The concept of The Hero’s Journey is a well-known trope amongst writers as it is commonly used in modern day storytelling. Since most contemporary stories are character driven, it helps that The Hero’s Journey is also focused on the protagonist and how to guide them through the story. It also helps that elements of The Hero’s Journey can be used to help writers figure out how to structure their own stories. Most of what’s in the concept fits right into the three-act structure that most writer’s use to plan out their stories. The adventure that a character takes, how it starts and how it changes them, makes for both an easy way to structure a story as well as an easier approach to character development.
To understand its impact, we have to understand the concept of The Hero’s Journey. Popularized by Joseph Campbell in the book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, it is the idea that throughout history and different cultures there are many similarities that can be summarized as a general storyline that most protagonists go through. To summarize, it starts with the protagonist in their everyday setting which is then disturbed by an external force causing them to go out on an “adventure”. The adventure in question isn’t necessarily always a positive thing, sometimes it can be a difficult and arduous journey for all those involved. This journey has various trials and encounters that cause the protagonist to learn about a new and unfamiliar world and ultimately find the solution that solves the problem that started the story. A core aspect of this journey, however, is that it changes the protagonist in a fundamental way. They don’t return home the same they were before, sometimes they don’t even go back home. There’s more depth and explanation to the concept but understanding the basics can help with understanding how to construct your own story.
It doesn’t take much to realize that the three-act plot structure that’s so commonly used can follow The Hero’s Journey quite closely. One can view the “Call to Adventure” as the inciting incident for most character driven stories as it’s what forces the character to leave their world of comfort either intentionally or by force. Sometimes there’s a “refusal to the call” if it’s a reluctant protagonist though tragedy or some kind of punishment may force them to go on this adventure. The rising action before the climax can follow the steps along The Hero’s Journey, however it should be known that stories don’t have to follow the antiquated structure of the concept. Not all protagonists are heroes and, therefore, don’t follow the same path. Even characters that follow the hero archetype will often have their own unique circumstances. For instance, not every protagonist isn’t going to have a mentor figure like The Hero’s Journey suggests. But the core concept that something forces the hero to go on this story, whether by their own volition or through force by someone else, still stands as a core aspect of storytelling.
The rising action in the plot line is where the story slowly (or quickly depending on the story) makes its way towards the climax and often the most diverse and interesting part of any story. The Hero’s Journey helps to provide some structure for this component though it’s best not to take it as literally as it’s portrayed but more conceptually. In this part of the story, The Hero’s Journey describes it as learning about the unfamiliar world they’ve been thrust into. This is where the protagonist also meets new allies and enemies while figuring out how to achieve their ultimate goal (i.e. the reason for their story in the first place). While The Hero’s Journey can help writers to structure this part, it should be noted that this concept is mostly centered around the traditional concept of a “hero”. Not all protagonists are the same so your own character(s) will follow their own path but the elements of character development along The Hero’s Journey can still be useful to apply, mainly the component often referred to as the abyss, death & rebirth, or ordeal.
This “ordeal” part is often the protagonist’s most impactful moment of character development and growth as it’s usually the point before the ultimate climax of the story. There’s a lot of potential options on how to approach this and none of them are necessarily wrong. The main thing to consider is that this is a moment of change for the protagonist and even other characters involved. While this is still part of the rising action towards the climax, this can be considered a very important moment where the protagonist is changed in a way that allows them to confront the ultimate challenge in the climax of the story. The climax itself isn’t really that different from what most of us understand as it’s the most exciting part of the story. It follows the traditional confrontation with the antagonist be it another person, themselves or society in general. But the falling action, the closing of the story, is often what I find the most interesting.
The falling action, post climax events, is often where the protagonist “returns home”. There’s a return to the new status quo and, more importantly, how the protagonist and the supporting cast of characters fit within that new reality. In The Hero’s Journey, this is often described as the part where the protagonist brings back the solution to their home which was the reason for their adventure in the first place. They return to their world and have their happy ending. But as we all know, not all stories have happy endings. Sometimes the protagonist doesn’t win in the end and sometimes “victory” isn’t what the character or the readers thought it would be. But the most important aspect about this is showing how the character’s have changed and how they fit back into what their lives once was.
The characters from The Lord of the Rings series, especially the hobbits, are probably the most famous examples of this as none of them are the same as they were when they started the story. They almost literally followed The Hero’s Journey in each of their own ways and how their stories end are different examples of how that “return to home” can go. For a more contemporary example, Spensa from the Skyward series by Brandon Sanderson also follows The Hero’s Journey quite closely. She even often compares herself to the concept without explicitly saying so but constantly hinting at it. She changes so much throughout the series and how her story ends doesn’t quite fit The Hero’s Journey, but still has some reference to it.
That should be the most important understanding of The Hero’s Journey, that it’s more of a suggestion and a guide for writers to follow but not strictly adhere to. Throughout this post, I’ve discussed how The Hero’s Journey can help with plot structure and character development but also explained why it doesn’t have to be followed exactly and that’s because it shouldn’t be. The Hero’s Journey is more of a generalization of stories throughout history and various cultures and following it so closely, while it would create a narratively satisfying story, might not fit the story you would want to tell. Not every story fits this concept and that’s perfectly fine. The Hero’s Journey can help when stuck with writer’s block. Having a loose idea of what comes next can help to figure out how to get passed a difficult part if it’s not quite coming together.
Hope this helps!
– Raphael
Raph's Cozy Musings 