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Hero’s Journey® Writing Course
All About Writing

Hero’s Journey® Writing Course

£525.00 £0.00
Tax included.

Start Date: TBC – Please email us to discuss a start date. 
Where: Live sessions will be held every Wednesday for eight weeks via Zoom.  Course notes and the session recording will be distributed via our online teaching platform.
UK time – 17h00 to 20h00/20h30
Our Hero’s Journey® Writing Course takes the insights that Joseph Campbell developed into story and character and applies them to the challenges all writers face when they set out to write their stories – whether they’re short stories, novels, works of creative non-fiction, or screenplays.  
Our course tracks all twelve stages of the Hero’s Journey® model in eight, easily digestible modules – conducted on-line in the company of a group of fellow writers on the same quest, and under the guidance of two seasoned storytellers. 

 

How does the course work?

  • Campbell's Hero’s Journey® template is the most useful story template ever devised, reflecting the underlying structure of story, and giving you important cues about character and motivation.  
  • We present the course in eight two to two and a half hour, virtual sessions. 
  • Notes will be sent to you in advance, together with excerpts from short stories, novels and works of non-fiction, plus links to video clips and scripts available online.  
  • You gather on Wednesday evenings via a Zoom link where either Richard or Michele will run over the highlights of the module, invite questions and promote discussion. They will then give you a prompt to write a scene which enables you to explore, in dramatic fashion, the week’s primary lesson. 
  • You’ll first comment on each other’s work, before Richard or Michele gives their feedback. 
  • By the end of the course, you’ll have learned the route through the Hero’s Journey® template and be able to apply your understanding to your own writing projects. 

How will you benefit?

  • You will learn techniques to make your stories more dramatic and more appealing to readers. 
  • You will learn to motivate your character’s crucial choices and decisions.  
  • You will learn to recognise when a crucial element of your story is missing. 
  • You will learn how to mislead your readers, how to build to the sort of climax that pays off dramatically and psychologically.  
  • You will learn to write better stories. 

Course outline:

The hero is either male or female, animal or even mineral. (Yes, robots can also be heroes.)

           1. The Everyday World

  1. We see the hero’s normal life at the start of the story before the adventure begins.

    2. The Call to Adventure

    The hero is faced with an event, conflict, problem, or challenge that prompts or invites them to begin their adventure.

    3. The Refusal of The Call

    The hero initially refuses the adventure because of hesitation, fears, insecurity, or one of any number of other issues.

    4. Supernatural Aid

    The hero encounters a guide or mentor that can give them advice, wisdom, information, or items that prepare them for the journey ahead.

    5. Crossing the Threshold The hero leaves their ordinary world and crosses the threshold into the unknown.

    6. The Road of Trials

    The hero learns the rules of the new world and endures tests, meets helpers, and comes face-to-face with enemies.

    7. In the Belly of the Whale

    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.

    8. The Supreme Ordeal

    Things go wrong and added conflict is introduced. This is the nadir of his journey – which culminates in a transformative crisis.  

    9. The Elixir

    After surviving The Ordeal, the hero takes possession of a reward that he or she has 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.

    10. The Magic Flight

    The hero sees the light at the end of the tunnel, but they are about to face even more tests and challenges.

    11. Resurrection

    The climax. The hero faces a final test, using everything they have learned to take on the conflict once and for all.

    12. Master of the Two Worlds

    The hero brings their knowledge or ‘mastery’ (the Elixir) back to the ordinary world.

 ***

Hero’s Journey® and any copyrighted material authored by Joseph Campbell are used under license from the Joseph Campbell Foundation (www.jcf.org)