Hero's Journey (Monomyth) and Story Structure: Pushing and Pulling the Hero Forward
Understanding this template is a priority for story or screenwriters.
There is only one story.
The Hero's Journey:
a) Attempts to tap into unconscious expectations the audience has regarding what a story is and how it should be told.
b) Gives the writer more structural elements than simply three or four acts, plot points, mid point and so on.
c) Gives you a tangible process for building and releasing dissonance (establishing and achieving catharsis).
d) Gives you a universal structural template upon which you can superimpose your situational story.
and more...
PUSHES AND PULLS FORWARD
Many writers do not appreciate the value of Pushes and Pulls (in both directions) in every successful story and screenplay. Yet it is the Pushes and Pulls that keep the Hero in particular states, take your Hero from one state to the next, from one part of the Physical Journey to the next, from one part of the Psychological Transformation to the next and so forth.
In Gladiator (2000), Maximus was pulled forward because his wife and child were threatened. In Star Wars (1977), Luke, Han et al were pushed off Tatooine by stormtroopers. In The Godfather (1972), Michael was pushed out of New York by the threat from the other Families. In The Matrix (1999), Neo was pulled forward by Morpheus and pushed forward by Smith et al. In Planet of the Apes (1968), Taylor et al were pushed forward because they had three days before the groceries ran out.
Similarly, Pushes and Pulls work backwards, in conjunction with Resistances, to prevent the Hero from Evolving. It is this battle, between the inevitable movement forward and the inertia to remain as the Old Self that you, as a screenwriter, must manage.
Related Tags: screenplay, heros, journey, monomyth, story, structure, screenwriting, transformation
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Kal Bishop, MBA
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