From February through April, 2011, I’m sitting down in front of a camera every week to share my progress and insights as I write my second novel, “Light of the Outsider.” This show, “Writing ‘Light’” also encourages viewer feedback… and this episode is entirely in response to a voicemail from viewer Roberto Scarloto.
In it, we dig a little deeper into Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero With A Thousand Faces” and talk about how awareness of the Hero’s Journey motifs can enrich your stories and character development, as well as why I keep the monomyth firmly in mind as I craft “Light of the Outsider” and the rest of my fiction.
Every storyteller of every kind should read “The Hero With A Thousand Faces.” Get your copy, and when you do, you’ll help me out with a small, automatic commission to support this video podcast.
Have you read “The Hero With A Thousand Faces,” and does it resonate in your own writing or other creative endeavor? Tell me about it — or anything else you want to say about this episode of “Writing ‘Light’” — in the comments!
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I first noticed the hero’s journey before I had even heard about it. I noticed many similar things cropping up in some of my favorite stories, including in my bible. I was reading “The Eye of the World” by Robert Jordan, his 1st in The Wheel of Time series, and I thought, hey, farm boy – humble beginnings, finds he’s meant to be THE ONE, Rand Al’Thor seems a lot like Luke Skywalker, Jesus, Frodo, and Harry Potter – even though the three are very different from each other and in very different settings. I wondered at these similarities in so many stories, and then I heard about The Hero’s Journey. It all clicked. I have yet to read the book myself, but have heard it referenced and explained in many places. I’ll have to give it a read. Thanks for breaking it down for us with a classic favorite Matt!
Hey there Dan — yep, it’s true, most classic stories in mythology, literature, film… heck, in all storytelling… follow the pattern of the monomyth intentionally or not. By understanding and harnessing the cues rather than unconsciously stumbling into them, I’m sure we can enhance our writing.