fire, Earth, Water and
Bollywood/Hollywood

Published by Michael Wiese Productions
12400 Ventura Blvd. #1111
Studio City, CA 91604
(818) 379-8799, (818) 986-3408 (FAX)
www.mwp.com

Cover design by MWP
Interior design by William Morosi
Edited by Paul Norlen
Printed by McNaughton & Gunn

Manufactured in the United States of America
Copyright 2010
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hudson, Kim, 1960
The virgins promise: writing stories of feminine creative, spiritual, and sexual awakening /
Kim Hudson.

p. cm. -- (Great unproduced film scripts)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-932907-72-8

1. Motion picture authorship. 2. Motion picture plays--Technique. 3. Archetype (Psychology) 4. Archetype (Psychology) in motion pictures. 5. Characters and characteristics in motion pictures. 6. Virgins. 7. Femininity. I. Title.
PN1996.H74 2010
808.23082-dc22

2009053119

Printed on Recycled Stock

To Jamie, Jesse and Buzz

Contents

List of Tables

acknowledgements

W riting The Virgins Promise has been a five-year journey of exploration for me. I kept pursuing this path thanks to people who encouraged me when the idea was young and fragile. People like Clodagh OConnell, Harvey McKinnon, Harold Johnson, Lori Hudson-Fish, and many others I encountered along the way. The generous support of Dave Joe gave me the space to explore these ideas and write while still caring for our children in a soulful way, which was a real gift. I am grateful to Michael Wiese Productions for taking a chance on a first-time author with a dream. A sincere thank you also to my editors Silvia Heinrich, Melva McLean and Pat Sanders; my readers Gervais Bushe, Joyce Thierry, Mark Timko, Kent Robertson, Laurie Anderson, Robyn Harding, and Colleen Jones; and my friends Luke Carroll, Katherine and Rob Strother, George Maddison, Marcia Thomson, Laurel Parry, and Louise Hardy who were so generous with their time and insights. And finally, thank you to my daughters Jesse and Jamie who have enormous faith in me, and to Laurie Anderson who is a true hero to me.

foreword

by Christopher Vogler

T he Heros Journey pattern that Joseph Campbell wrote about in The Hero with a Thousand Faces has been a wellspring of creativity and inspiration for many people, male and female, who recognized the patterns as a metaphorical description of their journeys through life. It has been a roadmap for storytellers and artists, female and male, who find its terms and incidents to be perfectly designed to connect with the emotions and dreams of their audiences. For many people it can be a universal, one-size-fits-all guidebook to the inevitable stages of life, travel, launching anew business, or any serious endeavor.