Turning the Hero’s Journey on its Head
I love a good, old-fashioned ‘hero’s journey’. The everyman/everywoman leaves the familiarity of their home in order to fight for the greater good. They face trials and tribulations (with the help of mentors and friends), until they arrive at a point where all hope seems lost. Against the odds they triumph and return home a changed (better) person.
Some people hate the hero’s journey. They roll their eyes and talk about ‘tired old tropes’. Well sure, they can be a bit predictable:
Yes, we know that Frodo will eventually destroy the ring.
Harry will obvs defeat Voldemort (guys like him always get their comeuppance).
And of course, Bridget will choose the slightly boring, but sensible option of Mark Darcy. It’s what we all wanted, deep down.
We know the hero’s journey is formulaic, but for those of us who like it, that’s its appeal. We want it that way. Life is so confusing at times - it can be overwhelming witnessing the unjust brutality of the human experience. So it’s nice to be able to sit back with your book and know that the world will be put to rights by the last page. That everything will be wrapped up in a nice metaphorical ‘shiny-gold bow’.
I’ve read a lot of articles about the hero’s journey while writing my manuscript, but a recent post by David Stafford is one of my favourites. Rather than just focusing on the steps involved in the structure, Stafford looks at the common themes of opposition in the hero’s journey - Good v Evil, Haven v Wildnerness, Nature v Machine, Father v Son, Sibling v Sibling - and how to approach them in innovative ways.