the hero's journey breakdown

The Hero’s Journey: 12 Steps That Make Up the Universal Structure of Great Stories

by David Safford | 0 comments

At some in your writer's life, you've probably come across the term Hero's Journey. Maybe you've even studied this guide for storytelling and applied it to your own books—and yet, something about your own application felt off. You wanted to learn more, but didn't know where to start.

Maybe you needed a resource that would simplify the hero's journey steps and all the other major details instead of complicate them.

The Hero's Journey: The Ultimate Guide to the Universal Structure of Great Stories

The Hero's Journey is as old as humanity itself. And through history, this single story form has emerged over and over again. People from all cultures have seemed to favor its structure, and its familiar types of characters (archetypal hero, anyone?), symbols, relationships, and steps.

If you want to build or strengthen your writing career and win a following of many happy readers, you want this particular tool in your writer's toolbox.

Let's dive in.

Need help applying The Hero's Journey to your story outline and manuscript? Download this free Hero's Journey worksheet now!

Why I Love the Hero's Journey (And You Will, Too)

Like many, I grew up loving Star Wars. I especially loved the music and bought the soundtracks at some point in middle school. When my parents weren't home and I had the house all to myself, I'd slip one of the CDs into my stereo, crank the volume up, and blast the London Symphony Orchestra. I even pretended I was conducting the violins and timpani myself.

I know it's nerdy to admit. But we love what we love, and I love the music of great movies.

In a way, the Hero's Journey is like a soundtrack. It follows familiar beats and obeys age-old principles of human emotion. We can't necessarily explain why a piece of music is so beautiful, but we can explain what it does and simply acknowledge that most people like it.

As I've come to understand Joseph Campbell's groundbreaking monomyth theory, commonly known as the Hero's Journey, I've fallen deeper and deeper in love with it.

But it's important to make sure you know what it is, and what it isn't.

The Hero's Journey isn't a formula to simply follow, plugging in hackneyed characters into cliched situations.

It's not “selling out” and giving up your artistic integrity

The Hero's Journey is a set of steps, scenes, character types, symbols, and themes that tend to recur in stories regardless of culture or time period. Within these archetypes are nearly infinite variations and unique perspectives that are impacted by culture and period, reflecting wonderful traits of the authors and audiences.

Also, the Hero's Journey is a process that your reader expects your story to follow, whether they know it or not. This archetype is hard-wired into our D.N.A. Let's look at how to use it to make your own stories stronger.

How to Use This Hero's Journey Post

In the beginning, there were stories. These stories were told by mothers, soldiers, and performers. They were inscribed on the walls of caves, into tablets of stone, and on the first sheets of papyrus.

This is how the Hero's Journey was born.

In this post, I'll walk you through the Hero's Journey twelve steps, and teach you how to apply them into your story. I'll also share additional resources to teach you some other Hero's Journey essentials, like character archetypes, symbols, and themes. By the end of this post, you'll be able to easily apply the Hero's Journey to your story with confidence.

And don't skip out on the practice exercise at the end of the post! This will help you start to carve out the Hero's Journey for your story with a practical fifteen minute exercise—the best way to really retain how the Hero's Journey works is to apply it.

Table of Contents: The Hero's Journey Guide

What is the Hero's Journey?

Why the Hero's Journey will make you a better writer

The Twelve-Step Hero's Journey Structure

The Ordinary World
The Call to Adventure
The Refusal of the Call
Meeting the Mentor
Crossing the Threshold
Trials, Allies, and Enemies
The Approach
The Road Back
The Resurrection
Return With the Elixir

5 Essential Hero's Journey Scenes

A Guide to Structuring Your Hero's Journey

Bonus! Additional Hero's Journey Resources

5 Character Archetypes
5 Hero's Journey Symbols
5 Hero's Journey Themes

What Is the Hero's Journey?

The Hero's Journey is the timeless combination of characters, events, symbols, and relationships frequently structured as a sequence of twelve steps. It is a storytelling structure that anyone can study and utilize to tell a story that readers will love.

First identified and defined by Joseph Campbell, the Hero's Journey was theorizied in The Hero With a Thousand Faces . Today, it has been researched and taught by great minds, some including Carl Jung and Christopher Vogler (author of The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers ).

This research has given us lengthy and helpful lists of archetypes , or story elements that tend to recur in stories from any culture at any time.

And while some archetypes are unique to a genre, they are still consistent within those genres. For example, a horror story from Japan will still contain many of the same archetypes as a horror story from Ireland. There will certainly be notable differences in how these archetypes are depicted, but the tropes will still appear.

That's the power of the Hero's Journey. It is the skeleton key of storytelling that you can use to unlock the solution to almost any writing problem you are confronted with.

Why the Monomyth Will Make You a Better Writer

The Hero's Journey is the single most powerful tool at your disposal as a writer.

But it isn't a “rule,” so to speak. It's also not a to-do list.

If anything, the Hero's Journey is diagnostic, not prescriptive. In other words, it describes a story that works, but doesn't necessarily tell you what to do.

But the reason you should use the Hero's Journey isn't because it's a great trick or tool. You should use the Hero's Journey because it is based on thousands of years of human storytelling.

It provides a way to connect with readers from all different walks of life.

This is why stories about fantastical creatures from imaginary worlds can forge deep emotional connections with audiences. Hollywood knows this, and its best studios take advantage. As an example, The Lord of the Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkien, contains mythical creatures like elves and hobbits. Yet it is Frodo's heroic journey of sacrifice and courage that draws us to him like a magnet.

Learn how to easily apply the Hero's Journey 12 Steps to your books in this post. Tweet this

David Safford

You deserve a great book. That's why David Safford writes adventure stories that you won't be able to put down. Read his latest story at his website. David is a Language Arts teacher, novelist, blogger, hiker, Legend of Zelda fanatic, puzzle-doer, husband, and father of two awesome children.

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Last updated on Aug 10, 2023

The Hero's Journey: 12 Steps to a Classic Story Structure

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Reedsy's editorial team is a diverse group of industry experts devoted to helping authors write and publish beautiful books.

About Dario Villirilli

Editor-in-Chief of the Reedsy blog, Dario is a graduate of Mälardalen University. As a freelance writer, he has written for many esteemed outlets aimed at writers. A traveler at heart, he can be found roaming the world and working from his laptop.

The Hero's Journey is a timeless story structure which follows a protagonist on an unforeseen quest, where they face challenges, gain insights, and return home transformed. From Theseus and the Minotaur to The Lion King , so many narratives follow this pattern that it’s become ingrained into our cultural DNA.

In this post, we'll show you how to make this classic plot structure work for you — and if you’re pressed for time, download our cheat sheet below for everything you need to know.

FREE RESOURCE

Hero's Journey Template

Plot your character's journey with our step-by-step template.

What is the Hero’s Journey?

The Hero's Journey, also known as the monomyth, is a story structure where a hero goes on a quest or adventure to achieve a goal, and has to overcome obstacles and fears, before ultimately returning home transformed.

This narrative arc has been present in various forms across cultures for centuries, if not longer, but gained popularity through Joseph Campbell's mythology book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces . While Campbell identified 17 story beats in his monomyth definition, this post will concentrate on a 12-step framework popularized in 2007 by screenwriter Christopher Vogler in his book The Writer’s Journey .

The 12 Steps of the Hero’s Journey

The Hero's Journey is a model for both plot points and character arc development: as the Hero traverses the world, they'll undergo inner and outer transformation at each stage of the journey. The 12 steps of the hero's journey are:

Believe it or not, this story structure also applies across mediums and genres. Let's dive into it!

1. Ordinary World

In which we meet our Hero.

The journey has yet to start. Before our Hero discovers a strange new world, we must first understand the status quo: their ordinary, mundane reality.

It’s up to this opening leg to set the stage, introducing the Hero to readers. Importantly, it lets readers identify with the Hero as a “normal” person in a “normal” setting, before the journey begins.

2. Call to Adventure

In which an adventure starts.

The call to adventure is all about booting the Hero out of their comfort zone. In this stage, they are generally confronted with a problem or challenge they can't ignore. This catalyst can take many forms, as Campbell points out in Hero with a Thousand Faces . The Hero can, for instance:

The stakes of the adventure and the Hero's goals become clear. The only question: will he rise to the challenge?

3. Refusal of the Call

In which the Hero digs in their feet.

Great, so the Hero’s received their summons. Now they’re all set to be whisked off to defeat evil, right?

Not so fast. The Hero might first refuse the call to action. It’s risky and there are perils — like spiders, trolls, or perhaps a creepy uncle waiting back at Pride Rock . It’s enough to give anyone pause.

In Star Wars , for instance, Luke Skywalker initially refuses to join Obi-Wan on his mission to rescue the princess. It’s only when he discovers that his aunt and uncle have been killed by stormtroopers that he changes his mind.

4. Meeting the Mentor

In which the Hero acquires a personal trainer.

The Hero's decided to go on the adventure — but they’re not ready to spread their wings yet. They're much too inexperienced at this point and we don't want them to do a fabulous belly-flop off the cliff.

Enter the mentor: someone who helps the Hero, so that they don't make a total fool of themselves (or get themselves killed). The mentor provides practical training, profound wisdom, a kick up the posterior, or something abstract like grit and self-confidence.

Harry holding the Marauder's Map with the twins

Wise old wizards seem to like being mentors. But mentors take many forms, from witches to hermits and suburban karate instructors. They might literally give weapons to prepare for the trials ahead, like Q in the James Bond series. Or perhaps the mentor is an object, such as a map. In all cases, they prepare the Hero for the next step.

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5. Crossing the First Threshold

In which the Hero enters the other world in earnest.

Now the Hero is ready — and committed — to the journey. This marks the end of the Departure stage and is when the adventure really kicks into the next gear. As Vogler writes: “This is the moment that the balloon goes up, the ship sails, the romance begins, the wagon gets rolling.”

From this point on, there’s no turning back.

Like our Hero, you should think of this stage as a checkpoint for your story. Pause and re-assess your bearings before you continue into unfamiliar territory. Have you:

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6. Tests, Allies, Enemies

In which the Hero faces new challenges and gets a squad.

When we step into the Special World, we notice a definite shift. The Hero might be discombobulated by this unfamiliar reality and its new rules. This is generally one of the longest stages in the story , as our protagonist gets to grips with this new world.

This makes a prime hunting ground for the series of tests to pass! Luckily, there are many ways for the Hero to get into trouble:

The shark scares Marlin and Dory in Finding Nemo

This stage often expands the cast of characters. Once the protagonist is in the Special World, he will meet allies and enemies — or foes that turn out to be friends and vice versa. He will learn a new set of rules from them. Saloons and seedy bars are popular places for these transactions, as Vogler points out (so long as the Hero survives them).

7. Approach to the Inmost Cave

In which the Hero gets closer to his goal.

This isn’t a physical cave. Instead, the “inmost cave” refers to the most dangerous spot in the other realm — whether that’s the villain’s chambers, the lair of the fearsome dragon, or the Death Star. Almost always, it is where the ultimate goal of the quest is located.

Note that the protagonist hasn’t entered the Inmost Cave just yet. This stage is all about the approach to it. It covers all the prep work that's needed in order to defeat the villain.

In which the Hero faces his biggest test of all thus far.

Of all the tests the Hero has faced, none have made them hit rock bottom — until now. Vogler describes this phase as a “black moment.” Campbell refers to it as the “belly of the whale.” Both indicate some grim news for the Hero.

The protagonist must now confront their greatest fear. If they survive it, they will emerge transformed. This is a critical moment in the story, as Vogler explains that it will “inform every decision that the Hero makes from this point forward.”

The Ordeal is sometimes not the climax of the story. There’s more to come. But you can think of it as the main event of the second act — the one in which the Hero actually earns the title of “Hero.”

9. Reward (Seizing the Sword)

In which the Hero sees light at the end of the tunnel.

Our Hero’s been through a lot. However, the fruits of their labor are now at hand — if they can just reach out and grab them! The “reward” is the object or knowledge the Hero has fought throughout the entire journey to hold.

Once the protagonist has it in their possession, it generally has greater ramifications for the story. Vogler offers a few examples of it in action:

10. The Road Back

In which the light at the end of the tunnel might be a little further than the Hero thought.

The story's not over just yet, as this phase marks the beginning of Act Three. Now that he's seized the reward, the Hero tries to return to the Ordinary World, but more dangers (inconveniently) arise on the road back from the Inmost Cave.

More precisely, the Hero must deal with the consequences and aftermath of the previous act: the dragon, enraged by the Hero who’s just stolen a treasure from under his nose, starts the hunt. Or perhaps the opposing army gathers to pursue the Hero across a crowded battlefield. All further obstacles for the Hero, who must face them down before they can return home.

11. Resurrection

In which the last test is met.

Here is the true climax of the story. Everything that happened prior to this stage culminates in a crowning test for the Hero, as the Dark Side gets one last chance to triumph over the Hero.

Vogler refers to this as a “final exam” for the Hero — they must be “tested once more to see if they have really learned the lessons of the Ordeal.” It’s in this Final Battle that the protagonist goes through one more “resurrection.” As a result, this is where you’ll get most of your miraculous near-death escapes, à la James Bond's dashing deliverances. If the Hero survives, they can start looking forward to a sweet ending.

12. Return with the Elixir

In which our Hero has a triumphant homecoming.

Finally, the Hero gets to return home. However, they go back a different person than when they started out: they’ve grown and matured as a result of the journey they’ve taken.

But we’ve got to see them bring home the bacon, right? That’s why the protagonist must return with the “Elixir,” or the prize won during the journey, whether that’s an object or knowledge and insight gained.

Of course, it’s possible for a story to end on an Elixir-less note — but then the Hero would be doomed to repeat the entire adventure.

Examples of The Hero’s Journey in Action

To better understand this story template beyond the typical sword-and-sorcery genre, let's analyze three examples, from both screenplay and literature, and examine how they implement each of the twelve steps.

The 1976 film Rocky is acclaimed as one of the most iconic sports films because of Stallone’s performance and the heroic journey his character embarks on.

Moving outside of the ring, let’s see how this story structure holds on a completely different planet and with a character in complete isolation.

The Martian

In Andy Weir’s bestselling novel (better known for its big screen adaptation) we follow astronaut Mark Watney as he endures the challenges of surviving on Mars and working out a way to get back home.

Coming back to Earth, let’s now examine a heroine’s journey through the wilderness of the Pacific Crest Trail and her… humanity.

The memoir Wild narrates the three-month-long hiking adventure of Cheryl Strayed across the Pacific coast, as she grapples with her turbulent past and rediscovers her inner strength.

There are countless other stories that could align with this template, but it's not always the perfect fit. So, let's look into when authors should consider it or not.

When should writers use The Hero’s Journey?

The Hero’s Journey is just one way to outline a novel and dissect a plot. For more longstanding theories on the topic, you can go here to read about the ever-popular Three-Act Structure, here to discover Dan Harmon's Story Circle, and here to learn about three more prevalent structures.

So when is it best to use the Hero’s Journey? There are a couple of circumstances which might make this a good choice.

When you need more specific story guidance than simple structures can offer

Simply put, the Hero’s Journey structure is far more detailed and closely defined than other story structure theories. If you want a fairly specific framework for your work than a thee-act structure, the Hero’s Journey can be a great place to start.

Of course, rules are made to be broken . There’s plenty of room to play within the confines of the Hero’s Journey, despite it appearing fairly prescriptive at first glance. Do you want to experiment with an abbreviated “Resurrection” stage, as J.K. Rowling did in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone? Are you more interested in exploring the journey of an anti-hero? It’s all possible.

Once you understand the basics of this universal story structure, you can use and bend it in ways that disrupt reader expectations.

Need more help developing your book? Try this template on for size:

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Use this template to go from a vague idea to a solid plan for a first draft.

When your focus is on a single protagonist

No matter how sprawling or epic the world you’re writing is, if your story is, at its core, focused on a single character’s journey, then this is a good story structure for you. It’s kind of in the name! If you’re dealing with an entire ensemble, the Hero’s Journey may not give you the scope to explore all of your characters’ plots and subplot — a broader three-act structure may give you more freedom to weave a greater number story threads.

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Whether you're a reader or writer, we hope our guide has helped you understand this universal story arc. Want to know more about story structure? We explain 6 more in our guide — read on!

6 responses

PJ Reece says:

25/07/2018 – 19:41

Nice vid, good intro to story structure. Typically, though, the 'hero's journey' misses the all-important point of the Act II crisis. There, where the hero faces his/her/its existential crisis, they must DIE. The old character is largely destroyed -- which is the absolute pre-condition to 'waking up' to what must be done. It's not more clever thinking; it's not thinking at all. Its SEEING. So many writing texts miss this point. It's tantamount to a religions experience, and nobody grows up without it. STORY STRUCTURE TO DIE FOR examines this dramatic necessity.

↪️ C.T. Cheek replied:

13/11/2019 – 21:01

Okay, but wouldn't the Act II crisis find itself in the Ordeal? The Hero is tested and arguably looses his/her/its past-self for the new one. Typically, the Hero is not fully "reborn" until the Resurrection, in which they defeat the hypothetical dragon and overcome the conflict of the story. It's kind of this process of rebirth beginning in the earlier sections of the Hero's Journey and ending in the Resurrection and affirmed in the Return with the Elixir.

Lexi Mize says:

25/07/2018 – 22:33

Great article. Odd how one can take nearly every story and somewhat plug it into such a pattern.

Bailey Koch says:

11/06/2019 – 02:16

This was totally lit fam!!!!

↪️ Bailey Koch replied:

Great article, thanks! :) But Vogler didn't expand Campbell's theory. Campbell had seventeen stages, not twelve.

Comments are currently closed.

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Story Writing Guides

12 Hero’s Journey Stages Explained (+ Free Templates)

From zero to hero, the hero’s journey is a popular character development arc used in many stories. In today’s post, we will explain the 12 hero’s journey stages, along with the simple example of Cinderella.

The Hero’s Journey was originally formulated by American writer Joseph Campbell to describe the typical character arc of many classic stories, particularly in the context of mythology and folklore. The original hero’s journey contained 17 steps. Although the hero’s journey has been adapted since then for use in modern fiction, the concept is not limited to literature. It can be applied to any story, video game, film or even music that features an archetypal hero who undergoes a transformation. Common examples of the hero’s journey in popular works include Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Hunger Games and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

What is the hero's journey?

Stage 1: The Ordinary World

Stage 2: call of adventure, stage 3: refusal of the call, stage 4: meeting the mentor, stage 5: crossing the threshold, stage 6: tests, allies, enemies, stage 7: the approach, stage 8: the ordeal, stage 9: reward, stage 10: the road back, stage 11: resurrection, stage 12: return with the elixir, cinderella example, campbell’s 17-step journey, leeming’s 8-step journey, cousineau’s 8-step journey.

Free Hero's Journey Templates

What is the hero’s journey?

The hero’s journey, also known as the monomyth, is a character arc used in many stories. The idea behind it is that heroes undergo a journey that leads them to find their true selves. This is often represented in a series of stages. There are typically 12 stages to the hero’s journey. Each stage represents a change in the hero’s mindset or attitude, which is triggered by an external or internal event. These events cause the hero to overcome a challenge, reach a threshold, and then return to a normal life.

The hero’s journey is a powerful tool for understanding your characters. It can help you decide who they are, what they want, where they came from, and how they will change over time. It can be used to

In this post, we will explain each stage of the hero’s journey, using the example of Cinderella.

You might also be interested in our post on the story mountain or this guide on how to outline a book .

12 Hero’s Journey Stages

The archetypal hero’s journey contains 12 stages and was created by Christopher Vogler. These steps take your main character through an epic struggle that leads to their ultimate triumph or demise. While these steps may seem formulaic at first glance, they actually form a very flexible structure. The hero’s journey is about transformation, not perfection.

Your hero starts out in the ordinary world. He or she is just like every other person in their environment, doing things that are normal for them and experiencing the same struggles and challenges as everyone else. In the ordinary world, the hero feels stuck and confused, so he or she goes on a quest to find a way out of this predicament.

Example: Cinderella’s father passes away and she is now stuck doing chores and taking abuse from her stepsisters and stepmother.

The hero gets his or her first taste of adventure when the call comes. This could be in the form of an encounter with a stranger or someone they know who encourages them to take a leap of faith. This encounter is typically an accident, a series of coincidences that put the hero in the right place at the right time.

Example: An invite arrives inviting the family to a royal ball where the Prince will choose a wife.

Some people will refuse to leave their safe surroundings and live by their own rules. The hero has to overcome the negative influences in order to hear the call again. They also have to deal with any personal doubts that arise from thinking too much about the potential dangers involved in the quest. It is common for the hero to deny their own abilities in this stage and to lack confidence in themselves.

Example: Cinderella accepts the call by making her own dress for the ball. However, her stepmother refuses the call for her by not letting her go to the ball. And her step-sisters ruin her dress, so she can not go.

After hearing the call, the hero begins a relationship with a mentor who helps them learn about themselves and the world. In some cases, the mentor may be someone the hero already knows. The mentor is usually someone who is well-versed in the knowledge that the hero needs to acquire, but who does not judge the hero for their lack of experience.

Example: Cinderella meets her fairy godmother who equips her with everything she needs for the ball, including a dress and a carriage.

The hero leaves their old life behind and enters the unfamiliar new world. The crossing of the threshold symbolises leaving their old self behind and becoming a new person. Sometimes this can include learning a new skill or changing their physical appearance. It can also include a time of wandering, which is an essential part of the hero’s journey.

Example: Cinderella hops into the carriage and heads off to the ball. She has transformed from a servant into an elegant young lady.

As the hero goes on this journey, they will meet both allies (people who help the hero) and enemies (people who try to stop the hero). There will also be tests, where the hero is tempted to quit, turn back, or become discouraged. The hero must be persistent and resilient to overcome challenges.

Example: At the ball, Cinderella meets the prince, and even see’s her stepmother and stepsister. She dances with Prince all night long making her step-sisters extremely jealous.

The hero now reaches the destination of their journey, in some cases, this is a literal location, such as a cave or castle. It could also be metaphorical, such as the hero having an internal conflict or having to make a difficult decision. In either case, the hero has to confront their deepest fears in this stage with bravery. In some ways, this stage can mark the end of the hero’s journey because the hero must now face their darkest fears and bring them under control. If they do not do this, the hero could be defeated in the final battle and will fail the story.

Example: Cinderella is having a great time at the ball and nearly forgets about the midnight rule. As she runs away in a hurry, her glass slipper falls off outside the palace.

The hero has made it to the final challenge of their journey and now must face all odds and defeat their greatest adversary. Consider this the climax of the story. This could be in the form of a physical battle, a moral dilemma or even an emotional challenge. The hero will look to their allies or mentor for further support and guidance in this ordeal. Whatever happens in this stage could change the rest of the story, either for good or bad.

Example: Prince Charming looks all over the kingdom for the mysterious girl he met at the ball. He finally visits Cinderella’s house and tries the slippers on the step-sisters. The prince is about to leave and then he sees Cinderella in the corner cleaning.

When the hero has defeated the most powerful and dangerous of adversaries, they will receive their reward. This reward could be an object, a new relationship or even a new piece of knowledge. The reward, which typically comes as a result of the hero’s perseverance and hard work, signifies the end of their journey. Given that the hero has accomplished their goal and served their purpose, it is a time of great success and accomplishment.

Example: The prince tries the glass slipper on Cinderella. The glass slipper fits Cinderella perfectly, and they fall in love.

The journey is now complete, and the hero is now heading back home. As the hero considers their journey and reflects on the lessons they learned along the way, the road back is sometimes marked by a sense of nostalgia or even regret. As they must find their way back to the normal world and reintegrate into their former life, the hero may encounter additional difficulties or tests along the way. It is common for the hero to run into previous adversaries or challenges they believed they had overcome.

Example: Cinderella and Prince Charming head back to the Prince’s castle to get married.

The hero has one final battle to face. At this stage, the hero might have to fight to the death against a much more powerful foe. The hero might even be confronted with their own mortality or their greatest fear. This is usually when the hero’s true personality emerges. This stage is normally symbolised by the hero rising from the dark place and fighting back. This dark place could again be a physical location, such as the underground or a dark cave. It might even be a dark, mental state, such as depression. As the hero rises again, they might change physically or even experience an emotional transformation.

Example: Cinderella is reborn as a princess. She once again feels the love and happiness that she felt when she was a little girl living with her father.

At the end of the story, the hero returns to the ordinary world and shares the knowledge gained in their journey with their fellow man. This can be done by imparting some form of wisdom, an object of great value or by bringing about a social revolution. In all cases, the hero returns changed and often wiser.

Example: Cinderella and Prince Charming live happily ever after. She uses her new role to punish her stepmother and stepsisters and to revitalise the kingdom.

We have used the example of Cinderella in Vogler’s hero’s journey model below:

Below we have briefly explained the other variations of the hero’s journey arc.

The very first hero’s journey arc was created by Joseph Campbell in 1949. It contained the following 17 steps:

David Adams Leeming later adapted the hero’s journey based on his research of legendary heroes found in mythology. He noted the following steps as a pattern that all heroes in stories follow:

In 1990, Phil Cousineau further adapted the hero’s journey by simplifying the steps from Campbell’s model and rearranging them slightly to suit his own findings of heroes in literature. Again Cousineau’s hero’s journey included 8 steps:

As you can see, every version of the hero’s journey is about the main character showing great levels of transformation. Their journey may start and end at the same location, but they have personally evolved as a character in your story. Once a weakling, they now possess the knowledge and skill set to protect their world if needed.

Free Hero’s Journey Templates

Use the free Hero’s journey templates below to practice the skills you learned in this guide! You can either draw or write notes in each of the scene boxes. Once the template is complete, you will have a better idea of how your main character or the hero of your story develops over time:

The storyboard template below is a great way to develop your main character and organise your story:

Did you find this guide on the hero’s journey stages useful? Let us know in the comments below.

Marty the wizard is the master of Imagine Forest. When he's not reading a ton of books or writing some of his own tales, he loves to be surrounded by the magical creatures that live in Imagine Forest. While living in his tree house he has devoted his time to helping children around the world with their writing skills and creativity.

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The Hero's Journey: A Story Structure as Old as Time

The hero's journey offers a powerful framework for creating quest-based stories emphasizing self-transformation..

Nicholas Cage as Benjamin Gates in Disney's National Treasure, next to a portrait of mythologist, Joseph Campbell.

Holding out for a hero to take your story to the next level?

The Hero’s Journey might be just what you’ve been looking for. Created by Joseph Campbell, this narrative framework packs mythic storytelling into a series of steps across three acts, each representing a crucial phase in a character's transformative journey.

Challenge . Growth . Triumph .

Whether you're penning a novel, screenplay, or video game, The Hero’s Journey is a tried-and-tested blueprint for crafting epic stories that transcend time and culture. Let’s explore the steps together and kickstart your next masterpiece.

What is the Hero’s Journey?

The Hero’s Journey is a famous template for storytelling, mapping a hero's adventurous quest through trials and tribulations to ultimate transformation.

What are the Origins of the Hero’s Journey?

The Hero’s Journey was invented by Campbell in his seminal 1949 work, The Hero with a Thousand Faces , where he introduces the concept of the "monomyth."

A comparative mythologist by trade, Campbell studied myths from cultures around the world and identified a common pattern in their narratives. He proposed that all mythic narratives are variations of a single, universal story, structured around a hero's adventure, trials, and eventual triumph.

His work unveiled the archetypal hero’s path as a mirror to humanity’s commonly shared experiences and aspirations. It was subsequently named one of the All-Time 100 Nonfiction Books by TIME in 2011.

How are the Hero’s and Heroine’s Journeys Different?

While both the Hero's and Heroine's Journeys share the theme of transformation, they diverge in their focus and execution.

The Hero’s Journey, as outlined by Campbell, emphasizes external challenges and a quest for physical or metaphorical treasures. In contrast, Murdock's Heroine’s Journey, explores internal landscapes, focusing on personal reconciliation, emotional growth, and the path to self-actualization.

In short, heroes seek to conquer the world, while heroines seek to transform their own lives; but…

Twelve Steps of the Hero’s Journey

So influential was Campbell’s monomyth theory that it's been used as the basis for some of the largest franchises of our generation: The Lord of the Rings , Harry Potter ...and George Lucas even cited it as a direct influence on Star Wars .

There are, in fact, several variations of the Hero's Journey, which we discuss further below. But for this breakdown, we'll use the twelve-step version outlined by Christopher Vogler in his book, The Writer's Journey (seemingly now out of print, unfortunately).

You probably already know the above stories pretty well so we’ll unpack the twelve steps of the Hero's Journey using Ben Gates’ journey in National Treasure as a case study—because what is more heroic than saving the Declaration of Independence from a bunch of goons?

Ye be warned: Spoilers ahead!

Act One: Departure

Step 1. the ordinary world.

The journey begins with the status quo—business as usual. We meet the hero and are introduced to the Known World they live in. In other words, this is your exposition, the starting stuff that establishes the story to come.

National Treasure begins in media res (preceded only by a short prologue), where we are given key information that introduces us to Ben Gates' world, who he is (a historian from a notorious family), what he does (treasure hunts), and why he's doing it (restoring his family's name).

With the help of his main ally, Riley, and a crew of other treasure hunters backed by a wealthy patron, he finds an 18th-century American ship in the Canadian Arctic, the Charlotte . Here, they find a ship-shaped pipe that presents a new riddle and later doubles as a key—for now, it's just another clue in the search for the lost treasure of the Templars, one that leads them to the Declaration of Independence.

Step 2. The Call to Adventure

The inciting incident takes place and the hero is called to act upon it. While they're still firmly in the Known World, the story kicks off and leaves the hero feeling out of balance. In other words, they are placed at a crossroads.

Ian (the wealthy patron of the Charlotte operation) steals the pipe from Ben and Riley and leaves them stranded. This is a key moment: Ian becomes the villain, Ben has now sufficiently lost his funding for this expedition, and if he decides to pursue the chase, he'll be up against extreme odds.

Step 3. Refusal of the Call

The hero hesitates and instead refuses their call to action. Following the call would mean making a conscious decision to break away from the status quo. Ahead lies danger, risk, and the unknown; but here and now, the hero is still in the safety and comfort of what they know.

Ben debates continuing the hunt for the Templar treasure. Before taking any action, he decides to try and warn the authorities: the FBI, Homeland Security, and the staff of the National Archives, where the Declaration of Independence is housed and monitored. Nobody will listen to him, and his family's notoriety doesn't help matters.

Step 4. Meeting the Mentor

The protagonist receives knowledge or motivation from a powerful or influential figure. This is a tactical move on the hero's part—remember that it was only the previous step in which they debated whether or not to jump headfirst into the unknown. By Meeting the Mentor, they can gain new information or insight, and better equip themselves for the journey they might to embark on.

Abigail, an archivist at the National Archives, brushes Ben and Riley off as being crazy, but Ben uses the interaction to his advantage in other ways—to seek out information about how the Declaration of Independence is stored and cared for, as well as what (and more importantly, who) else he might be up against in his own attempt to steal it.

In a key scene, we see him contemplate the entire operation while standing over the glass-encased Declaration of Independence. Finally, he firmly decides to pursue the treasure and stop Ian, uttering the famous line, "I'm gonna steal the Declaration of Independence."

Act Two: Initiation

Step 5. crossing the threshold.

The hero leaves the Known World to face the Unknown World. They are fully committed to the journey, with no way to turn back now. There may be a confrontation of some sort, and the stakes will be raised.

Ben and Riley infiltrate the National Archives during a gala and successfully steal the Declaration of Independence. But wait—it's not so easy. While stealing the Declaration of Independence, Abigail suspects something is up and Ben faces off against Ian.

Then, when trying to escape the building, Ben exits through the gift shop, where an attendant spots the document peeking out of his jacket. He is forced to pay for it, feigning that it's a replica—and because he doesn't have enough cash, he has to use his credit card, so there goes keeping his identity anonymous.

The game is afoot.

Step 6. Tests, Allies, Enemies

The hero explores the Unknown World. Now that they have firmly crossed the threshold from the Known World, the hero will face new challenges and possibly meet new enemies. They'll have to call upon their allies, new and old, in order to keep moving forward.

Abigail reluctantly joins the team under the agreement that she'll help handle the Declaration of Independence, given her background in document archiving and restoration. Ben and co. seek the aid of Ben's father, Patrick Gates, whom Ben has a strained relationship with thanks to years of failed treasure hunting that has created a rift between grandfather, father, and son. Finally, they travel around Philadelphia deciphering clues while avoiding both Ian and the FBI.

Step 7. Approach the Innermost Cave

The hero nears the goal of their quest, the reason they crossed the threshold in the first place. Here, they could be making plans, having new revelations, or gaining new skills. To put it in other familiar terms, this step would mark the moment just before the story's climax.

Ben uncovers a pivotal clue—or rather, he finds an essential item—a pair of bifocals with interchangeable lenses made by Benjamin Franklin. It is revealed that by switching through the various lenses, different messages will be revealed on the back of the Declaration of Independence. He's forced to split from Abigail and Riley, but Ben has never been closer to the treasure.

Step 8. The Ordeal

The hero faces a dire situation that changes how they view the world. All threads of the story come together at this pinnacle, the central crisis from which the hero will emerge unscathed or otherwise. The stakes will be at their absolute highest here.

Vogler details that in this stage, the hero will experience a "death," though it need not be literal. In your story, this could signify the end of something and the beginning of another, which could itself be figurative or literal. For example, a certain relationship could come to an end, or it could mean someone "stuck in their ways" opens up to a new perspective.

In National Treasure , The FBI captures Ben and Ian makes off with the Declaration of Independence—all hope feels lost. To add to it, Ian reveals that he's kidnapped Ben's father and threatens to take further action if Ben doesn't help solve the final clues and lead Ian to the treasure.

Ben escapes the FBI with Ian's help, reunites with Abigail and Riley, and leads everyone to an underground structure built below Trinity Church in New York City. Here, they manage to split from Ian once more, sending him on a goose chase to Boston with a false clue, and proceed further into the underground structure.

Though they haven't found the treasure just yet, being this far into the hunt proves to Ben's father, Patrick, that it's real enough. The two men share an emotional moment that validates what their family has been trying to do for generations.

Step 9. Reward

This is it, the moment the hero has been waiting for. They've survived "death," weathered the crisis of The Ordeal, and earned the Reward for which they went on this journey.

Now, free of Ian's clutches and with some light clue-solving, Ben, Abigail, Riley, and Patrick keep progressing through the underground structure and eventually find the Templar's treasure—it's real and more massive than they could have imagined. Everyone revels in their discovery while simultaneously looking for a way back out.

Act Three: Return

Step 10. the road back.

It's time for the journey to head towards its conclusion. The hero begins their return to the Known World and may face unexpected challenges. Whatever happens, the "why" remains paramount here (i.e. why the hero ultimately chose to embark on their journey).

This step marks a final turning point where they'll have to take action or make a decision to keep moving forward and be "reborn" back into the Known World.

Act Three of National Treasure is admittedly quite short. After finding the treasure, Ben and co. emerge from underground to face the FBI once more. Not much of a road to travel back here so much as a tunnel to scale in a crypt.

Step 11. Resurrection

The hero faces their ultimate challenge and emerges victorious, but forever changed. This step often requires a sacrifice of some sort, and having stepped into the role of The Hero™, they must answer to this.

Ben is given an ultimatum— somebody has to go to jail (on account of the whole stealing-the-Declaration-of-Independence thing). But, Ben also found a treasure worth millions of dollars and that has great value to several nations around the world, so that counts for something.

Ultimately, Ben sells Ian out, makes a deal to exonerate his friends and family, and willingly hands the treasure over to the authorities. Remember: he wanted to find the treasure, but his "why" was to restore the Gates family name, so he won regardless.

Step 12. Return With the Elixir

Finally, the hero returns home as a new version of themself, the elixir is shared amongst the people, and the journey is completed full circle.

The elixir, like many other elements of the hero's journey, can be literal or figurative. It can be a tangible thing, such as an actual elixir meant for some specific purpose, or it could be represented by an abstract concept such as hope, wisdom, or love.

Vogler notes that if the Hero's Journey results in a tragedy, the elixir can instead have an effect external to the story—meaning that it could be something meant to affect the audience and/or increase their awareness of the world.

In the final scene of National Treasure , we see Ben and Abigail walking the grounds of a massive estate. Riley pulls up in a fancy sports car and comments on how they could have gotten more money. They all chat about attending a museum exhibit in Cairo (Egypt).

In one scene, we're given a lot of closure: Ben and co. received a hefty payout for finding the treasure, Ben and Abigail are a couple now, and the treasure was rightfully spread to those it benefitted most—in this case, countries who were able to reunite with significant pieces of their history. Everyone's happy, none of them went to jail despite the serious crimes committed, and they're all a whole lot wealthier. Oh, Hollywood.

Variations of the Hero's Journey

Plot structure is important, but you don't need to follow it exactly; and, in fact, your story probably won't. Your version of the Hero's Journey might require more or fewer steps, or you might simply go off the beaten path for a few steps—and that's okay!

What follows are three additional versions of the Hero's Journey, which you may be more familiar with than Vogler's version presented above.

Dan Harmon's Story Circle (or, The Eight-Step Hero's Journey)

Screenwriter Dan Harmon has riffed on the Hero's Journey by creating a more compact version, the Story Circle —and it works especially well for shorter-format stories such as television episodes, which happens to be what Harmon writes.

The Story Circle comprises eight simple steps with a heavy emphasis on the hero's character arc:

The hero is in a zone of comfort...
But they want something.
They enter an unfamiliar situation...
And adapt to it by facing trials.
They get what they want...
But they pay a heavy price for it.
They return to their familiar situation...
Having changed.

You may have noticed, but there is a sort of rhythm here. The eight steps work well in four pairs, simplifying the core of the Hero's Journey even further:

The hero is in a zone of comfort, but they want something.
They enter an unfamiliar situation and have to adapt via new trials.
They get what they want, but they pay a price for it.
They return to their zone of comfort, forever changed.

If you're writing shorter fiction, such as a short story or novella, definitely check out the Story Circle. It's the Hero's Journey minus all the extraneous bells & whistles.

Ten-Step Hero's Journey

The ten-step Hero's Journey is similar to the twelve-step version we presented above. It includes most of the same steps except for Refusal of the Call and Meeting the Mentor, arguing that these steps aren't as essential to include; and, it moves Crossing the Threshold to the end of Act One and Reward to the end of Act Two.

The Ordinary World
The Call to Adventure
Crossing the Threshold
Tests, Allies, Enemies
Approach the Innermost Cave
The Road Back
Resurrection
Return with Elixir

We've previously written about the ten-step hero's journey in a series of essays separated by act: Act One (with a prologue), Act Two , and Act Three .

Twelve-Step Hero's Journey: Version Two

Again, the second version of the twelve-step hero's journey is very similar to the one above, save for a few changes, including in which story act certain steps appear.

This version skips The Ordinary World exposition and starts right at The Call to Adventure; then, the story ends with two new steps in place of Return With Elixir: The Return and The Freedom to Live.

The Refusal of the Call
Meeting the Mentor
Test, Allies, Enemies
Approaching the Innermost Cave
The Resurrection
The Return*
The Freedom to Live*

In the final act of this version, there is more of a focus on an internal transformation for the hero. They experience a metamorphosis on their journey back to the Known World, return home changed, and go on to live a new life, uninhibited.

Seventeen-Step Hero's Journey

Finally, the granddaddy of heroic journeys: the seventeen-step Hero's Journey. This version includes a slew of extra steps your hero might face out in the expanse.

Refusal of the Call
Supernatural Aid (aka Meeting the Mentor)
Belly of the Whale*: This added stage marks the hero's immediate descent into danger once they've crossed the threshold.
Road of Trials (...with Allies, Tests, and Enemies)
Meeting with the Goddess/God*: In this stage, the hero meets with a new advisor or powerful figure, who equips them with the knowledge or insight needed to keep progressing forward.
Woman as Temptress (or simply, Temptation)*: Here, the hero is tempted, against their better judgment, to question themselves and their reason for being on the journey. They may feel insecure about something specific or have an exposed weakness that momentarily holds them back.
Atonement with the Father (or, Catharthis)*: The hero faces their Temptation and moves beyond it, shedding free from all that holds them back.
Apotheosis (aka The Ordeal)
The Ultimate Boon (aka the Reward)
Refusal of the Return*: The hero wonders if they even want to go back to their old life now that they've been forever changed.
The Magic Flight*: Having decided to return to the Known World, the hero needs to actually find a way back.
Rescue From Without*: Allies may come to the hero's rescue, helping them escape this bold, new world and return home.
Crossing of the Return Threshold (aka The Return)
Master of Two Worlds*: Very closely resembling The Resurrection stage in other variations, this stage signifies that the hero is quite literally a master of two worlds—The Known World and the Unknown World—having conquered each.
Freedom to Live

Again, we skip the Ordinary World opening here. Additionally, Acts Two and Three look pretty different from what we've seen so far, although, the bones of the Hero's Journey structure remain.

The Eight Hero’s Journey Archetypes

The Hero is, understandably, the cornerstone of the Hero’s Journey, but they’re just one of eight key archetypes that make up this narrative framework.

In The Writer's Journey , Vogler outlined seven of these archetypes, only excluding the Ally, which we've included below. Here’s a breakdown of all eight with examples:

1. The Hero

As outlined, the Hero is the protagonist who embarks on a transformative quest or journey. The challenges they overcome represent universal human struggles and triumphs.

Vogler assigned a "primary function" to each archetype—helpful for establishing their role in a story. The Hero's primary function is "to service and sacrifice."

Example: Neo from The Matrix , who evolves from a regular individual into the prophesied savior of humanity.

2. The Mentor

A wise guide offering knowledge, tools, and advice, Mentors help the Hero navigate the journey and discover their potential. Their primary function is "to guide."

Example: Mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid imparts not only martial arts skills but invaluable life lessons to Daniel.

3. The Ally

Companions who support the Hero, Allies provide assistance, friendship, and moral support throughout the journey. They may also become a friends-to-lovers romantic partner.

Not included in Vogler's list is the Ally, though we'd argue they are essential nonetheless. Let's say their primary function is "to aid and support."

Example: Samwise Gamgee from Lord of the Rings , a loyal friend and steadfast supporter of Frodo.

4. The Herald

The Herald acts as a catalyst to initiate the Hero's Journey, often presenting a challenge or calling the hero to adventure. Their primary function is "to warn or challenge."

Example: Effie Trinket from The Hunger Games , whose selection at the Reaping sets Katniss’s journey into motion.

5. The Trickster

A character who brings humor and unpredictability, challenges conventions, and offers alternative perspectives or solutions. Their primary function is "to disrupt."

Example: Loki from Norse mythology exemplifies the trickster, with his cunning and chaotic influence.

6. The Shapeshifter

Ambiguous figures whose allegiance and intentions are uncertain. They may be a friend one moment and a foe the next. Their primary function is "to question and deceive."

Example: Catwoman from the Batman universe often blurs the line between ally and adversary, slinking between both roles with glee.

7. The Guardian

Protectors of important thresholds, Guardians challenge or test the Hero, serving as obstacles to overcome or lessons to be learned. Their primary function is "to test."

Example: The Black Knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail literally bellows “None shall pass!”—a quintessential ( but not very effective ) Guardian.

8. The Shadow

Represents the Hero's inner conflict or an antagonist, often embodying the darker aspects of the hero or their opposition. Their primary function is "to destroy."

Example: Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender; initially an adversary, his journey parallels the Hero’s path of transformation.

While your story does not have to use all of the archetypes, they can help you develop your characters and visualize how they interact with one another—especially the Hero.

For example, take your hero and place them in the center of a blank worksheet, then write down your other major characters in a circle around them and determine who best fits into which archetype. Who challenges your hero? Who tricks them? Who guides them? And so on...

Stories that Use the Hero’s Journey

Not a fan of saving the Declaration of Independence? Check out these alternative examples of the Hero’s Journey to get inspired:

Epic of Gilgamesh : An ancient Mesopotamian epic poem thought to be one of the earliest examples of the Hero’s Journey (and one of the oldest recorded stories).
The Lion King (1994): Simba's exile and return depict a tale of growth, responsibility, and reclaiming his rightful place as king.
The Alchemist by Paolo Coehlo: Santiago's quest for treasure transforms into a journey of self-discovery and personal enlightenment.
Coraline by Neil Gaiman: A young girl's adventure in a parallel world teaches her about courage, family, and appreciating her own reality.
Kung Fu Panda (2008): Po's transformation from a clumsy panda to a skilled warrior perfectly exemplifies the Hero's Journey. Skadoosh!

The Hero's Journey is so generalized that it's ubiquitous. You can plop the plot of just about any quest-style narrative into its framework and say that the story follows the Hero's Journey. Try it out for yourself as an exercise in getting familiar with the method.

Will the Hero's Journey Work For You?

As renowned as it is, the Hero's Journey works best for the kinds of tales that inspired it: mythic stories.

Writers of speculative fiction may gravitate towards this method over others, especially those writing epic fantasy and science fiction (big, bold fantasy quests and grand space operas come to mind).

The stories we tell today are vast and varied, and they stretch far beyond the dealings of deities, saving kingdoms, or acquiring some fabled "elixir." While that may have worked for Gilgamesh a few thousand years ago, it's not always representative of our lived experiences here and now.

If you decide to give the Hero's Journey a go, we encourage you to make it your own! The pieces of your plot don't have to neatly fit into the structure, but you can certainly make a strong start on mapping out your story.

Hero's Journey Campfire Template

The Timeline Module in Campfire offers a versatile canvas to plot out each basic component of your story while featuring nested "notebooks."

Simply double-click on each event card in your timeline to open up a canvas specific to that card. This allows you to look at your plot at the highest level, while also adding as much detail for each plot element as needed!

If you're just hearing about Campfire for the first time, it's free to sign up—forever! Let's plot the most epic of hero's journeys 👇

Lessons From the Hero’s Journey

The Hero's Journey offers a powerful framework for creating stories centered around growth, adventure, and transformation.

If you want to develop compelling characters, spin out engaging plots, and write books that express themes of valor and courage, consider The Hero’s Journey your blueprint. So stop holding out for a hero, and start writing!

Does your story mirror the Hero's Journey? Let us know in the comments below.

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Home / Book Writing / The Hero’s Journey: The 12 Steps of Mythic Structure

The Hero’s Journey: The 12 Steps of Mythic Structure

The Hero’s Journey plot structure is a common template for writing a compelling story. It also has a built-in character arc for the hero or heroine. Whether you write detailed outlines before getting into any prose, or you think writing is best done without an outline, the Hero’s Journey can help. Many writers fall somewhere in between, keeping in mind the broad strokes of a plot structure like the Hero’s Journey as they write.

Now, before you roll up your sleeves and get started with plotting your brand new idea, make sure it's viable to become a bestseller. Take just a few minutes to use book idea validation – without it, your book risks obscurity after it's published. If you have already written your book with a structure like the Hero's Journey and are looking to increase your sales, read how to make your book #1 on Amazon so you don't miss out on new readers.

One thing’s for sure: learning the twelve steps of the Hero’s Journey can only help your writing. This is why I recommend Plottr as an excellent tool to strengthen your writing. They have the Hero’s Journey and other well-known story archetypes to choose from so you can find one that best fits your particular story.

More on Plottr later. For now, let’s go on an adventure through the Hero’s Journey!

The origins of the Hero’s Journey
The 12 Steps of the Journey
Examples of the Hero’s Journey
How to incorporate this story structure into your writing

What is the Hero’s Journey?
The Hero’s Journey: An Overview
1. The Ordinary World
2. The Call to Adventure
3. Refusing the Call to Adventure
4. Meeting the Mentor
5. Crossing the Threshold
6. Test, Allies, and Enemies
7. Approach to the Inmost Cave
8. The Ordeal
9. The Reward
10. The Road Back
11. Resurrection
12. Return With the Elixir
Star Wars: A New Hope
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Hunger Games
Bonus Option: Use the Hero's Journey in a Series
What Stories Work With the Hero’s Journey?

Get it for FREE here: Get the PDF Here

Popularized by mythologist Joseph Campbell in his book The Hero With a Thousand Faces , the Hero’s Journey is a story structure that has been used to tell exciting and captivating stories for centuries. Campbell, a literature professor, found that this was a common mythic structure. It’s widely known by the moniker the Hero’s Journey, but this name didn’t come around until well after Campbell’s 1949 book.

Campbell’s name for it was the monomyth.

Other scholars and storytellers have made tweaks to Campbell’s original monomyth structure, which has seventeen steps instead of the twelve I’ll be discussing today. The version of the Hero’s Journey widely used by screenwriters, authors, and playwrights today was popularized by screenwriter and producer Christopher Vogler .

You can apply this story structure to mythology, films, books, and even short stories.

There are three overall stages to the Hero’s Journey, each with individual story beats. These are 1) Departure, 2) Initiation, and 3) Return.

The Ordinary World
The Call to Adventure
Refusing the Call to Adventure
Meeting the Mentor
Crossing the Threshold
Test, Allies, and Enemies
Approach to the Inmost Cave
The Road Back
Resurrection
Return With the Elixir

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The Twelve Stages of the Hero’s Journey

Each of the twelve steps has its own story beats that happen. As we finish each stage, we’ll reflect on each story beat with an example from a famous movie.

The first step in the Hero’s Journey is your chance to familiarize the reader with the known world in which your story happens. This means giving the reader what they need to know to make sense of the world (otherwise known as exposition ). If your story takes place in a reality much like our own, you won’t have a lot to do. But if magic and mythical beasts are normal, or it’s far into the future and interstellar travel is possible, you’ll have a bit more work to do here. If you're having trouble picking which type of world is best for your book, research popular keywords in your genre to reveal settings that readers find interesting.

While you introduce the world, you’ll want to introduce the main character(s) as well. And in doing so, it’s important to give the reader a reason to like him, her, or them . While the protagonist is in their normal, ordinary world, they should want something more or different. And this want or need should dovetail nicely with the primary conflict of the story.

Introduce the world and the character in an interesting way. Readers will give you some leeway at the beginning of the book, but if it reads like a textbook, you’ll lose them pretty quickly!
Give the character personality and dimension . Needs, wants, flaws, and characteristics don’t all have to come out right away, but there should be enough for the reader to want to follow the hero through the story.

Tip: This first step should take the first 10-12% of the story.

Step two, the call to adventure, is also called the inciting incident. This is something disruptive that pulls the hero out of their ordinary world and toward a journey that will ultimately change their life . . . if they survive.

This call propels the rest of the story forward , so it should be exciting enough for the reader to want to continue with the story. This will change from genre to genre, so it’s important to know the tropes of whatever genre you’re writing in. On Amazon, there are thousands of genre categories to choose from, so research potential category options to better understand your market.

Most heroes will resist this initial call to action. The stakes should be very real and clear to the reader at this point. In many stories, the stakes will be life or death.
Remember that your story needs to grow in intensity until it peaks at the climax. So the call to action should be dramatic, but things will get worse for the protagonist from here.

Tip: The Call To Adventure should happen around the 12% mark.

Not every protagonist will refuse the call. Some may be ready to go. But if you pay attention to some of your favorite stories, you’ll likely see that most heroes ‌resist initially until ‌they have no choice.

Something should happen to make a refusing hero realize that they have no choice but to take on the challenge presented to them. For every refusal, some incident or information should come out that will raise the stakes and make the hero realize they must face the challenge . The hero ventures forth at the end of this section.

It’s good to have the character refuse the call for a reason that ties in with the need or want established in the first step of the Hero’s Journey.
Give them a good reason to refuse — and an even better reason to finally heed the call to adventure.

Tip: The refusal section starts around the 15% mark of the story.

At this point in the story, the protagonist has responded to the call to adventure. But their initial unease is still there. They don’t yet have the skills, items, or knowledge to succeed against such a challenge. This is where the mentor comes in.

The mentor helps the protagonist gain the confidence needed to continue on the journey. This is usually done in a multifaceted manner, with both physical and mental help. Much of the time, the mentor provides tough love, kicking the protagonist’s butt into action, so to speak. While mentors are often people, they can also take the form of information, like a map, a magic scepter, or any other number of things that help the hero along.

Make it clear that, without the mentor, the protagonist would likely fall flat were they to continue on unaided.
The hero’s time with the mentor should ultimately result in a revelation , giving the hero exactly what they need (or at least what they think they need) to face the antagonist or challenge.

Tip: Have this section start around the 20% mark of the story.

Step five of the Hero’s Journey is often called the point of no return. While the protagonist has learned from the mentor and gained confidence, this story beat forces them to engage fully with the challenge. Usually, this dramatic turning point is orchestrated by the antagonist, giving both the reader and the protagonist an idea of how powerful the villain really is.

One common tactic is to have the mentor killed in this section. Whatever you choose to do, make it pivotal and have it reinforce the central theme and conflict of the story . This is also the end of the Departure section, otherwise known as the first act.

Until this point, the hero has had one foot in their ordinary world. Now, there’s no choice but to go forward into unknown territory, otherwise called the special world.
The hero’s reaction to this pivotal story beat should be in line with what the reader knows about them. They need to work for any major changes that come about in this section.

Tip: Crossing the Threshold usually starts around the 25% mark.

This section marks the beginning of the second act. Building on everything that has come before, the protagonist should be challenged, putting their new abilities and knowledge to the test. It will become clear that the hero still needs help to resolve the main conflict of the story. This is where allies come into play. By teaming up with allies, the hero should continue to grow, playing off the other characters and working to overcome the tests or setbacks in the Special World.

Enemies are those that put the tests in their place, working actively against the hero and allies. The reader should learn to care about the allies, which ‌means making them multifaceted characters. By the time this section is done, not all allies will have made it. Some may have even betrayed the hero. Likewise, enemies can also transform in this section, turning into allies.

While the allies may want the same thing as the hero, they may have conflicting views on how to get it. Everyone in agreement all the time makes for a boring story.
The hero’s abilities should be in doubt — both by the hero and the reader.

Tip: This section occurs around the 30% mark.

The approach to the inmost cave section gives the characters (and reader) a chance to reflect on the challenges of the previous section. Remember that the stakes and tension need to continue rising, so the previous section should have been the hardest challenge yet. The hero and allies are beaten and bruised — maybe one or more has died along the way — but the protagonist is still alive. The journey continues.

The group is closer to the goal — and to the place or time of ultimate danger. They’re regrouping and gathering their wits as they prepare to face the antagonist or some of the villain’s formidable forces.

This is a good place for the characters to formulate a plan of attack, clarifying the price of failure and the prize for success.
At this point, the hero has redoubled his effort and believes he is ready to face the challenge, despite his setbacks. The ordinary world is now far behind and impossible to get back to. The only way out is through.

Tip: This section happens around the 40% mark.

The ordeal is the biggest test yet and a transformative event that affects how the hero goes forward on their journey. This confrontation has the highest stakes so far, and it’s part of the central conflict. It brings the hero to their darkest point yet, and results in a metamorphosis of sorts that allows them to push through to the other side.

Campbell spoke of the ordeal in terms of death and rebirth for the protagonist. The hero uses all they have learned up to this point to push through the ordeal. A character close to the hero is often killed in this section, whether it be the mentor, a close ally, or a loved one. However, it’s not always a death. It could involve facing fears, going up against the biggest foe, or breaking through some seemingly insurmountable mental barrier. Whatever form the ordeal takes, the hero is broken down and comes out the other side stronger than before .

This section is a long one, taking nearly a fifth of the story. It should be dramatic, compelling, and speak directly to the heart of both the external and internal conflicts of the story.
Don’t be afraid to make things hard on your characters in this section. Even though the reader knows the hero will prevail, they should be left wondering in this section.

Tip: The Ordeal takes place from around the 50% mark.

Also called seizing the sword, this is the section in which the hero gets whatever they were searching for during the story. They’ve made it through the ordeal, and this is the reward. It can be an object, clarity, knowledge, or new skills/abilities. Whatever the reward is, it needs to be important in defeating the antagonist at the coming climax .

After the action and emotion of the ordeal, this section is a place for the reader and characters to regroup and catch their breath again. It can be a good place for a celebration of sorts, something to show for the sacrifices made so far. The hero may even reflect on all it took to get here.

It should be clear to the reader how the reward will help the hero to finish the journey.
This is a major milestone in the journey and should be treated as such. It also marks the end of act two.

Tip: The Reward section takes place around the 70% mark of the story.

Reward firmly in hand, the hero starts the journey back to the ordinary world. But every action has consequences, and those of claiming the reward block the hero’s road back. It becomes clear that things aren’t so simple, and the hero’s tribulations aren’t yet over.

The unforeseen consequences of claiming the reward make the hero realize they’re in more danger than ever before, and they must face the antagonist head-on before returning to the ordinary world. The hero prepares for the ultimate battle — the climax.

It should be clear to the reader why the hero must face the antagonist once and for all. There should be no choice, given who the hero has become and the stakes they now face.
This is a good place to re-establish the central conflict of the story and make clear the results of failure.

Tip: This section happens around the 75% mark.

This is the climax of the story — the ultimate showdown between hero and villain . The tension and the stakes are higher than they’ve been throughout the story. If the hero fails, the world as they know it will be forever changed for the worst. The hero uses all they have learned on the journey to defeat the antagonist.

The hero comes out of the confrontation changed, transformed into a true hero. This should be a dramatic transformation, completing the resurrection started earlier in the story.

Like every other challenge, the hero needs to earn this victory by sacrificing something for it. In some stories, the hero may even sacrifice him or herself.
By vanquishing the antagonist, the hero should find the strength or gain the knowledge to address their internal conflict in a satisfactory manner.

Tip: This section happens around the 85% mark .

The last section of the story details the hero’s return from the special world to the ordinary world. Sometimes called the magic flight, the hero now has changed for the better. Show what new skills, items, knowledge, or understanding of the world the hero brings with them (the elixir). This “elixir” can often be used to help those the hero left behind in the ordinary world.

In most stories, the hero will return to celebration. They’ve risked it all, saved lives, and learned important lessons. The people in the ordinary world are happy to have them back. The hero may decide to settle back into this world to use their newfound abilities. Or they may find they’ve outgrown it and have a taste for adventure.

Re-establish the hero’s internal conflict and show how solving it has changed their view and life, completing the character arc .
If you’re writing a series, provide a hook for the next story here by hinting at another conflict the hero will need to deal with.

Tip: This section happens around the 95% mark and finishes out the story!

Examples of the Hero’s Journey from Famous Works

In George Lucas's Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope , we can see the Hero's Journey in action. We also see it in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and The Hunger Games . Let’s take a look now.

Luke Skywalker — an archetypal hero — in his Ordinary World, living with his aunt and uncle, hoping for adventure.
Luke’s Call to Adventure comes when he activates a hidden message from Princess Leia that R2D2 is carrying for Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Luke initially Refuses the Call — until he returns home to discover his aunt and uncle have been killed by Imperial forces.
While Luke has already met his Mentor (Obi-Wan), the active mentoring really starts after Luke's home has been destroyed and the only family he's ever known killed.
When Luke, Obi-Wan, and the droids step into the dangerous Mos Eisley Spaceport, it signifies the beginning of Luke's heroic journey and the Crossing of the Threshold.
Luke and Obi-Wan hire a couple of Allies, Han Solo and Chewbacca, to transport them off the planet. Once on the Millennium Falcon, Luke's Tests begin.
The Approach to the Inmost Cave happens when the Death Star captures the Falcon in a tractor beam and pulls them in.
The Ordeal happens while Obi-Wan goes off to try and disengage the tractor beam. Luke, Han, and the others rescue Princess Leia. Obi-Wan confronts Darth Vader and sacrifices himself so the others can get away.
With the Rewards (the Death Star plans and the princess), Luke thinks he should be able to defeat the Empire. And while Obi-Wan's death weighs on him, he can see success ahead.
The Road Back is interrupted as the Falcon is attacked. They have no choice but to go to the Rebel base to deliver the Death Star plans, even though they’re being tracked.
As the Rebels are attacking the Death Star, Obi-Wan's voice speaks to Luke, telling him to use the Force. Luke does, using all that he's learned and finally “sacrificing” his old self, embracing the Force and “Resurrecting” as a true hero. He fires and blows up the Death Star.
Luke Returns to the Rebel base triumphant. Both he and Han Solo receive medals and accolades for delivering the (temporary) blow to the evil Empire.
We get to see Frodo’s idyllic Ordinary World in the Shire. The idea of adventure is attractive to him, but not overly so.
Frodo’s Call to Adventure begins after Bilbo disappears, leaving behind the Ring, which Gandalf entrusts to young Frodo.
Frodo Refuses the Call not just once, but repeatedly throughout the story. He feels he is not the one to be entrusted with such a job of carrying and disposing of the Ring.
Gandalf acts as Frodo’s Mentor, instructing him on what he must do to protect the Ring and, in so doing, protecting the Shire.
Frodo and Sam quite literally Cross the Threshold as they leave the Shire after splitting from Gandalf.
Frodo and Sam run into Allies Merry and Pippin on their way toward Bree. They are also Tested by Enemies as they’re pursued by the Nazgûl. These tests continue until the group gets to Rivendell.
The Approach to the Inmost Cave is the group’s approach to the Mines of Moria — literal caves.
The Ordeal happens inside the Mines of Moria as the group is attacked by orcs and then Balrog, which Gandalf fights off, falling down into the depths and presumed dead.
The Reward is sparse in The Fellowship of the Rings. Gandalf is gone, and the group escapes with their lives.
The Road Back isn’t signified in this story by a turn back to the Ordinary World. Instead, it’s Frodo’s stay in Lothlórien, where he sees the stakes of his failure in a vision.
The Resurrection is the climax of the story, where the Uruk-hai catch up with the group and Boromir betrays Frodo, trying to take the ring from him. Frodo realizes he must travel alone to Mordor.
The Return with the Elixir portion is Sam’s refusal to let Frodo journey alone. Frodo pulls him into the boat and they cross the river together. Meanwhile, the rest of the Fellowship are determined to save Merry and Pippin. To be continued . . .
We see Katniss Everdeen living in her Ordinary World (District 12) with her mother and sister. It’s a bleak, depressing world, but it’s her Ordinary World nonetheless.
After Prim, Katniss’s sister is called for Tribute, Katniss volunteers in her stead. This is the Call to Adventure.
This is one example of a story with no real Refusal of the Call. She may not want to take part in the Hunger Games, but she makes the decision and sticks with it to save her sister.
Katniss meets Haymitch, her Mentor. Though a drunk, he guides her on the politics and gives her tips on surviving the Games.
Katniss Crosses the Threshold when she’s put on the train to the capital, leaving her Ordinary World behind.
The Tests, Enemies, and Allies section starts when she has to navigate the preparation for the Games. She meets Rue and has Peeta as an ally, as well. The Careers are clearly enemies to contend with later.
Katniss Approaches the Inmost Cave when the Hunger Games begin.
The Ordeal is plain to see as the Games commence, and Katniss struggles to stay alive amid the chaos.
The Reward comes when only Katniss and Peeta are left alive in the arena. They don’t have to fight, thanks to a rule change; they can both claim victory.
It looks good for Katniss and Peeta until the Capital changes the rules again, putting an obstacle in the path of the Road Back. Suddenly, they’re forced to decide which of them gets to live.
The Resurrection portion of the story plays out as Katniss and Peeta threaten to kill themselves, leaving no winner and possibly sowing the seeds of revolution. The Capital changes the rules again, allowing both of them to claim victory.
Katniss gets to live, Returning from the Games as a hero. One who just may be able to make some real change to her Ordinary World.

Let's say you want to think big. Like a 12 book series big. One little fun way that I use the Hero's Journey is to use each of the 12 steps to represent an entire book as a whole. You could also condense this into 6 books, 3 books, etc.

For example, the original Star Wars trilogy does a fantastic job of fitting the hero's journey not only into the first movie (A New Hope) but also into the trilogy as a whole. The first movie could easily represent the first four steps of the hero's journey from a macro-perspective (as well as covering all 12 within its self-contained plot), with The Empire Strikes Back covering steps 5-8, and Return of the Jedi covering steps 9-12.

Seriously though, the OG Star Wars trilogy is a masterclass in plotting, you guys.

In other words, the Hero's Journey doesn't have to be used just for a single novel, it can be a great way to progress your character from a more zoomed out perspective through an entire series.

Now that you know what to look for, think about some of your favorite stories. See if you can see the beats of the Hero's Journey in them. From Harry Potter and Toy Story to the Lion King and The Hunger Games , you'll find evidence of this story structure.

Its uses aren't just for adventure stories, though. With a little tweaking, a sweet romance story could also follow this template pretty closely. The point of the Hero’s Journey plot template isn’t to lock you into a formula that you can’t deviate from. Instead, it’s a tool that can guide you along. When you know the tropes of your genre, you can marry them with the major beats of the Hero’s Journey to come up with a novel readers will love . Remember, however, that writing an incredible novel is only part of the battle to find loyal readers- it's also important to have a strong marketing strategy so people can actually discover your book, as outlined in my free e-book on how to become an Amazon bestseller.

To make story beats easier, I recommend giving Plottr a try. It’s a great storytelling tool for writers that can help keep you on track using structures like the Hero’s Journey, Dan Harmon’s Story Circle , the Three Act Structure , and more.

Dave Chesson

When I’m not sipping tea with princesses or lightsaber dueling with little Jedi, I’m a book marketing nut. Having consulted multiple publishing companies and NYT best-selling authors, I created Kindlepreneur to help authors sell more books. I’ve even been called “The Kindlepreneur” by Amazon publicly, and I’m here to help you with your author journey.

Author vs writer: what’s the difference, how to write an adventure story, parts of a book [from cover to cover], sell more books on amazon, amazon kindle rankings e-book.

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The Hero’s Journey: Explained in 12 Steps

This article explains the hero’s journey, where it came from, and how it can help you tell better stories.

Would you like a proven way of telling better stories, ones that readers remember long after they put your work down? Well, you don’t need to sell your soul to do it either. Instead, use the Hero’s Journey to master the art of storytelling .

It’s a heroic journey that the storytellers behind popular dramas, stories, myths, legends, and even religious rituals often use it.

Living Writer contains time-saving templates for authors and novelists. iOS and Android apps available

What Is The Hero’s Journey?

Stage 1. the ordinary world, stage 2. the call to adventure, stage 3. refusal of the call, stage 4. meeting with the mentor, stage 5. crossing the first threshold, stage 6. test, allies, and enemies, stage 7. approach to the inmost cave, stage 8: the ordeal, stage 9. the reward (seizing the sword), stage 10. the road back, stage 11. the resurrection, stage 12. return with the elixir, what the hero’s journey means for writers, the hero’s journey: the final word, why is the hero’s journey important, what is the purpose of the hero’s journey, storytelling resources.

The Hero’s Journey is a popular storytelling framework used in films like Star Wars, The Matrix , Toy Story, and the recent Marvel superhero films. Although it’s in vogue today, it’s a rather old form of story structure.

In the 1949 book The Hero With a Thousand Faces, scholar Joseph writes about the Hero’s Journey:

“The usual hero adventure begins with someone from whom something has been taken, or who feels there is something lacking in the normal experience available or permitted to the members of society.”

“The person then takes off on a series of adventures beyond the ordinary, either to recover what has been lost or to discover some life-giving elixir. It’s usually a cycle, a coming and a returning.”

Essentially, the hero (it could be you or your protagonist) of any story goes on a journey and comes back a changed person. Star Wars is one of the most popular stories of the modern era, but did you know George Lucas guided his story for the first film around using the twelves stages of the Hero’sJourney?

Let’s dive into this storytelling technique using examples from Star Wars and other popular films.

We meet our hero.

Here, the reader or viewer meets an uneasy, ordinary person going about their daily lives and sympathizes with the unlikely hero.

For example:

In Star Wars , we meet Luke living a bored and isolated life on Tatooine’s backwater desert planet. He is an ordinary man with ordinary problems.

Similarly, in Lord of the Rings , we meet Frodo and his friends living a care-free life in the Shire.

Our hero goes on an adventure.

A dramatic incident calls the hero on a dangerous path and leaves the known world behind. He may encounter and disbelieve fabulous forces.

In Star Wars , Luke cleans an old droid called R2D2 and accidentally plays a help message from Princess Leia.

So, he seeks out an old hermit Obi-Wan Kenobi to help him understand what this message means. His world is about to change.

In Lord of the Rings , Gandalf visits Frodo Baggins and sends him on a mysterious adventure: to carry a magic ring to Rivendell.

In Toy Story, this is the moment Woody leaves Andy’s bedroom’s safety, albeit accidentally.

Our hero wants to turn back and go home.

The hero catches a glimpse of a new unknown world. An archetypal hero becomes reluctant and afraid to embrace this call to adventure.

In Star Wars , Obi-Wan Kenobi tells Luke about the age-long struggle between the evil Empire and the Rebels. Then, he says he will bring Luke to Alderaan and train him in the ways of the Force.

In Lord of the Rings , Frodo travels to Rivendell, meets Elrond, and learns the ring must be destroyed. The council immediately begin fighting with each other over what to do next.

Our hero meets a more knowledgeable teacher or guide.

The hero meets a seasoned traveler of the world and receives training and equipment from him or her.

In Star Wars , Luke meets Obi-Wan Kenobi. He offers Luke his father’s old light-saber and promises to train him in the mysterious ways of the Force.

In the recent Spiderman films , the hero meets Ironman and gains a special suit, which gives him new powers.

Our hero leaves his or her old life behind.

This moment comes at the end of the first act of the story. Here, the hero finally leaves his or her ordinary world and enters the other or unknown world.

In Star Wars , Luke returns home to find his aunt and uncle are dead. Having nowhere to go, he accepts Obi-Wan’s call to adventure and goes on a quest to rescue Princess Leia.

In The Matrix , Neo accepts the red pill from his mentor Morpheus. He swallows the red pill and learns the truth about the ordinary world.

Our hero assembles a crew.

Here, the hero is tested by his enemies and recruits some friends who can help him.

In Star Wars , Luke and Obi-Wan recruit a reluctant Han Solo and Chewbacca. Then, they battle against the Empire’s stormtroopers.

In almost any Marvel movie, our hero assembles side-kicks and friends who will help him or her.

Our hero gets ready to do battle.

Now, the hero and his or her allies get ready to achieve their goal. They prepare to do battle against the antagonists of the story.

The inmost cave is a metaphor deployed by mythologist Joseph Campbell describing an imminent conflict.

In Star Wars , Luke and his new allies travel to the planet of Alderaan so Luke can train in the ways of the Force and prepare to rescue Princess Leia.

Our hero faces their greatest challenge or ordeal yet.

In this pivotal moment of the story, the hero confronts death, his or her greatest fear, or a traumatic experience. It occurs in the innermost cave of the myth in question.

Also described by Campbell as entering “the belly of the whale,” it’s their biggest test so far. If they overcome this challenge, they will fundamentally change at a great cost. If they fail, all is lost.

In Star Wars , this is the moment where Darth Vadar and Obi-Wan Kenobi attack each other with light-sabers inside the Death Star. Luke looks on helplessly while Vadar strikes down and kills his mentor.

All is lost for Obi-Wan Kenobi. Later on, in the trilogy, Luke faces and defeats his father. All is won.

Our hero, if successful, receives a prize.

The hero, after facing and escaping certain death, takes possession of a treasure. He achieves a decisive victory over his enemies.

In Star Wars , Luke saves Princess Leia and captures the plans for the Death Star. Now, the Rebels have what they need to defeat the Empire finally.

Or do they?

Our hero tries to return with this prize to their old life.

Typically, there is a chase whereby the hero is driven to complete his adventure and bring his or her treasure home.

In Star Wars , Luke rescues Princess Leia from Darth Vadar with Han Solo and Chewbacca’s help. He joins the Rebels on their hidden base on Yavin 4. There, he is accepted as an X-Wing fighter pilot.

There, they regroup and plan an attack against Vadar’s forces and the Death Star.

Wait! Our hero has one final test, battle, or challenge.

Here, the hero is tested one last time and must make a sacrifice before he or she can defeat the primary antagonist.

Luke attempts to destroy the Death Star and is almost shot down and killed by Darth Vadar, flying a TIE Fighter.

All looks lost for Luke… until his old mentor appears in a vision, tells Luke to turn off the sensors of his X-Wing, and “Use the Force.”

In the final Lord of the Rings film, this is the moment when Frodo is about to die before being rescued by the Eagles.

Our hero returns home at last.

The hero returns home or continues with his journey, having embraced his identity and carrying some element of the treasure.

Luke uses the Force to destroy the Death Star and returns to the Rebels a hero. He will continue to fight the Empire using the Force on his side.

In the first Matrix film, Neo defeats Smith and leaves the Matrix before an electromagnetic pulse destroys the Sentinels.

He then phones Smith and reveals he will show those trapped in Matrix “a world where anything is possible.”

In Lord of the Rings, Bilbo returns to the Shire with treasure and a new understanding of the ordinary world.

I like the Hero’s Journey, not just because I enjoy superhero films or Star Wars , but because it’s a narrative device that a writer can tell more powerful stories .

Listen to what George Lucas said about the Hero’s Journey:

“Here is a lifetime of scholarship, a life of work that is distilled down to a few books that I can read in a few months that enable me to move forward with what I am trying to do and give me focus to my work.”

“It was a great feat and very important. It’s possible that if I had not run across him I would still be writing Star Wars today.”

He’s not the only successful creative person to use Hero’s Journey to tell better stories .

From the Matrix to almost all the recent Marvel offerings, the filmmakers behind popular franchises tell their stories using variations of the Hero’s Journey, as do the writers of popular thriller stories.

So what does the Hero’s Journey storytelling technique mean for you?

Well, you can…

Look for traces of the Hero’s Journey in popular works: Now that you’re aware of it, it’s easy (and fun) to find elements of this narrative device in books, films, and stories.

Use the Hero’s Journey to find creative ideas: Once you understand how a popular story is put together, you can extract elements from this story and combine them with your own to come up with more creative ideas.

Use the Hero’s Journey to overcome writer’s block: It’s not a color-by-numbers template that you must rigidly follow, but it will help you break your writing (or stories) into smaller, more approachable sections, like the opening , the middle, or the ending .

Tell stories with the Hero’s Journey: Whether you write short stories , novels, or non-fiction works, storytelling is an art that demands practice. The good news is the Hero’s Journey offers a proven way of practicing storytelling.

Remix this storytelling technique: George Lucas played with the Hero’s Journey’s order to tell his story in the first Star Wars film. There’s no reason why you can’t play around with it to tell your stories too.

Remember, the Hero’s Journey is just one way of mastering the art of storytelling. There are dozens more out there.

You have to accept your call-to-adventure and find them.

The hero’s journey is a popular form of storytelling, particularly with today’s screenwriters. It also works well for novels and even non-fiction.

Work through these 12 steps the next time you outline a book or story. Understanding the rules and mythology of this framework and see where your plot takes you.

Hero’s Journey FAQs

The hero’s journey demonstrates that change is possible for everyone. It shows us that an ordinary person can overcome great adversity and defeat their enemies or fears. With some help, they can affect the world in some way. It’s also important as it explains how popular stories and myths work.

The hero’s journey is a framework for crafting a compelling story. It charts the heroic journey of an ordinary person or main character to becoming a hero. It’s used in many popular mythical stories like Star Wars and Toy Story.

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The 9 Stages of the Hero’s Journey and How to Use Them

by Lewis / July 14, 2018 / Story Structure

What is the true purpose of storytelling?

You might say it’s to uplift us, or to comfort us in times of trouble. Others will argue storytelling serves to teach us morality, the meaning of good versus evil, or the value of inner strength. Yet, Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey goes deeper than all of those things.

The Hero’s Journey is about exploring human nature and charting our common path from childhood to adulthood, regardless of who we are or what we struggle with. Not only that, but it embodies universal themes of growth and change, making it the perfect foundation to build your own unique story from!

What Is the Hero’s Journey?

1 What Is the Hero’s Journey?
2 Using the Hero’s Journey in Your Own Novel
3.1 The Ordinary World:
3.2 The Call to Adventure and Refusing the Call:
3.3 Overcoming Resistance and Meeting the Mentor:
3.4 Crossing the First Threshold:
3.5 Tests and Trials:
3.6 The Major Ordeal:
3.7 The Road Back:
3.8 Mastering the Journey:
3.9 Returning with the Elixir:
4 Understanding the Monomyth

Popularized by Joseph Campbell, the Hero’s Journey was part of his idea of the “Monomyth,” a term describing the universal progression of all human storytelling. He developed this while studying mythology from cultures across the world and throughout history, writing about them in The Hero With a Thousand Faces.

As a follow up, Christopher Vogler wrote The Writer’s Journey , further distilling the ideas of Campbell into a usable storytelling guide.

The result is one of the best storytelling tools around.

At its core, the Hero’s Journey is a form of story structure just like the Three Act Structure. However, in comparison the Hero’s Journey is much more broad, and is something you can see at play in almost every story—regardless of how anti-traditional it may be.

This is because the Monomyth builds on ever-present patterns of growth and change, something humans have been obsessed with forever.

What is my purpose in life?
What does it mean to grow up?
Is there something greater out there?
What will happen when I die?

These questions have always echoed in the human mind, and been reflected in our storytelling as a result. Thus, the Hero’s Journey is so powerful and omnipresent because it resonates with a core part of our human experience.

“A blunder—apparently the merest chance—reveals an unsuspected world, and the individual is drawn into a relationship with forces that are not rightly understood… They are the result of suppressed desires and conflicts. They are ripples on the surface of life, produced by unsuspected springs. And these may be very deep—as deep as the soul itself.” – Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces

Using the Hero’s Journey in Your Own Novel

Of course, this is all well and good, but how can you use this Monomyth in your own writing?

Well, one of the best qualities of this structure is that it ties together both your characters and plot. Rather than just being a story structure, the Hero’s Journey can also act as something of a character arc. That’s the most helpful thing about these principles—they apply not only to your plot, but your protagonist’s arc as well, helping you build a more cohesive story.

When combined, you have a powerful recipe for engaging your readers!

Overall, the Hero’s Journey is split into two halves: The Ordinary World, and the Unknown World. The Ordinary World is exactly what it sounds like—your protagonist’s everyday life, complete with all of their flaws and insecurities.

However, a problem is brewing beneath the surface, and this is what will force them to leave home and enter the Unknown World. This Unknown World is where they’ll be tested and forced to grow as a person. Along the way they’ll gain new allies and skills, until they finally return to their Ordinary World to heal it’s suffering and take their place among the heroes.

Throughout this structure, your protagonist’s inner development will mirror the conflict of the story, giving your novel a cohesive and resonant feel. With that said, let’s look at the nine stages of the Hero’s Journey and how to incorporate them in your own storytelling!

The 9 Stages of Campbell’s Monomyth

The ordinary world:.

The start of the Hero’s Journey finds us in the Ordinary World, where readers are introduced to your setting, meet the starting cast, and get to know your protagonist. Essentially, the Ordinary World provides a baseline that will make the Unknown World your protagonist later encounters stand out.

Because of this, you don’t want to neglect this important setup.

Without seeing where your hero is starting from, a world full of magical purple unicorn dragons could be entirely normal to them. Instead, you need to you start your story by showing their normal everyday life in suburban Wisconsin. It’s the contrast between these two worlds that makes them feel impactful.

Alongside this, the Ordinary World also sets up the inner struggle your protagonist will need to overcome during their character arc. It shows how they’ve been living before their journey begins and foreshadows the cracks under the surface. Without this critical knowledge of the Ordinary World, the reader has no metric by which to measure your character’s growth or the growth of their world.

The Call to Adventure and Refusing the Call:

If you’re already a fan of the Three Act Structure, then the Call to Adventure will likely feel at least somewhat familiar.

This is because the Call to the Adventure mimics the Inciting Event and Key Event from the Three Act Structure. Here, your protagonist will learn of the coming conflict and get their first taste of the journey to come—though sometimes they are whisked away with little choice. Most often they’ll also refuse this call, helping your reader better understand the stakes of your story.

If your protagonist has reason to be afraid, then your audience does as well.

This stage allows you to build suspense, foreshadow the power of your antagonist and the dangers ahead, and show off your protagonist’s flaws in action. Are they too timid, headstrong, selfish, or careless? Incorporate this into their Refusal of the Call and show how it will hinder them on the journey ahead.

Overcoming Resistance and Meeting the Mentor:

Now that a Call has been issued, your protagonist will be feeling afraid, hesitant, or even outright resistant to beginning their journey.

Overcoming this resistance requires a period of counsel, where they’ll get advice and encouragement from mentors and allies. Here you’ll prepare your protagonist and audience for what’s coming, while also fitting in some last minute worldbuilding and plot development before your story picks up steam.

Your protagonist will begin collecting the tools and wisdom needed for the road ahead, though they won’t be completely prepared for a while yet. Their inner struggles will continue pushing against them here, and they may neglect important information they’ll regret later on. Still, they’ll also show promise, usually in the form of some redeeming quality that lets your readers know there is hope for them to grow.

Crossing the First Threshold:

This is the true beginning of your story.

Here your protagonist will Cross the First Threshold into the new, Unknown World, officially committing themselves to the journey ahead. There is no turning back from this point, and no returning to the Ordinary World until they’ve completed their quest and grown past their flaws.

Your protagonist will have to prove themselves to make it this far of course, even though they haven’t overcome their inner struggle just yet.

Just as they showed a redeeming quality while Overcoming Resistance and Meeting the Mentor, they’ll need to prove this redeeming quality again to cross into the Unknown World. As an example, Bilbo Baggins temporarily overcomes his fearfulness and leaves the Shire, while Mulan overcomes her self-doubt and joins the Chinese army. However, some characters will be forced into this Unknown World, like when Simba is driven from the Pride Lands by Scar.

Tests and Trials:

Your story has officially entered the Unknown World, and this is when a period of Tests and Trials begin for your protagonist.

Here they’ll gain new allies, new enemies, and new skills. They’ll be beaten down repeatedly, only to get back up again that much stronger and wiser. Essentially, this period is all about preparing them for the bigger battles that lie ahead.

This means that the Tests and Trials period is important for a variety of reasons.

It provides a stark contrast from the more stable Ordinary World and thrusts your protagonist into their new life. However, it also gives them the opportunity—through their new experiences—to prove their strengths, befriend others in your cast, and begin to threaten your antagonist. Overall, these tests will form nearly a quarter of your story’s overall runtime as you approach the Major Ordeal.

The Major Ordeal:

Perhaps confusingly named, the Major Ordeal is not the Climax.

Instead it corresponds with the Midpoint of the Three Act Structure, and shifts your protagonist from a period of reaction to action. After this point, they’ll finally be able to actively drive your plot forward, rather than just being pushed along against their will. They’ll also be rewarded for their success, either through a new tool, new allies, or new knowledge.

The Major Ordeal itself will feature a moment of growth that cements your protagonist’s progress. They’ll have to face their biggest conflict yet, giving them a chance to show how far they’ve come from their Ordinary World. However, don’t let them get ahead of themselves.

They haven’t overcome their inner struggle yet, though they may think they have.

To pick on Mulan again, her Major Ordeal occurs when she retrieves the arrow from the top of the pole in the middle of camp, proving her cleverness and intelligence. She has gained the acceptance of her comrades, but she is still living in disguise. This will come back to punish her later, just as your protagonist’s flaw will come back to punish them.

The Road Back:

With the Major Ordeal behind them, the Road Back prepares your protagonist to face the finale of your story.

They’re now driving the plot, seeking out your antagonist or otherwise planning their defeat, and likely beginning the trek to wherever their final showdown will take place. Here your pacing will speed up as well. You’re preparing for a climactic showdown, and both your cast and your readers are ready to see this journey come to its conclusion.

This creates the perfect opportunity to remind your protagonist of the stakes.

In the afterglow of the Major Ordeal, you need to show them why their journey isn’t over yet. Reveal the cracks still left by their flaw, and remind them that no matter how much they try to cover them up, they must deal with them soon. The conflict is far from over, and there’s still danger ahead.

Mastering the Journey:

With your story coming to its close, its time for your protagonist to prove they’ve mastered their journey—and as you can probably guess, this overlaps with the Climax and the Climactic moment from the Three Act Structure. Here they’ll do battle against your antagonist and face their final test, hopefully overcoming their inner struggle in the process.

As a result, everything in your story needs to come together here.

All of your themes, subplots, characters, symbols, motifs—it’s called the Climax for a reason! Of course, this is also the culmination of your protagonist’s arc. Here they’ll face the most difficult test of their flaws, and will have to use all of the knowledge, skills, and alliances they’ve gained to survive.

Ultimately, without the journey they just went on, they would never be able to succeed.

Returning with the Elixir:

With your story’s conflict resolved, it’s now time for your protagonist to recover. To Return with the Elixir references the end of many myths where the hero brings the rewards of their journey back to their home village, healing the lives of everyone around them—not just their own. In terms of the traditional Three Act Structure, this mirrors your Resolution.

Essentially, your goal in these final scenes is to complete the circle of your story.

At the end of many adventures the protagonist returns home to their Ordinary World, experiencing echoes from the start of their journey. Yet everything feels different, and they quickly realize how their quest has changed them. Others don’t make a physical return, but instead see similar situations to those they struggled with or felt uncomfortable in at the start, this time unfazed by what seemed so intimidating before.

Either way, these final moments will be bittersweet, joyful, and maybe even a bit sad.

Most importantly, they’ll provide an important sense of catharsis for your readers, a release of the emotional tension your story created. So—to use this ending to its full effect—make sure you give your readers a moment to relax with your cast before they close the back cover.

Understanding the Monomyth

At the end of the day, the Hero’s Journey embodies patterns seen in almost all human storytelling, and it’s also a great tool for writers wanting to more deeply understand their own stories. While it’s not without it’s flaws, it can still serve as a great starting point for telling your own epic adventures!

Of course, the Hero’s Journey isn’t the only form of story structure out there. If you’re interested in exploring everything else story structure has to offer, I hope you’ll take a moment to check out The Complete Story Structure Series , a collection of articles on The Novel Smithy dedicated to everything structure.

How does the Hero’s Journey impact your stories? Let me know in the comments!

Thoughts on the 9 stages of the hero’s journey and how to use them.

Hi, I have four books out and a new one almost ready. This may be the best explanation of the Journey I’ve read. And, I’ve read a lot, including Hero with a Thousand Faces and the Writer’s Journey. I especially like your take on Crossing the Threshold and the Major Ordeal. Those two entries helped clear a lot of fog on the subject for me.

Thanks. Charles Hampton

Glad to hear it Charles! 🙂

The 2024 Olympic team of origin

Outside of the Olympics and the major footy code grand finals, few sporting events are held higher than State of Origin. That seemingly timeless battle between the Blues and Maroons truly pits state against state, and mate against mate.

The Olympic team doesn't divide like that, but states still get proud of their own products. Each state has an institute of sport, and proud pathways for producing future champions.

New South Wales has produced the largest part of the Australian Olympic Team this year, in line with their place as Australia's biggest state. That's typical for Australian teams of recent years. The last time NSW didn't produce the most Olympic athletes was 1996, when Victoria briefly held the top spot.

Over the years Australian Olympians have come from near and far. Overseas born Australians have contributed significantly at the Olympics over the years, with some of Australia's most prominent Olympians getting their start overseas.

Success at the Olympics comes in many forms. Making the start line in itself is a huge achievement for any athlete, and often enough to justify the years of hard graft.

Some of our Olympians have higher bars – to make a final or even snag a medal of various metallic shades. While a medal isn't the only measure of success, it's certainly a sign that public acclaim is set to follow.

This Olympics the medal count sees Queensland sit on top with 11 gold medallists born there. This tally includes individual athletes that make up a part of a team. When adjusting for the population of each state or territory, it's plucky Tasmania whose haul edges out in front, thanks largely to the efforts of Ariarne Titmus.

Overseas born stars — such as the Fox sisters, Keegan Palmer and Bronte Campbell — also contributed significantly to Australia's record Paris haul.

Tasmania also leads the all-time per capita haul, with athletes from the Apple Isle punching well above their weight. Hockey players such as Eddie Ockenden and Matt Wells have racked up multiple medals for Tasmania, alongside rowers such as Duncan Free and Simon Burgess.

As with Tasmania, it often takes a bit to get noticed if you are from the NT, but those who end up getting picked for Australia tend to over perform the rest of the country by a fair margin.

Half of the 24 Olympians who have been born in the NT have won Olympic medals. This list of NT medallists is led by swimming superstar Leisel Jones and her three medal haul. The latest addition to this list is newly minted "Rose Gold" medallist Steph Talbot of the Opals basketball team.

State against state, mate against mate

However, as anyone who has watched State of Origin knows, state allegiance is not just about where you're born. For State of Origin, it sometimes means a Greg Inglis or Ken Nagas might play for another state. At Olympic time multiple states might try to claim the same athlete.

Take Queensland for example. The Queensland Institute of Sport boasts of 160 Queenslanders at the Olympics — far more than the 86 born in Queensland. In addition, the Commonwealth Minister for Sport Anika Wells has said this week that Queensland's medal contributions to the Olympics are "further proof that Queensland is the best country in the world".

In short, they're claiming anyone who happens to be based there too.

Queensland is a magnet for relocated athletes, with the country's largest contingent of athletes born elsewhere, whether overseas or another Australian state.

Queensland's magnetism makes the state particularly adept at claiming athletes as their own, perhaps matched only by the zeal of Canberrans for claiming local heroes. The Canberra Times last week proudly reported that there were 27 Canberra athletes competing, including a bevy of AIS-based athletes and anyone playing for Canberra's A-League Women's side and WNBL teams.

The 'Gold' Coast

It's not just the entire state of Queensland that's a magnet for Olympians. It turns out that a much maligned sporting city, frequently called a "graveyard" for sport by those focused on team sports, is in fact the country's biggest hotspot for Olympian home towns.

About 30 athletes at Paris call the Gold Coast/Tweed Heads area home. That's well above that of Australia's other biggest cities. It's also nearly twice the per capita Olympic representation of their closest rival down the road, the state capital of Brisbane.

Sporting clusters

It's not just in success that each state differs in its Olympic journey, but also in what sports are most common to them.

When looking at our current and former Olympians, patterns begin to emerge on which areas are hotbeds for different pursuits.

This year it seems clear that our swimmers tend to call Queensland home. That includes people that were born elsewhere and moved to the state to further their careers.

Conversely, those who vied for Rugby Sevens success were mostly from New South Wales. Further south in Victoria was a host of sports shooters and track and field stars — with 36 per cent of our athletics team coming from the Big V.

Other sports have hotspots tied to broader sporting administrations. South Australia is home to AusCycling – a potential reason that it is a hotbed for our current cycling crop.

The ABC of SPORT

X (formerly Twitter)

When do the Summer Olympics start? What you need to know ahead of Paris 2024

A mock up on the olympic volleyball stadium in front of the effiel tower

From the Matildas to the Gangurrus — everything you need to know about the Aussie teams bidding for gold in Paris

A composite image of Mary Fowler, Lauren Jackson and Charlotte Caslick.

Olympic Games

Competitions

The hero’s journey breakdown: jaws.

By Ken Miyamoto · January 24, 2020

Image by Barbarian Factory / Patrick Connan

How does Jaws follow Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey breakdown?

Welcome to another installment of our new series A Hero’s Journey Breakdown where we explore Joseph Campbell’s mythological storytelling structure and how iconic films fit into that mold.

Christopher Vogler’s approach to Campbell’s structure broke the mythical story structure into twelve stages. For this series, we define the stages in simplified interpretations:

The Ordinary World : We see the hero’s normal life at the start of the story before the adventure begins.
Call to Adventure : The hero is faced with an event, conflict, problem, or challenge that makes them begin their adventure.
Refusal of the Call : The hero initially refuses the adventure because of hesitation, fears, insecurity, or any other number of issues.
Meeting the Mentor : The hero encounters a mentor that can give them advice, wisdom, information, or items that ready them for the journey ahead.
Crossing the Threshold : The hero leaves their ordinary world for the first time and crosses the threshold into adventure.
Tests, Allies, and Enemies : The hero learns the rules of the new world and endures tests, meets friends, and comes face-to-face with enemies.
The Approach : The initial plan to take on the central conflict begins, but setbacks occur that cause the hero to try a new approach or adopt new ideas.
The Ordeal: Things go wrong and added conflict is introduced. The hero experiences more difficult hurdles and obstacles, some of which may lead to a life crisis.
The Reward : After surviving The Ordeal, the hero seizes the sword — a reward that they’ve earned that allows them to take on the biggest conflict. It may be a physical item or piece of knowledge or wisdom that will help them persevere.
The Road Back : The hero sees the light at the end of the tunnel, but they are about to face even more tests and challenges.
The Resurrection : The climax. The hero faces a final test, using everything they have learned to take on the conflict once and for all.
The Return : The hero brings their knowledge or the “elixir” back to the ordinary world.

Here we turn to the Steven Spielberg classic Jaws .

Note: As with any application of story structure or formula, this is just a hindsight interpretation and implementation of The Hero’s Journey to this cinematic tale. There can and will be variances.

Read More: Killer Shark Movies that Audiences Eat Right Up

The Ordinary World

The hero, Amity Police Chief Brody, awakens at his new home on Amity Island. He’s happily married with two sons.

His normal daily routine as chief of police is handling arguments about children karate-chopping picket fences. The tourist season is upon the island, so things are hectic as everyone readies for the influx of people.

Call to Adventure

Brody discovers the body of a missing young woman.

The medical examiner details that it could be a possible shark attack. Brody is alarmed, knowing that the beaches are going to be full amidst the rise in tourism. He tells his deputy to retrieve what is needed to create signs warning swimmers not to go into the water.

Refusal of the Call

When the mayor catches wind of Brody’s efforts to keep people out of the water, he pressures Brody to take no action.

The medical examiner has changed their story — a result of pressure from the mayor and the island board — stating that the girl could have been killed by a terrible boating accident.

Brody can’t believe what he’s hearing. He knows that he’s been defeated and takes no further action.

Meeting the Mentor

In this hero’s journey, there are two mentors.

After a young boy is killed by a shark attack, Brody meets Quint, a veteran fisherman that offers to catch the deadly shark for a high price.

Later on, Brody meets Hooper, an oceanographic expert that Brody called in for help.

Brody and Hooper determine that the girl was, in fact, killed by a shark.

They later rip open a shark that fishermen caught, which the mayor and everyone else believed to be the culprit of the attacks. There is no body of the young boy that was attacked — the shark is still out there.

Crossing the Threshold

Brody, Hooper, and Quint embark on a journey out to sea to hunt down the Great White that’s been terrorizing the island.

Brody undergoes many tests as they set out to sea.

He’s afraid of water and knows little to nothing about boats, let alone shark hunting. As he throws bloody chum into the ocean waters and gripes about the job he’s been assigned to do, he is confronted by the Great White for the first time, soon after declaring to the others, “You’re going to need a bigger boat.”

This leads to a thrilling series of actions where they attempt to mark the shark by attaching hollow barrels designed to float the shark up to the surface. One barrel isn’t enough as the shark effortlessly pulls it down beneath the waves.

The three men later bond while comparing stories and scars. Brody quickly learns that these two mentors of his are allies as well.

The Approach

Quint shares his story about being on the ill-fated U.S.S. Indianapolis.

This solidifies the dangers of sharks and what they may be up against.

It’s then that the shark returns, damaging the boat’s hull and disabling the power. They work through the night to repair the engine.

When the shark resurfaces the next day, they strive to bring it up to the surface with more barrels — to no avail.

Brody begins to call the Coast Guard on the radio, but Quint — obsessed with killing the shark — smashes the radio.

The shark returns and Quint harpoons another barrel into it. They tie the line to the stern cleats, but the shark drags the boat backward, swamping the deck and flooding the engine compartment.

Quint heads toward shore to draw the shark into shallower waters, but he pushes the damaged engine past the safety limits and the overtaxed engine fails.

The boat is slowly sinking. Hooper insists that he use his shark cage to get into the water and jab poison into the shark’s system.

The attempt fails. The shark attacks the cage and Hooper is thought to be lost.

Soon after, as their now sinking boat takes on water, the shark attacks and kills Quint, leaving Brody all by himself.

Brody can no longer rely on his mentors. They’re gone. He must use his recently accrued knowledge of shark hunting to find a new approach to the dilemma at hand.

As he’s close to being eaten by the shark himself, Brody desperately grabs one of the pressurized scuba tanks that Hooper brought aboard the boat and jams it into the shark’s wide-open mouth.

Brody now has a plan. With the air tank embedded within the mouth of the shark, he may be able to take the rifle and shoot the tank, destroying the shark in the process.

The Road Back

He has a chance, but he’s not out of the water yet. In fact, the boat is sinking. It has toppled onto its side and the shark is now closing in on Brody.

The Resurrection

Brody no longer has time to fear the water. He pushes that fear aside and is now resurrected as the sole person that is going to stop this beast.

Hooper is gone. Quint has been eaten alive. It’s up to him and him alone.

The shark surfaces once again as Brody climbs up the rapidly tilting mast. He holds Quint’s rifle in his hands as he leans against the mass, which moves closer and closer to the surface of the water as the boat sinks. He takes aim and shoots, missing with each attempt until he manages to hit the tank dead center, causing the tank to explode inside the shark’s mouth.

The shark is pulverized.

Brody has successfully killed the Great White that has been hunting the shores of Amity Island. And if that wasn’t good enough, he sees that Hooper has resurfaced — alive.

Brody and Hooper swim atop a makeshift barrel raft, headed back to the shore that can be seen far off in the distance. It’s a sure bet that they will be welcomed back as heroes, bringing their knowledge of Great White shark hunting back with them for future sequels.

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IMAGES

Thearetical Concepts
An Easy Guide To The Hero’s Journey Structure
The Hero's Journey
The Hero's Journey
Stages of the Hero`s Journey
Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey: A Better Screenplay in 17 Steps

COMMENTS

The Hero's Journey Explained: A Breakdown of its Different Stages
That brings us to the different stages The Hero's Journey is divided into: The Ordinary World. The Call to Adventure. Refusal of the Call. Meeting with the Mentor. Crossing the Threshold to the Special World. Tests, Allies and Enemies. Approach to the Innermost Cave. The Ordeal.
The Hero's Journey: 12 Steps That Make Up the Universal Structure of
Frequently the Hero is itching for some kind of adventure or change; this is why they are primed for what is to come. When the danger comes in Step 2, the Hero is ready to take the next step due to their eager, adventurous, or frustrated spirit. Learn more: Hero's Journey Step #1: Ordinary World. Step 2.
The 12 Steps of the Hero's Journey, WIth Example
The fundamental steps include: The call to adventure, where the hero is presented with a challenge or opportunity that sets them on their path; the crossing of the threshold, leaving behind the known world and venturing into the unknown; various tests, trials, and allies that help the hero overcome obstacles along the way; a confrontation with ...
Hero's Journey: Get a Strong Story Structure in 12 Steps
9. Reward (Seizing the Sword) In which the Hero sees light at the end of the tunnel. Our Hero's been through a lot. However, the fruits of their labor are now at hand — if they can just reach out and grab them! The "reward" is the object or knowledge the Hero has fought throughout the entire journey to hold.
12 Hero's Journey Stages Explained (+ Free Templates)
The very first hero's journey arc was created by Joseph Campbell in 1949. It contained the following 17 steps: The Call to Adventure: The hero receives a call or a reason to go on a journey. Refusal of the Call: The hero does not accept the quest. They worry about their own abilities or fear the journey itself.
Breaking Down The Hero's Journey Plot Structure
The Hero's Journey is a classic plot structure that appears in many speculative fiction books, films, television shows, and other forms of media. ... As evidenced by the examples included in today's breakdown, the Hero's Journey can help writers craft incredible speculative fiction stories. However, it's worth noting that not all stories ...
The Hero's Journey: A Plot Structure Inspired by Mythology
The Hero's Journey offers a powerful framework for creating quest-based stories emphasizing self-transformation. ... Here's a breakdown of all eight with examples: 1. The Hero . As outlined, the Hero is the protagonist who embarks on a transformative quest or journey. The challenges they overcome represent universal human struggles and triumphs.
Writing 101: What Is the Hero's Journey? 2 Hero's Journey Examples in
A sudden and unexpected journey, promising adventure and peril. A test of character, strength, and skill. An ultimate battle that tests the hero's resolve. A triumphant return home. If this sounds familiar, that's because this exact narrative template has inspired countless stories from ancient myths to modern television shows and movies ...
The Hero's Journey: The 12 Steps of Mythic Structure
2. The Call to Adventure. Step two, the call to adventure, is also called the inciting incident. This is something disruptive that pulls the hero out of their ordinary world and toward a journey that will ultimately change their life . . . if they survive.
Hero's journey
Illustration of the hero's journey. In narratology and comparative mythology, the hero's journey, also known as the monomyth, is the common template of stories that involve a hero who goes on an adventure, is victorious in a decisive crisis, and comes home changed or transformed.. Earlier figures had proposed similar concepts, including psychoanalyst Otto Rank and amateur anthropologist Lord ...
The Hero's Journey Breakdown: 'Star Wars'
Welcome to the inaugural installment of our new series A Hero's Journey Breakdown where we explore Joseph Campbell's mythological storytelling structure and how iconic films fit into that mold. First up is Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Let's break down the plot and structure of George Lucas' 1977 space-opera, the first in what would ...
The Hero's Journey: A 17 Step Story Structure Beat Sheet
Here's an overview of all of the 17 steps of Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey: Act One: The Departure. The Call to Adventure. Refusal of the Call. Supernatural Aid. The Crossing of the First Threshold. Belly of the Whale. Act 2: The Initiation: The Road of Trials.
The Hero's Journey (Explained in 4 Minutes)
The hero's journey is a circular sequence of events underlying almost any story or adventure. ... However, it holds true for books, poems, music videos, and talks as well — at least the good ones. Here's a breakdown for the first Iron Man movie: The Ordinary World: Tony Stark sells weapons to whoever will pay him the most.
The Hero's Journey Breakdown: The Lord of the Rings
Welcome to another installment of our new series A Hero's Journey Breakdown where we explore Joseph Campbell's mythological storytelling structure and how iconic films fit into that mold. Christopher Vogler's approach to Campbell's structure broke the mythical story structure into twelve stages. For this series, we define the stages in ...
Narrative Structure: Writing a Story Using The Hero's Journey (With
The Hero's Journey has been in use across fiction and legends for centuries. However, it was first given a name, and popularity as a tool for writers, after the publication of Joesph Campbell ...
The Hero's Journey: Explained in 12 Steps
The hero's journey is a popular form of storytelling, particularly with today's screenwriters. It also works well for novels and even non-fiction. Work through these 12 steps the next time you outline a book or story. Understanding the rules and mythology of this framework and see where your plot takes you.
How to Outline Your Novel with the Hero's Journey
Step 1: Divide Your Target Word Count into 3 Acts. The first thing we need to do is break down our total target word count into three sections—or acts. In general: Act 1 "Departure" represents about 25% of the total word count. Act 2 "Descent" and Initiation" represents about 50% of the total word count.
The Hero's Journey Breakdown: Stand By Me
Welcome to another installment of our new series A Hero's Journey Breakdown where we explore Joseph Campbell's mythological storytelling structure and how iconic films fit into that mold. Christopher Vogler's approach to Campbell's structure broke the mythical story structure into twelve stages. For this series, we define the stages in ...
The 9 Stages of the Hero's Journey and How to Use Them
1 What Is the Hero's Journey? 2 Using the Hero's Journey in Your Own Novel; 3 The 9 Stages of Campbell's Monomyth. 3.1 The Ordinary World: 3.2 The Call to Adventure and Refusing the Call: 3.3 Overcoming Resistance and Meeting the Mentor: 3.4 Crossing the First Threshold: 3.5 Tests and Trials: 3.6 The Major Ordeal: 3.7 The Road Back: 3.8 ...
The Hero's Journey
Louis is a plantation owner, 1791, New Orleans, grieving the death of his wife and child. He wants to wallow in his guilt for surviving them, and rage at the unfairness of the world. He needs to release his guilt and accept that the world is beyond his understanding and control. Interstellar.
The Hero's Journey Breakdown: Top Gun
The Hero's Journey Breakdown: Top Gun. Note: As with any application of story structure or formula in a script breakdown, this is just a hindsight interpretation and implementation of The Hero's Journey to this cinematic tale. There can and will be variances. Download the script! The Ordinary World
The 17 Best Movies That Follow the Hero's Journey
Kingsman: The Secret Service, one of the funniest action movies of the 21st century so far, is based on the popular comic books of the same title.It's about a super-secret spy organization that ...
Australia boasts one of the strongest fields at the Paris Olympics, but
Australia is always one of the most well-represented countries at the Olympics, boasting a team of 460 athletes this year in Paris. Here is a state-by-state breakdown of the record-breaking team ...
The Hero's Journey Script Breakdown: Top Gun: Maverick
For this script breakdown series, we define the stages in simplified interpretations. The 12 Stages of the Hero's Journey. The Ordinary World: We see the hero's normal life at the start of the story before the adventure begins. Call to Adventure: The hero is faced with an event, conflict, problem, or challenge that makes them begin their ...
The Hero's Journey Breakdown: Jaws
In this hero's journey, there are two mentors. After a young boy is killed by a shark attack, Brody meets Quint, a veteran fisherman that offers to catch the deadly shark for a high price. Later on, Brody meets Hooper, an oceanographic expert that Brody called in for help. Brody and Hooper determine that the girl was, in fact, killed by a shark.