Annt. Bib. #4

Voglar, Christopher. “The Writer’s Journey”. Stages of the Journey. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions, 1998. 83-105.

Summary

This reading covered two stages of the Hero’s Journey, the Ordinary World and the Call to Adventure. The Ordinary World in a story is very important because it gives the reader a contrast for the Special World that the hero will be entering later in the story. Another function of the Ordinary World is to catch the reader’s attention by using certain dramatic effects. Some stories have foreshadowing of the Special World in the Ordinary World to catch the reader’s attention, while others use specific character entrances that help the audience connect with that character. When the story introduces the hero in the Ordinary World it usually helps show some character trait, or flaw, that the hero has that we can relate to. The audience being able to relate to the hero of a story is very important and is usually done in the stage of the Ordinary World.

The second stage of the Hero’s Journey is the Call to Adventure. This is when the hero encounters some major change in their Ordinary World, which causes them to be put into action to fix or deal with the change. The character that portrays the archetype of Herald, who can be good, bad, or neutral in any story, usually does the Call to Adventure. Also, stories don’t always have a hero that is willing to answer to the Call to Adventure; these hero’s we call reluctant hero’s.

Reaction

While reading through the first stage of the Hero’s Journey I was able to pick up a lot of tips for my story. I learned that background is very important and is what helps the audience relate to the hero of my story, which happens to be me. I liked reading these two sections because they give you great tips on how to start a story/Hero’s Journey, which I consider the hardest part when writing any story.

Questions

1. What do you think attracts more attention in stories/movies, stories that start in sequential order or stories that have foreshadowing in the Ordinary World, or they start out with a scene that the story will lead up to?
2. We learned that a perfect, flawless hero is very boring and not very interesting to read. Can you think of any perfect hero’s that you’ve read about that you’ve possibly liked, or disliked?
3. When writing a story and giving your hero flaws, do you think that you tend to give them flaws or traits that you, yourself have and more fully understand?