Chapter 4
The Hero’s Journey
In his book “The Hero of a Thousand Faces“, Joseph Campbell presents us with the Hero’s Journey, or Monomyth, a study that shows the presence of a narrative pattern in famous and exciting stories.
According to the author, all stories revolve around a hero (or heroin), who can be either a hero as such, like Hercules, or a subjective one, like your potential client.
The Hero’s Journey is a common narrative archetype, or story template, that involves a hero who goes on an adventure, learns a lesson, wins a victory with that newfound knowledge, and then returns home transformed.
Have a look at an applied example of the Hero’s Journey and try to fit the narratives you know into this cycle.
1. Introduction
The introduction is an essential element in the structure of your story. This is the time to locate the character, the location, the environment, and the situation they are in before “something” happens.
Here begins the process of generating empathy so that the audience can identify with the hero.This connection is fundamental to awaken the viewer’s interest and identification with the story.
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2. Call to adventure
In brief, the Hero is living in the so-called “ordinary world” when they receive a call to adventure. This call is usually presented with a problem, challenge, or adventure. The presentation of the problem should come right after the introduction.
It should not take too long between one and the other. After all, presenting the problem ensures that curiosity acts as a connecting element between your audience and your story.
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3.The refusal of the call
The Hero is usually unsure about the call — this phase is known as the “refusal of the call”. Often at this point, the hero balks at the threshold of adventure. After all, he or she is facing the greatest of all fears: the fear of the unknown.
Many times, the hero thinks of giving up and has several arguments for believing that they will not be able to accomplish such a task or overcome such a challenge. Here you present the impediments the hero holds that may discourage them from trying to achieve victory.
But something may happen soon and change this scenario…
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4. The Mentor
Eventually, the hero must face the unknown by themself. Sometimes the wise old man is required to give the hero a swift kick in the pants to get the adventure going. At this point, the hero finds what or who will help them to accomplish the goal.
It is common to have a mentor figure, someone who will always protect and guide the protagonist, conveying security and affection. The mentor can be a person but also an object, a product or service, when looking at a business reality.
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5. The Transformation
Even though they have the help of their mentors and their powerful items, the hero will not find an easy path ahead. New challenges will arise, and with each new stage, new ways to overcome conflicts and obstacles will be discovered.
All this can be considered training, a refinement, or purging of fears — preparing the hero to deal with the final great challenge that can be successfully won only after overcoming the hero’s own fears.
This is the moment to inspire confidence and faith in your buyer persona.
They will cheer for the hero’s victory and will believe that, with all the elements at their disposal, all it takes to get out of that situation is the initiative to overcome their obstacles.
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6. Resolution
The hero emerges from the special world, transformed by their experience. This is the moment to highlight the hero’s transformation and how it impacted their initial life.
The overcoming of the conflict and the protagonist’s change build the message to be conveyed by the plot.
The hero comes back to their ordinary world, but the adventure would be meaningless unless they brought back the elixir, treasure, or some lesson from the special world.
BackNow that we have covered all the elements and steps necessary to build a good story, it is worth making one final aspect clear.
It is not enough to compose a flawless story if it does not match your company or your product. A nice way to do so is making the strategic use of words to convince your target audience.
Copywriting techniques can help you delight and make your blog reader follow all the actions you indicate.
