Developing the Journey of Your Main Character

If you’ve read or listened to much "how-to-write" advice in the past fifty years, you’ve probably been exposed to “The Hero’s Journey,” which is supposed to be the fundamental template or structure that lies underneath all great stories. 

I've mentioned on my own blog, the evolution of ideas originally presented by psychiatrist Carl Jung. In the 1950s Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With A Thousand Faces, in which he laid out what he called the monomyth, a detailed version of “hero wants something; hero tries to get it and fails; hero tries at last and succeeds; rewards and/or weddings follow” gained traction in the writing circle as students left his classes.

The general idea garnered even more attention in the late 1970s, when Star Wars became a huge smash hit, and George Lucas said he’d based its structure on Campbell’s hero’s journey. Roughly ten years later, a series of interviews with Campbell was broadcast in prime time. 

A few years after that, Christopher Vogler took Campbell’s monomyth, cut it from seventeen stages to twelve and published his own version in The Hero's Journey. Vogler based his work on his own version of this ideology and subsequently garnered a lot of success for companies in Hollywood, including Disney. 

In 1990, Maureen Murdock wrote The Heroine’s Journey: Woman’s Quest for Wholeness as a response to Joseph Campbell’s model. Murdock, a student of Campbell’s work, felt his model failed to address the specific psycho-spiritual journey of contemporary women. She developed a model describing the cyclical nature of the female experience.

Fast forward to the early 2000's when I met Vogler at SXSW in Austin, Texas. I then took a few classes from him which fueled my excitement for both storytelling and teaching in a way that it had not been for some time.

However, while I feel Jung, Campbell, and Vogler's versions have become common knowledge, Murdock's version does not seem to be as well known. So, I thought I would share.

The heroine's journey more closely examines the inner journey of discovery; specifically from a feminist lens. Originally created by Murdock, a therapist working with women, its use as a writing tool is debated. While written with a specific gender in mind, many of the stages share common goals with the hero's journey and are reflections of an inward journey. 

Her Steps:

1) SEPARATION FROM THE FEMININE - 

The Heroine seeks to separate from the mother or other older woman, who represents the old order and the status quo. Often she feels guilt at surpassing this figure. 

2) IDENTIFICATION WITH THE MASCULINE: THE GATHERING OF ALLIES -

The search for a woman's role through acceptance by male norms-- leadership, success, and power in the workplace. She often chooses her own path instead of the one set before her. 

3) THE ROAD OF TRIALS: MEETING OGRES AND DRAGONS - 

Many of the trials that the heroine must face are of her own making-- self-doubt, fear, etc. She must overcome both outward adversity from the men and other people in her life, but ultimately must overcome herself. 

4) EXPERIENCING THE BOON OF SUCCESS - 

After achieving the power, recognition, and/or success that she sought, the Heroine will drive herself to a state of unrest. She has no true satisfaction in anything that she does, but yet cannot say no to using up more of her time. She must find the courage to be herself; limited. 

5) SPIRITUAL ARIDITY: DEATH - 

Weary, the heroine looks for meaning, and yet, she fears becoming invisible, like the women before her. Her success was temporary or has been unsatisfactory. The way of success she has been traveling is no longer enough.

6) INITIATION AND THE DESCENT TO THE GODDESS - 

Usually this occurs as a role ends, often a life changing loss. The heroine is confused, sad, alone, angry, and often raw. But by looking inward she can reclaim and rebuild herself. She is facing a crisis and fallen into despair. 

7) URGENT YEARNING TO RECONNECT WITH THE FEMININE -

Accepting the loss of the relationship with the older female, she often begins to focus on community. The heroine cannot go back, but if she faces her fear she can continue to move forward. 

8) HEALING THE MOTHER/DAUGHTER SPLIT -

The heroine finds a new strategy and reclaims her own value. With a new perspective she is able to continue forward. 

9) HEALING THE WOUNDED MASCULINE -

By accepting the self and letting go of the power, money, and success she sought she can make peace with herself. The heroine must accept both sides of her nature. 

10) INTEGRATION OF THE MASCULINE AND FEMININE - 

By accepting both sides of her nature she has gained a new understanding of herself. 

How about you? Are you familiar with these theories and concepts? Do you use them in your own writing? Do you have a favorite version?

7 Steps to Planning a Short Story

I've been reading a lot of short stories lately. I've also been working on writing several new short stories of my own. I recently realized I plan them all basically the same way. In case you are interested, or are stuck and hoping for some help, here is my short story process.

1) Pantsing - I never plan draft one. I always start with a general idea, goal, emotion, or scene in mind. I write this until I can't go any further.

2) Clarify Problem(s) - this is the central conflict of the story - it's purpose. Why should the reader be interested?

3) Clarify Character - why does the main character in particular need to face this issue? Why is it important to them? This is usually the protagonist, but not always.

4) Strengthen Obstacle - what has kept the character from achieving their goal? This could be more than one issue, but the struggle to overcome this is what helps you to develop character and caring from your reader.

5) Introduce Failure - have the main character fail at least once. No one like a perfect, easy, straight line to a goal. What do they need to learn to accomplish, or move on from, this dream?

6) Highlight Shortcomings - the solution, or key to obtaining the goal, lies squarely in the faults or overcoming of that characters issues. It should seem as if this story could only happen this way, for this particular protagonist.

7) Finale - show the hero achieving the reward, or learning to accept failure (unless you want the unsatisfying ending). Either way, this too should be a result of this particular characters decisions.

How does this process differ from yours? Any great short stories you want to recommend?

Story Starter Card Game

One of the hardest things for students, and many writers in general, is just "getting started." I see it frequently in the classes I teach. They freeze up, sometimes their eyes just glaze over, and others get that 'deer caught in the headlights' look. This is usually the point where we talk briefly about writers block... and then we play the Story Starter Card Game.

The game is simple:

There are seven decks of cards. Each card has one suggestion to be used in a story.

In deck one each card has a dynamic character listed on it such as Ebeneezer Scrooge, Scout, Harry Potter, Sherlock Holmes, Hamlet, Katniss Everdeen, Aladdin, Jean Valjean, Edmund Dantes, Buzz Lightyear, etc.

In deck two each card reflects a fatal flaw such as pride, excessive trust, rage, blind ambition, inferiority complex, etc.

Deck three lists suggested opponents, deck four has external conflicts such as physical and environmental, deck five is a set of interpersonal conflicts (brought on by others), deck six is internal conflicts (brought on by self), and deck seven is a goal to be reached or a loss to avoid.

The rules are even simpler:

1) Pick one card from each deck.
2) Use at least three of the suggestions on your cards in a story.

I find this gives them enough guidance that they feel like they have a safety net. It also allows enough freedom for creativity.

Alternatives:

If you'd like to play, but don't have the time or inclination to create your own cards, consider using a deck of Tarot, Dungeons and Dragons, or such... pull out a few random cards and see what ideas arise.

Have you tried anything like this? What kind of cards would you use? What would you add to your own deck?