Part 3
Joseph Campbell, mythologist, writer and lecturer (https://www.jcf.org/learn/joseph-campbell-heros-journey)
He first discovered the Hero's Journey theory based on
monomyth over 40 years ago but he revisited the mythological concepts of his book,
Hero with a Thousand Faces. For him, it was almost hypnotic – the code and magic of symbolism of a universal structure and similar stories told in diverse cultures since the beginning of time. In each story
This structure typically involves an archetypal hero or protagonist who embarks on an adventure or quest, willingly or due to external forces. They face challenges, sole problems and overcome difficulties, achieve some type of victory, and return to their regular life transformed.
He believed that images in myth act not on the brain, but directly on organs of the body – EMOTIONS
Vogler's Rule – "if two or more organs of the body are not squirting fluids, the story is no good". Linking survival with sex, for example, makes for an interesting story – organic cinema. The bottom line is that good stories have a visceral or gut impact.
Be wary of trying to throw in too many tools and tricks – your story gets unfocused and the reader will spot the artifice. Think of the films you've seen with car chase after car chase, or characters are constantly under attack - the emotional reaction to that kind of peril cannot be sustained for long.
What is your story about? Identify the key theme. When the protagonist achieves their wish, then what next? How to create adjustment resulting from self-evaluation and realization – cut out everything that is not about the theme and does not serve the main purpose.
Don’t be afraid of editing and losing something
– there is only so much energy in a film or novel – a fixed amount. When you edit a piece, that energy stays in the design and goes somewhere else. The hole that was made is filled by ‘other stuff’. Enhance the next line of dialogue, make the next scene brighter, etc. You may be fearful of taking out something you’ve worked hard to create – learn to expand your view to a bigger picture.
It’s about a
State of Mastery
when you stop creating obstacles and go directly to your goals.
Stay in alignment with the grid. Imagine that there is a string coming from the top of your head anchored above and grounded in the earth. Using that concept keeps you buoyant and gliding forward!
How Stories Work
- Identify Want vs. Need within the main characters.
- There are certain things that are firm – you should know what the hero wants before you can properly plug into the story. You must want it, too. Save the Cat moment – making the connection between hero and audience. Plugs the reader into the story.
- Make the characters flawed and broken in some way (we are automatically sympathetic because we are flawed too. Take something away from them, e.g., becoming an orphan in a fairy tale, missing out on a dream job.
- Have them doing something they don’t have to, but they are altruistic, and care about the other person more than themselves.
- BUT…the hero must learn what he or she really needs. Desire at first is usually physical and external – winning the game, getting the car, freeing the people.
- The other dimension is what the character needs emotionally – requires different kind of writing. Where did they make a wrong turn, how did they get wounded in the past, what will it take to ‘fix’ the problem or guide them in the right direction.
How will you express this conflict of needs and wants? That conflict is what creates suspense.
- Audience comes in for the thrill …but they stay for the LESSON. Not moralistic or preachy – they watch with close attention for acts of comparison – clues relating to how to live their life in a different way.
- Could be body language, playing a role (fake it til you make it – take from fictional work an inventory of survival skills), e.g., Rumpelstiltskin – when the girl cries, it triggers his appearance, they make a deal. She wants to spin straw to gold and get out of the locked room. NEED – she should have thought about the consequences of promising him her first born child. When he comes to collect, she has a last chance to save her child and best the villain.
- Fairy tales – all true and not fantasies. They are journalism and mysteries based on real events - puzzles to be solved.
Want + Need
Creates suspense with external and internal questions – Inner & Outer Journeys
Will the hero get what he wants?
What will they learn on a spiritual level?
Price or Cost always has to be an issue - what are you willing to pay to get what you want/need?
Often a tick-tock back and forth between wants and needs. At the climax, you can create one scene where all the questions are answered OR they are all back on the table.
..see Part 4
