Have you heard of the hero’s journey? It’s at the core of the mythic structure. Here it is for mysteries! The hero’s journey is an incredibly intuitive story structure. It is the Go To for Hollywood screenwriters. I have adapted the Hero’s Journey for mysteries below. Hero lives in the ORDINARY WORLD CALL TO ADVENTURE REFUSAL […]
Scroll down to watch on YouTube! That Old Adage Understanding how your fictional characters react is essential to making them three-dimensional. There is an old adage that says it’s not the situation you face but how you deal with it that defines character. The idea is that 10% of life is what happens and 90% […]
Owen Wilson plays a great everyman, and in Marry Me, he has a clear Hero’s Journey. Charlie, Marry Me (Owen Wilson, with Jennifer Lopez and Meluma) Summary (from IMBD): Music superstars Kat Valdez and Bastian are getting married before a global audience of fans. But when Kat learns, seconds before her vows, that Bastian has […]
Marry Me is a light romantic comedy of the first order, and Kat Valdez has a clear Hero’s Journey. Kat Valdez, Marry Me (Jennifer Lopez, with Owen Wilson and Meluma) Summary (from IMBD): Music superstars Kat Valdez and Bastian are getting married before a global audience of fans. But when Kat learns, seconds before her […]
Jonah Byrde is not your typical hero, but he is a compelling one. Jonah Byrde (Ozark, 2017-2022 with Jason Bateman, Laura Linney, Sofia Hubiltz, Julia Garner, and Skylar Gaertner as Jonah) Summary (from Netflix): The Byrdes and their teenage kids, Charlotte and Jonah, are, for all intents and purposes, an ordinary family with ordinary lives. […]
The original Top Gun has a clear Hero’s Journey. The Hero’s Journey: Top Gun (1986), with Tom Cruise, Anthony Edwards, Tom Skerritt, TJ Cassidy, Val Kilmer, Kelly McGillis Hero– Maverick (Pete Mitchell) Ordinary World– Maverick is a gifted Navy fighter pilot who doesn’t follow the rules. Goose is his RIO. During a flight, they encounter […]
We read to escape, and when we read, we put ourselves into the roles of the characters we’re reading about. In a sense, we become them. This is why it is so important for hero characters to be relatable in some way. It’s hard to connect with characters who are not likable. In short, we […]
Have you heard of the hero’s journey? It’s at the core of the mythic structure. It basically goes like this: Hero lives in the ORDINARY WORLD CALL TO ADVENTURE REFUSAL OF THE CALL MEETING OF THE MENTOR CROSSING THE THRESHOLD (to some magical or new world, which is entering the (6) ROAD of TRIALS). At this point, […]