How can the Hero’s Journey® course help you in your writing project

Posted August 22, 2022

In How to write a book, Invitations, Newsletters, Tips for Writers

Richard and I often get asked if we think it’s a good idea to do the Hero’s Journey® course if you’re already immersed in writing a manuscript or story. There is concern that it might distract writers from projects that are already underway.

In answer we can say, unequivocally, that rather than distract, the Journey deepens and enriches your engagement with your current writing. Writers who’ve brought existing projects into the course, have found it to be invaluable in progressing, focusing and shaping their stories.

These benefits aren’t all one way either. Richard and I love teaching the course. It is as exciting for us as it is for you. It constantly challenges our own assumptions and beliefs about the art of writing. Richard often remarks that there is a wonderful logic to the Hero’s Journey® model, a kind of ‘but of course!’ feeling to it. As much as it seems fresh and original, it is full of the age old wisdom of great storytelling.

The principles of the Journey give writers solid structural support. You learn tools that help you to discern certain patterns in the thicket of your writing. It helps to clarify your themes and conflicts, and introduces the stages needed for your character’s arc, an essential element in building a compelling narrative.

The lively group online discussions and exercises help you get to the nub of problems that might take weeks, or months, to grapple with on your own. You quickly have to clarify the essential element of your story: your ‘s/hero’s, inner and outer goals. The contradictions between these goals, becomes the basis of your plot.

By travelling the Journey with fellow writers, you learn how to apply it to many different kinds of narratives. A marvellous alchemy comes about in these intensive discussions. The warm camaraderie of a supportive community builds confidence in the participants, who in turn feed back into the group experience. Writers often comment that the Journey is as transforming for their personal lives, as it is for their writing.

Writers who have completed the course found that they had advanced their projects in a relatively short time. They were surprised by a new energy in their writing. Many wished they had done the course earlier. This is a course for writers who are serious about learning more about the craft, and are keen to explore the mysteries of ancient storytelling that resonate even more strongly today.