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This week: I Need a Hero Edited by: Shannon  
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We've all heard of Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Christopher Vogler adapted the Hero's Journey into The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. Vogler said, "The archetypes [the Hero, the Mentor, the Threshold Guardian, the Herald, the Shapeshifter, the Shadow, the Ally, and the Trickster] can be thought of as masks, worn by the characters temporarily as they are needed to advance a story" (24)T
With the help of Vogler's The Writer's Journey and Donald Maass's Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook, today I'd like to discuss The Hero.
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"The protagonist of every story is the hero of a journey, even if the path leads only into his own mind or into the realm of relationships." ~ Christopher Vogler
Before you write your next story, you need to settle on who your protagonist will be. What does he look like? What kind of person is she? Is he someone the reader will identify and sympathize with? Do we recognize and see ourselves in her? It's probably a good idea to create a character who's somewhat likable. The readers will be spending a lot of time with him (or her), and just like in real life, no one wants to spend extended periods of time with a narcissistic jackass.
In Writing the Breakout Novel and its accompanying workbook, Donald Maass asks us to think about who our personal heroes are and to write them down. Why is he a hero to you? What's her greatest heroic quality? When did you first become aware of this quality? Maass encourages us to assign this quality to our protagonist and put him or her in a position where he or she will be able to demonstrate it (Maass 12).
When you think about heroes, who comes to mind? I've found that real heroism comes in the most unexpected of packages. Take my husband's dentist, for example. My husband noticed how quickly his tooth was extracted, so he asked the dentist about it. The doctor told him a story about how he and his entire class of future dentists traveled to a third-world country to volunteer their services. "We spent most of our time pulling teeth," he said. "We were there for a week, and three days in we ran out of novocaine. People traveled hundreds of miles and stood in line for days waiting to be seen. They were in excruciating pain. Some were so infected that their eyes were swollen shut. They didn't care whether or not we had any novocaine. For four days we pulled teeth without anything to dull the pain. It was crazy, but I got really good at pulling teeth as quickly and painlessly as possible."
Heroes are regular people immersed in extraordinary circumstances--people like you and me. Heroes must be multidimensional and well-rounded. Very few people are beautiful, successful, funny, charming, witty, sexy, athletic, kind, rich, intelligent, compassionate, giving, humble, have full heads of thick wavy hair, unblemished skin, love animals, AND have a pilot's license. Real people have flaws, weaknesses, secrets. It's what makes us human, and it gives your character room to grow.
The hero must actively learn and grow as he proceeds on his journey. From the time we are introduced until he returns with the elixir, "The Hero is usually the most active person in the script" (Vogler 31) and each decisive action should be a stepping stone to greater awareness and personal growth.
In Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook, Donald Maass recommends your protagonist have two objectives or desires that are mutually exclusive and in direct opposition with each other, resulting in inner conflict (Maass 19). A personal example of this is something that recently happened to my family. My oldest daughter lives in Great Falls Montana with her husband and 7-year-old son. Two days before Christmas my son-in-law walked out, leaving my pregnant daughter and grandson alone and penniless. They haven't heard from him since, and my daughter is an emotional wreck. She's 800 miles away from any family or friends, and she's scared to death about going through this pregnancy alone. She would like to move back to Boise (her parents, brother, sister, and nephew live here), but she loves her house--it's new and her mortgage is only $500/month. She knows she'll never find a deal like that in Boise. These two desires are in direct opposition with each other, and the dilemma has indeed caused an incredible amount of inner conflict and pain.
So now that you've decided on a hero, what do you have planned for him? On page 19 of The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, Christopher Vogler describes the Hero's Journey this way:
1. Heroes are introduced in the ORDINARY WORLD, where
2. they receive the CALL TO ADVENTURE.
3. They are RELUCTANT at first or REFUSE THE CALL, but
4. are encouraged by a MENTOR to
5. CROSS THE FIRST THRESHOLD and enter the Special World, where
6. they encounter TESTS, ALLIES, AND ENEMIES.
7. They APPROACH THE INMOST CAVE, crossing a second threshold
8. where they endure the ORDEAL.
9. They take possession of their REWARD and
10. are pursued on THE ROAD BACK to the Ordinary World.
11. They cross the third threshold, experience a RESURRECTION, and are transformed by the experience.
12. They RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR, a boon or treasure to benefit the Ordinary World.
Do some brainstorming. Flesh out your hero by making her unique. Give her heroic qualities as well as weaknesses. Throw in a duo of deep desires in direct opposition with each other and set her in motion. Sounds like the beginnings of a breakout novel (or short story) to me.
Thank you for reading, and join me on January 29 when we discuss the next archetype, the Mentor.
Works Cited:
 Maass, Donald. Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook. Cincinnati: Writer's Digest Books, 2004. Print.
Vogler, Christopher. The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. Studio City: Michael Wiese Productions, 1998. Print.
"You are in control of your success or failure. If you write a book people want to read--a story that grips; characters that people care about, identify with, are interested in--your book will sell. Your destiny is in your own hands." ~ Donald Maass
For other newsletters in this series, see the links below:
Part 1--"I Need a Hero"
Part 2--"M is for Mentor"
Part 3--"The Threshold Guardian"
Part 4--"The Herald"
Part 5--"The Shapeshifter"
Part 6--"The Shadow"
Part 7--"The Ally"
Part 8--"The Trickster" |
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The following is in response to "Gimme Five" :
ChrisDaltro-Chasing Moonbeams  says, "THANK YOU for Featuring my story, Pink Christmas, in your awesome WDC Newsletter Short Stories: Gimme Five." You are most welcome, Christina! Always my pleasure. 
Danger Mouse says, "This is a good newsletter, thank you Shannon. I love the links you supplied, especially the urban legends one. Thank you! I'm glad you found it useful. 
Pepper says, "My best ideas come to me in the shower! Yes, I know that's too much information, but honestly, that's where I do my best thinking. I suspect it's because, as a mother, it's one of the few places where I can be alone." I completely get this! I, too, get some of my best ideas while relaxing in a hot bath. 
brom21 says, "With me it is not a matter of finding something that allures me but sticking to my vision and not trailing off into a random direction. Hence I am now trying to keep the plot simple and the dialog congruent to the situation in the story. However it probably is better to find a concrete source that is already laid out. Thanks for the input!" Thank YOU for reading and commenting! I think it all comes down to doing what works best for you, and of course that differs from person to person. Sometimes I'm in the zone and can literally sit for hours on end, oblivious to the world around me. Other times everything distracts me, and I do mean everything. I just try to remember something I heard J.A. Jance say at a writer's conference several years ago: "A writer is someone who has written today." Great advice! 
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Short Stories: January 01, 2014 Issue [#6071]
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