Screenwriting Structure Series Part 6: The Monomyth & Hero's Journey

(Here is more about screenwriting structure from The Unknown Writer.  )

About The Unknown Screenwriter

A working screenwriter and producer, The Unknown Screenwriter makes his home in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Northern California and somewhere in the state of New Mexico with just a little bit of Los Angeles thrown in when he feels he can breathe the air.

     I'm glad to here readers are enjoying this articles by The Unknown Writer. I think they are great to. They are explaining exactly what I have been telling writers. It is nice to have a second party perspective.

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Screenwriting structure REALLY is where the rubber meets the road... Why? Because sometimes, a very well structured screenplay can SELL. Sure, they might end up changin' the hell out of it but if your structure is really, really outstanding, IT very likely WILL NOT CHANGE. 

The Monomyth, The Hero's Journey, The Hero Myth, Mythic Journey - doesn't matter what you call it - is, in my opinion, where the rubber meets the road in screenwriting structure. Now before I move on, I've heard it all before... 

The hero's journey is formulaic! 

I don't want to write movies the way Hollywood does! 

I don't believe in the hero's journey! 

To me, just like knowing basic screenplay formatting, a screenwriter really should know the hero's journey as a basic foundation on which to base his or her screenwriting structure. 

Why? 

Because in using some form of the hero's journey in your own screenwriting structure, you will go a hell of a long way in communicating both the EXTERNAL and the INTERNAL story of your story. 

The internal story? 

Yup. Otherwise known as your Protagonist's transformational character arc. 

One of the reasons stories told with some version of the monomyth do so well at the boxoffice is because they hit us very hard. Especially on the INSIDE - our psyche. 

The monomyth is very likely the oldest form of storytelling there is. The Hero's Journey, or monomyth, speaks to just about everyone on an archetypal level or in other words, a structure that is strategically put together in response to the collective wishes of a group - for our use, the group being the eventual audience of our film. 

Through strategic use of metaphor and symbolism, the very best stories live on in perpetuity. This is why we're still learning about myths today. This is why we pass these same myths down. Myths started out as sacred tales worthy of a tribe's admiration, respect, and even fear. They often touched upon a tribe's Gods and the mysteries of how life came to be so of course, tribespeople were mesmerized and passed these stories down to current day, especially when these stories revolved around a central character... 

The Hero. 

Stories and movies are no different. If a story or movie connects DEEP INSIDE of us, we will certainly turn right around and tell others about it. And no, not all our modern stories require a hero anymore... A protagonist fits quite well these days. 

In other words, we keep evolving the monomyth... We push it - tweak it - as we and our audiences evolve - books and movies being OUR myths of today. 

No longer does the hero of a story have to be an outright hero. We are obviously more sophisticated than the audiences that used to sit around the campfire and listen to the tales of how the world came to be so we can now HANDLE a hero with flaws. We can now handle a hero that isn't all good yet using the monomyth in some form for your story will still HIT your audience on a deep level because these are events that should be so powerful that we are eager to swallow them whole. We are eager to jump on the Protagonist's train and ride along with him or her to the very end. 

The mythic journey structure, or some form of it, takes into account your Protagonist's transformational arc and if you strategically place your story events and obstacles in certain places for maximum impact on your audience - and DO IT WELL - you will be handsomely rewarded as a screenwriter. 

That's the very reason it's called a JOURNEY. The journey of your Protagonist is two-fold:

1. External - where and how you PHYSICALLY take your Protagonist through your story.
2. Internal - where and how you INTERNALLY take your Protagonist through your story.

If done correctly, the events themselves will put your Protagonist into motion so that by the time he or she reaches the end of your story, he or she is internally transformed as well as having achieved his or her external goal (or not). The hero's journey helps us to convey universal truths about one's personal self-discovery and self-transcendence, one's role in society, and the relationship between the two. 

In fact, I don't think I've ever seen a movie or read a book that did NOT contain some aspect of the hero's journey. No, the author or screenwriter may not have purposely written their story from the perspective of the hero's journey but because this kind of storytelling is intrinsic in all of us in one way or another i.e., we all tend to touch upon specific aspects of STORY. 

And not to discount Joseph Campbell's contribution but this was the way WE were telling stories from the beginning of time. Just like Syd Field studied movies and came up with a road map of the three act structure, so did Joeseph Campbell research and study mythic storytelling and give us a basis of screenwriting structure. 

Go, writers! Go!

I have been getting a lot of request for loglines. I give different prices . Since I have so many requests for this service, I decided to set a single fix price.

Logline: $5.00 Flat Fee

A synopsis or summery is required. It well be used to form the logline. The logline is just one line.

Screenplays

Critique: $50.00 Flat Fee, 

 Includes evaluating the basis elements of a script

•  Introduction
•  Development
•  Climax
•  Conclusion
• Character development 
•  Mid point development

Critiques also provide suggestions for improvements and enhancement. 

Payments are made by Paypal or cashier check by mail.


Other services are at regular price.

Query Letters: $25.00 Flat Fee  

Editing: $45.00 Flat Fee

•  Evaluating formatting to industry standards
•  Spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc.

Turnaround time:

Editing: 2 weeks

Critique: 2 weeks

Query Letters: 2 weeks

Feel free to contact me at ahicks4298@q.com or  ahicks4298@msn.com.

Feel to call me at (360) 696-4298. Ask for Frances.

I also critique and edit books. I am currently organizing the service prices for working on books. If you are interested in me critiquing or editing a novel you have written, feel free contact me.

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STAY TRUE TO YOURSELF IN PUBLISHING by Wade Rouse

Wade Rouse photo © waderouse.com

(This is an interesting article that was sent to me. I wanted to share it with the rest of you.)

Since many TANR readers seem to have enjoyed Erik Larson’s list of the Top 10 Essentials to a Writer’s Lifeand Sherman Alexie’s Top 10 Pieces of Writing Advice I’ve Been Given (Or That I’ll Pretend Were Given to Me), today we offer you another list from another brilliant mind: memoirist Wade Rouse’s Top 10 Ways to Stay True to Yourself in Publishing.

Happy Friday. (And if you’re Nano-ing, happy Nano-ing!)

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10. Do Not Try to Write Mary Potter & The Half-Price Rinse & Set, or Twilight: But With Zombies!Listen closely to this, if nothing else: Write what youknow, what you feel, what you believe, what needs to come out, not what you think you should write, or what you feel might sell. Write anything other than what you have a passion for, anything other than that story that burns to be told, and you’ll be a sellout.

9. Install A Lithium Drip in Your Home.
OK, just kidding. Pills are easier. Seriously, a balanced life is vital for success in publishing and staying on track. So, exercise. Cook. Run. Garden. Spend time with the ones you love.

8. Realize That Publishing Isn’t Art, It’s BART.
That’s business and art. Being true to oneself also requires being true to what publishing requires today. A writer needs to realize he can’t just sit home and write. He must market, promote, blog, Twitter, travel, call, cajole, shake hands, interpretive dance, whatever it takes to build a platform. It lets you continue to do what you love: write.

7. Be Like Dolly the Sheep: Clone Yourself.
Choose an agent, editor, publisher, publicist and Web developer who believe in your work as much as you do.

6. Fuggetabout Fear!
Most of us, especially writers, are defined by our fears. They strangle us, prevent us from finding our voices, pursuing our passion, writing what calls to us. So, turn “FEAR” into Free Every Artistic Response. When you do, your true voice will be unleashed.

5. Write Is Always Might.
Dance with the one who brought you to the ball: Write. As much as possible.

4. Be Funny, Honey!
I used to worry (and read) that humor  writing was too subjective to be successful. But I realized that—besides great hair, a wicked arch and a penchant for spending my Roth IRA on lip shimmer—humor was really the only thing I had going for me. Don’t ever doubt your voice.

3. If You Look in the Mirror and See Mariah, RUN!
There’s no (more) room in publishing for divas. If Mariah were an author, she should sing, “It’s a Small World, After All,” because publishing is. Word spreads.

2. Look like your author shot.
Seriously. If you have to crop out LBJ, or Photoshop in a full collar on that Nehru jacket, it’s time for a new photo. When you show up looking nothing like you did when you were 25, your fans will consider you a sellout.

1. Heed The Advice of My Mentors, My Mom and Erma Bombeck.
I once sang “Delta Dawn” in a rural middle school talent contest to a gym filled with Conway Twitty/Loretta Lynn look-alikes who all laughed into their cowboy hats. My mom told me after it was over, “You were true to yourself. And that can only lead to happiness.” She bought me a journal and introduced me to Erma’s column. I will forever have two Midwestern moms who taught me, as Erma once said,  “Laughter rises out of tragedy, when you need it most, and rewards you for your courage.” So laugh. Write. Be true to yourself. Happiness will follow and reward you for your courage.

Wade Rouse (waderouse.com) is the acclaimed memoirist of At Least in the City Someone Would Hear Me Scream, and It’s All Relative. A humor columnist and essayist, his dog anthology I’m Not the Biggest Bitch in This Relationship! is out now.

Go, writers! Go!

I have been getting a lot of request for loglines. I give different prices . Since I have so many requests for this service, I decided to set a single fix price.

Logline: $5.00 Flat Fee

A synopsis or summery is required. It well be used to form the logline. The logline is just one line.

Screenplays

Critique: $50.00 Flat Fee, 

 Includes evaluating the basis elements of a script

•  Introduction
•  Development
•  Climax
•  Conclusion
• Character development 
•  Mid point development

Critiques also provide suggestions for improvements and enhancement. 

Payments are made by Paypal or cashier check by mail.


Other services are at regular price.

Query Letters: $25.00 Flat Fee  

Editing: $45.00 Flat Fee

•  Evaluating formatting to industry standards
•  Spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc.

Turnaround time:

Editing: 2 weeks

Critique: 2 weeks

Query Letters: 2 weeks

Feel free to contact me at ahicks4298@q.com or  ahicks4298@msn.com.

Feel to call me at (360) 696-4298. Ask for Frances.

I also critique and edit books. I am currently organizing the service prices for working on books. If you are interested in me critiquing or editing a novel you have written, feel free contact me.

*

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Film script format, writing film scripts, screenwriting services, coverage service, screenplay formatting margins, screenplay writing, screenplay format example, Search terms: screenplays, screenwriting service, edit and critique service, writing screenplays, screenplay format, loglines, query letter, film scripts, movie scripts, screenplay format, screenplay synopsis, script synopsis, treatment, proofreading service for writers, novels, writing services, fiction writing, film script format, writing film scripts, screenwriting service, coverage service, screenplay critique service, screenplay format margins, screenplay writing, screenplay format example, free writing tutorials,   script consultant, screenwriting jobs, film production companies

Screenwriting Structure Series Part 5: Research

(Here is more about screenwriting structure from The Unknown Writer.  )

About The Unknown Screenwriter

A working screenwriter and producer, The Unknown Screenwriter makes his home in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Northern California and somewhere in the state of New Mexico with just a little bit of Los Angeles thrown in when he feels he can breathe the air.

     I'm glad to here readers are enjoying this articles by The Unknown Writer. I think they are great to. They are explaining exactly what I have been telling writers. It is nice to have a second party perspective.

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You might be wondering WHY I'm slamming screenwriting structure and research together... Well I can only tell you how I do it and what I tend to do prior to writing any part of a screenplay is research but I also like to research as I pull my structure together. 

Research is a powerful way to get the old synapses firing on all cylinders and getting you to ask all the right questions about your story. I'm a huge list-maker. As I simply THINK and ponder about my story, hundreds if not thousands of questions pop up along the way and just about every one of those questions requires me to do some kind of research EVEN if that research is simply to search through my own memory bank. 

I tend to think of research similar to being a salesman. Meaning that in sales, most sales organizations will tell you that knowing your product INSIDE and OUT is 90% of the battle - if a salesman knows his or her product inside and out i.e., well enough to be able to answer ANY QUESTION that might spill out of a prospect's mouth, 90% of the sale is OVER. 

I think the same is true of screenwriting, structure, and research. 

Does that mean you'll automatically write a breakout spec screenplay? 

Uh... No. That's something only YOU can keep developing within your own talent hemisphere. Sure, you can learn all the tricks. Sure you can learn all about structure. Sure you can research your story elements till the cows come home but in the end - if your dialogue sounds stiff and your action is too easy on your Protagonist... 

FUGHEDABOUDIT. 

There seems to be a huge school of thought that tells most of us that YOU CAN DO TOO MUCH RESEARCH. 

WTF? 

Really? 

Says who? 

How much is TOO MUCH? 

The same school of thought seems to tell us that too much is so much that you're not writing your screenplay... Huh? What kind of answer is that? Is this school of thought telling us not to get lost in doing so much research that we never put pen to paper? Fingers to keyboard? Crayons to construction paper? 

Because let me tell you... I am by no means a intellectual, academic, guru, expert, etc. on anything except maybe how to piss people off. But by God I know how to open a book and perform a search on the net. Yet, when I read screenplays, it seems that many of the writers do not know how to do these same exercises. Why? I guess because THEY ARE ALREADY EXPERTS on their story elements. 

Not. 

I'm not telling you that you have to spend a specified amount of time researching your story elements. In fact, this would be a ridiculous thing to do because as you write your story - if you're like most of us - something's going to come up that requires even more research. 

So how much is enough? 

Just enough to allow you to start writing. Whew. Very subjective when you consider all the experts we have out there. But if you're a good salesman and you're even just a little rusty on your product knowledge, a good salesperson always does a little brushing up. In other words, they KNOW when they need it and wow... That's why they're good salespeople. 

Many screenwriters on the other hand, seem content to let OTHERS work out the story element problems for them. I've actually had screenwriters whose scripts I've read and then communicated to them that their knowledge of whatever subject matter is severely lacking turn around and ask me, "Isn't that your problem?" 

Uh, no. That's YOUR problem. 

You don't turn in a period piece to me and then mention something that happened thirty years later. You don't give me a location that didn't exist at that time. That's just plain old sloppy writing and nobody should HAVE to fix that... 

Except YOU. 

You don't tell me that your Protagonist is bitten by a specific kind of poisonous snake and then proceed to detail INCORRECTLY, all the symptoms your Protagonist is experiencing. God forbid you get off your ass and open a book or call a doctor who's treated someone with the correct symptoms. LOL. That's much too difficult and besides, you've got your day job to worry about. You've got a wedding to go to this weekend. You're just too damn tired. 

There's also two schools of thought when it comes to story and research - which comes first? Some say the research - some say the story. I think that's the wrong way to think about it. They go together like Butch and Sundance. You get an idea for a story, you work out a few plot points (probably in your head right off the bat), do a little research, the research causes other questions to come up - more plot point ideas, more research - and on and on and on. 

But that's just me. First of all, I love learning about something I had no knowledge of PRIOR to doing the research so for me, it's fun. Others find it drudgery and I think what I like best about research is the authenticity it brings to the story and let's face it, how many movies today feel authentic? 

Really? That many? LOL. 

On the other hand, many other schools of thought tell you to just WRITE. Get going and get that first draft out of your system or at the very minimum, that outline and while I truly don't have a huge problem with that, I DO have a problem with it and it's simply this and it's just an observation. When I see writers begin a new story from a new idea, they're usually highly motivated in the beginning. They're excited. This is THE STORY! Wow. That kind of motivation gets me excited too! I love hearing a screenwriter tell me about their idea (even if it's not that great an idea) because even through a crappy idea, you can see the passion and inspiration that's fueling the fire. I love that! 

However, keeping that inspiration and passion all the way through a first draft and then rebottling that inspiration and passion so you can go back and research all those story elements and perform a hardcore rewrite is a hard road to travel and the ROAD-WEARINESS usually shows up in successive drafts. 

Sad but true. 

If that has ever even slightly happened to you before, might I suggest performing your research up front as you create your structure? Keep the intensity and passion of creating a new story flowing. 

With new inspiration, motivation, intensity, and passion combined with screenwriting structure AND story element research, I honestly believe that one uncovers more story opportunities that PULL YOU AWAY from cliché and derivative writing. 

Go, writers! Go!

I have been getting a lot of request for loglines. I give different prices . Since I have so many requests for this service, I decided to set a single fix price.

Logline: $5.00 Flat Fee

A synopsis or summery is required. It well be used to form the logline. The logline is just one line.

Screenplays

Critique: $50.00 Flat Fee, 

 Includes evaluating the basis elements of a script

•  Introduction
•  Development
•  Climax
•  Conclusion
• Character development 
•  Mid point development

Critiques also provide suggestions for improvements and enhancement. 

Payments are made by Paypal or cashier check by mail.


Other services are at regular price.

Query Letters: $25.00 Flat Fee  

Editing: $45.00 Flat Fee

•  Evaluating formatting to industry standards
•  Spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc.

Turnaround time:

Editing: 2 weeks

Critique: 2 weeks

Query Letters: 2 weeks

Feel free to contact me at ahicks4298@q.com or  ahicks4298@msn.com.

Feel to call me at (360) 696-4298. Ask for Frances.

I also critique and edit books. I am currently organizing the service prices for working on books. If you are interested in me critiquing or editing a novel you have written, feel free contact me.

*

*

Film script format, writing film scripts, screenwriting services, coverage service, screenplay formatting margins, screenplay writing, screenplay format example, Search terms: screenplays, screenwriting service, edit and critique service, writing screenplays, screenplay format, loglines, query letter, film scripts, movie scripts, screenplay format, screenplay synopsis, script synopsis, treatment, proofreading service for writers, novels, writing services, fiction writing, film script format, writing film scripts, screenwriting service, coverage service, screenplay critique service, screenplay format margins, screenplay writing, screenplay format example, free writing tutorials,   script consultant, screenwriting jobs, film production companies