Nahno McLein

Part 4 of the Hero’s Journey

A knight has a stubborn head, covered in an iron helmet. For the Mentor it is hard to get through that, but in many stories an older, wiser parent figure is at hand to guide the initial clumsy steps of the child
The Mentor isn’t always included and he can turn up anywhere in the story, but it’s usually right before the departure to the Special World. As discussed in Part 3, he might help the hero to overcome his last reluctant fear before leaving the Ordinary World.
In Star Wars, it’s Obi-Wan that guides Luke, even gives him his father’s light-saber. In E.T., one hero is at the same time mentor for the other hero: E.T. steps in for Elliot’s absent father and guides him through high school experiences like the first kiss and teaches him about coping with loss.
Honestly, I love the Mentor in stories. It makes you feel safer and the scary truth becomes less frightening. Unfortunately, it is necessary for the Mentor to leave at some point, or the hero will never develop on its own.

Part 3 of the Hero’s Journey
Well, you can’t jump right into it, can you?

For the sake of suspense, or merely to annoy the reader, or maybe even to include some reality – because when ever do you just drop everything and do something different – we have this reluctant refusal here.

Or is it actually important to make it believable? After all, the journey out of the Ordinary World leads to something unknown, most likely even dangerous. Something is needed to convince the hero, who more or less is jinxed with confusion and reluctance, – this could be the mentor, which I will talk about tomorrow.

In a nice story, this last threshold before the adventure is merely old memories, let’s say an old relationship failed, so we don’t wanna rush into it too quickly. In Star Wars, it is rather dramatic, because Luke decides to stay at home, not going away with Obi-Wan, when his Uncle and Aunt are slaughtered. In E.T., Elliot runs away twice and tells his family to not go looking in the shed – as if that had ever worked.
It might be arguable whether this stage is needed at all times, but I think it’s a good way to include deeper issues from the characters. Most humans don’t go into the unknown darkness easily.

Part 2 of the Hero’s Journey
At some point, our hero needs an incentive to set the story in motion. The Call to Adventure initiates the journey, by introducing some kind of problem or challenge. This also poses a question that holds the suspense for the rest of the film: will the hero be able succeed?

Often at this stage the characters meet (lovestories) or something bad has happened and action needs to be taken to find justice (revenge-detective story). In Star Wars again, it is Leia’s message that makes Luke join the rebellion. In E.T. it is the encounter of Elliot and the little alien, which starts a story of friendship, sharing experiences and helping each other.

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As a writer, this most often is the main idea of the story. It is the reason for our characters to set off. Without it, I would question the readability. Not all stages of the Hero’s Journey are always necessary, but this surely is essential.

Part 1 of the Hero’s Journey:
The beginning most likely takes place in the here and now, the Ordinary World.

It often introduces us to the problems, the boring reality, and the characters merely hover in it. After all, if you want to show how amazing or plainly different the Special World will be, the reader/viewer needs to know the comparable side, too.

In Star Wars, we find out that the empire rules the galaxy and the Jedi’s disappeared, while Luke is wasting his life. In E.T. we find out that Elliot’s father has left and the family struggles to cope with it. At the same time, E.T. was left behind by his family and is searched for by the government. Here you see that the “hero” can be anything, in this case even two characters at the same time.

uk.movies.ign.com

Even if you use a flashback or flash forward, I think it’s necessary to set up the ordinary world quite soon.

12 days to uncover the hero in all stories - coming from the Hero's Journey (also known as Writer's Journey):
“The Hero with a Thousand Faces” (1949) by Joseph Campbell brings us the monomyth concept of the Hero’s Journey. George Lucas even admits that Star Wars was heavily influenced by his theory and many Hollywood films thereafter incorporate the resulting Hero's Journey (Steven Spielberg, Francis Coppola …).

But what is it?

digitaljournal.com

Campbell discovered that all hero myths are basically the same story. He describes a universal pattern that lies in literally all literature, from jokes to novels. There are differences in the details, but fundamentally it’s the same. Basically there is always a journey: the hero leaves the ordinary world, comes into unfamiliar terrain, undergoes some sort of change or growth and journeys back home with something new.
Christopher Vogler has slightly adapted the Hero with a Thousand Faces into the Hero’s Journey in his screenwriter guide.

In the next 12 days, I will explore his concept, because I think that writer’s can learn from it just as much as the filmmaker’s already have. Although I advise to not follow the Hero’s Journey step by step like successful Hollywood films, because we should strive to write excellent work and not just for the masses.

I like it fresh.
As part of a couple of green initiatives, I value fresh vegetables and fruits. Fruits - in their sweet juice - are fabulous.

Does that mean I should say no to frozen food?

I don't think so. Early farmers already preserved their game in cold areas over the winter season. I actually believe that frozen food can be much healthier than for example vegetables that you get on a local market. What happens is, the water freezes and thus bacteria don't have a chance to do their evil workings.
This way, frozen food is clean and doesn't come with invisible appendices.

What does that have to do with writing or film?
Nothing. I don't want the A-Z challenge to be solely about writing. If we'd all do that, the over 1200 participants will inevitably be full repetitions.

From Greek: endo (ενδο) = within and Morpheus (Μορφέας) God of dreams.
So we're dealing with the dreams within us, but actually it relates more to a pharmacological activity in our body that is triggered by neurotransmitters.

wellsphere.com

Why this is important for me today?

Because we writer's shouldn't forget that exercise and the outside world is just as important. We shouldn't underestimate the power of endorphins. Whenever I come home from yoga or a good workout or maybe just a swim, I feel much more productive. It's like a rush, especially when I had some sugar. I would call this a sugar-endorphin rush.

Also, I wanted to know if you get the same feelings when you start dating someone. Do you get endorphin rushes?