Hero's journey

Hello, friends!

Today, we're going to look at the Hero's journey - a popular narrative archetype for legends, myths and stories from all over the world.

Let's see what steps it's made of and how to write them!

Hero's journey is a monomyth, also known as a narrative template or an archetype. It has been first identified by J. Campbell in his book “The hero with a thousand faces”. 

Hero's journey outlines a structure that you can commonly find in stories from various cultures. It starts with a protagonist who’s forced to go on an adventure where they fight, face challenges and transform. At the end of the adventure they return home as a changed person.

Stages of the journey:

1. ORDINARY WORLD - MC's reality before anything unusual happens

2. CALL TO ADVENTURE - MC has to leave what they know behind to undertake a quest that has to be completed

3. REFUSAL OF THE CALL - because of their fears, the MC doesn't want to go. The Call eventually forces them to.

4. MEETING THE MENTOR - more experienced and knowledgeable character passes valuable lessons to the MC.

5. CROSSING THE THRESHOLD - MC is now committed to the journey. They confront an event that affects them and forces some action.

6. TESTS, ALLIES, ENEMIES - new characters enter the story as the MC learns about the special world and its rules. 

7. APPROACH TO THE INMOST CAVE - the MC prepares for the upcoming confrontation with the supreme evil. The tension is rising.

8. THE ORDEAL - central life-or-death crisis, confronting MC’s biggest fears, they get a taste of death. It's the peak moment of the story.

9. REWARD - the crisis is gone and now the MC gets their reward. It's a moment to let the characters breathe.

10. THE ROAD BACK - hero must complete the journey. An event pushes them back to the ordinary world. They must make some hard choices about their future.

11. THE RESURRECTION - it shows the transformation that has taken place in MC. It can be during a physical event or a psychological confrontation with their shadow.

12. RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR - the hero returns from their adventure with their reward.

(from Pinterest, unfortunately don't remember the author!)

Stories with the Hero's journey archetype:

Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien 

Interstellar

Hunger games, Suzanne Collins

Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Divergent, Veronica Roth