One thing I learned about writing by reading Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces is that…
The hero’s journey is a bunch of BS and I don’t need to stick to it as a writer.
In fact, I alone stand different from all the other storytellers before me. I don’t need to learn the rules of the game. I don’t need to familiarise myself with the greatest stories of the past. I can splash around in the mud and because of my genius, I’ll just end up creating something great on my own.
It’s rough when you come up against something as true as the Hero’s Journey. How can one person write a world-changing text?
I think part of the answer is to steep yourself in the greatest stories ever told then jump off the bridge and see where the river takes you. I find it tempting to try and figure out exactly where I’m going before writing a story, like I want to plan the whole thing on flash cards. But the Hero doesn’t know what they’re about to encounter and if you really want to write gold, neither should you.
Read hard. Read wide. Read free.
P.S. There’s a sweet multi-part interview with Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers that I got a shitload from. If you’re into storytelling, check it out.
