12 Steps of a Hero’s Journey – A basic formula for movies and novels, created by Joseph Campbell.

I re-worded it for my fun and enjoyment.

1. Our poor unsuspecting character is living his life, minding his own business, unaware that a writer is about to put him through some really awful crap.

2. This is where the fun begins, our poor unsuspecting character gets forced out of his boring little life and thrown out on to the street. (metaphorically speaking)

3. But our poor guy likes his life and he puts up fight to keep everything as it was.  Even if his life sucks, it’s still his life and he doesn’t like being messed with.

4. He meets someone smarter than him that convinces him that this new adventure is better than his boring crappy life.

5. Character now either agrees or gets shoved into the adventure anyway, because it’s going to happen whether he likes it or not. After all, no ones wants to read an entire novel about a guy who sits around and does nothing.

6. Things start to happen now and the character gets drug through the mud, getting hit with challenges left and right. He is getting beaten up but he starts to feel like he knows what he is doing. The character now see the “big test” in front of him and he prepares for it.

7. Character finds people to help him, as everyone needs a little help.

8. Now that we are about half way through the story, our character must face his greatest challenge. (Ha, like he will get off that easy.)

9. The character and his allies win the big battle!  (Yippee, let’s celebrate.)

10. Now he feels he has his happily ever after and he starts to head home.  (Not so fast my naïve character, you’re not getting off that easy.)

11. But just when he thinks he has won, he is hit the face with the real battle, facing his greatest fear.  He must face it and he will because the writer is going to make him.  This is where our character is truly changed as a person and will never be the same.

12. The hero has now survived all the horrible catastrophes that the writer could think of and heads home to bask in the glow of his “Happily Ever After”.

The End.