The Hero's Journey
The Hero's Journey is your everyday writing template. It's ideal for fantasy-adventure genres as it features a lot of its basic, most recognizable tropes/features - mentors, tresholds, magical worlds, etc
In all truth, the Hero's Journey was thought of as a pattern that stories at the time - particularly the later half of the 1900s - were following, with a protagonist, their mentor, etc etc
You are more than free to use this template - it literally belongs to no one - but most readers and writers will agree that, past the outlining stage, it's more of a limiter than it is an enabler for storytelling
The best way to understand how it works is with examples - and for this occassion, we'll be using How to Train your Dragon!
How would you use the Hero's Journey?
While it comes as a ready-to-use, easy-to-understand storytelling template akin to the Three Act Structure, the truth is...hardly anyone uses it without at least a slight changeIn all truth, the Hero's Journey was thought of as a pattern that stories at the time - particularly the later half of the 1900s - were following, with a protagonist, their mentor, etc etc
You are more than free to use this template - it literally belongs to no one - but most readers and writers will agree that, past the outlining stage, it's more of a limiter than it is an enabler for storytelling
The Hero's Journey: Structure
While it has varying interpretations, there are 12 common steps across all versions: Ordinary world, Call to adventure, Meeting the mentor, Entering the Special World; Trials, Approaching the innermost cave, The Ordeal, The Treasure; Result, Return, New life, ReturnThe best way to understand how it works is with examples - and for this occassion, we'll be using How to Train your Dragon!
| HJ Step | Seen in How To Train Your Dragon as... |
|---|---|
| Ordinary World | Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, or just Hiccup, is a 15 year old kid from Berk, son of the Chief, and, overall, a disappointment. He wishes to take down a Night Fury to earn the respect of his Village |
| Call to Adventure | Hiccup successfully takes down Toothless, yet when he is given the chance to enter the world of Viking Glory... |
| Refusal of the Call | ...he refuses, letting Toothless go and, having been spared by him, also refuses his father's offer to take on Dragon Training, although less successfully, as the Chief doesn't take no for an answer |
| Assistance | Gobber gives the trainees the Book of Dragons, where Hiccup understands how much Vikings fear Dragons, and, through Dragon Training, picks up on useful data on the creatures, such as them being unable to flee danger if their wings or tail were cut |
| Departure | Hiccup attempts to help Toothless with his wounded tail - and the first attempt is a success. However, because the dragon was still a wild creature, he attempts to get rid if Hiccup only for both of them to find out that he had to be there if the tail was to work |
Related People
Long answer: while it has become a repetitive trope over the years and some people will use it as valid criticism for your story. Using it as a base for your craft will be of great help, but keep in mind that it is greatly limited to fantasy-adventure genres - feel free to modify it as you see fit
Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
Comments
Author's Notes
The words in bold are maroon in this page because they weren't easy to read with the default color