Nina Munteanu at Northern Fan Con, Prince George BC

Costumed attendants ply through the crowds at Northern Fan Con

Last weekend I drove north to Prince George to join publisher/writer Lynda Williams and her team at Reality Skimming Press at the Northern Fan Convention. Held at the CN Centre, the con and trade show was very well attended, with booths that held anything from realistic light sabres to SF books to anime figurines and collectible cards--and so much more. The con also featured shows with media celebrities, cosplay, workshops, and--of course--the obligatory costume contest.

Awesome characters at Northern Fan Con

I helped man the publisher's table where we were selling books in the Okal Rel series; I also sold out on my two latest books "A Diary in the Age of Water" and "Gaia's Revolution."

Lynda Williams with a happy book buyer

Nina Munteanu before her books sold out at Northern Fan Con

Oh! And I got to play with a Stars Wars stormtrooper and tai fighter. Not bad for one weekend!

Nina looking fierce and happy with two good friends at Northern Fan Con

The Hero’s Journey—Part 3: The Journey’s Map

Heroism cannot be measured by the overt grandeur of the act, not even by the ensuing consequences, but by the swelling conquering heart commiting the act--Nina Munteanu

In this article I map out the Hero’s Journey for two popular mythic stories, STAR WARS and FARSCAPE using Christopher Vogler’s 12-stage description of the 3-act storyline (based on Campbell’s 8-step transformation model) and discussed in my writing guide, The Fiction Writer:

ACT ONE: SEPARATION

• Ordinary World: Describes the Hero’s world with its problems and how the hero may or may not quite fit in.
• Call to Adventure: the herald presents the hero with a problem, challenge and/or adventure; irrevocably changing the ordinary world—in STAR WARS this is when Obi Wan approaches Luke to join him on his mission to Alderaan; in FARSCAPE it is when John conducts his test and is sucked into the wormhole.
• Refusal of the Call: Our reluctant hero balks at the threshold of adventure. In STARWARS Luke refuses at first until he finds his relatives killed. In FARSCAPE this is Crichton during most of Season One.
• Meeting with the Mentor: The mentor provides the hero with a gift to help her through the threshold. In STAR WARS Obi Wan gives Luke his lightsaber; In FARSCAPE Crichton’s father presents him with his lucky chain. His father’s “form” reappears as a wise alien who provides Crichton with ancient knowledge of wormhole technology, another talisman that will represent Crichton’s further transformation into mythic hero status in Season Four.
• Crossing the Threshold: The hero commits to the adventure and enters the Special World.

ACT TWO: INITIATION & TRANSFORMATION

• Tests, Allies, Enemies: The hero must face tests, makes allies and enemies and begins to learn the rules of the Special World. In STAR WARS Luke is initiated into his special world by Obi Wan in A New Hope; in FARSCAPE Crichton’s initiation and transformation occurs throughout Season One, where he must continually prove his worth to his challenging companions aboard Moya.
• Approach to the Inmost Cave: The hero reaches the edge of the most dangerous place, often where the object of her quest resides. In STAR WARS this is the scene in The Empire Strikes Back when Luke willingly enters the trap set for him and confronts Vader in Cloud City; in FARSCAPE Crichton also willingly enters a trap to save his love, Aeryn and is captured and tortured.
• Ordeal (the Abyss): Our hero hits bottom, where she faces “death” and is on the brink of battle with the most powerful hostile force. In STAR WARS Luke steps into the abyss, choosing almost certain death when forced to surrender at his father’s bidding to the dark side in Cloud City; in FARSCAPE John loses his mind (his most valuable tool and weapon as hero) and kills what he loves the most, his beloved Aeryn (end of Season Two).
• Reward/seizing the sword(Transformation & Revelation): Having survived “death” (of fear or ignorance) our hero—and the reader—receives a reward or elixir in the form of an epiphany and transforms. In STAR WARS this happens. In STAR WARS, Luke returns in Return of the Jedi transformed and mature with new powers; in FARSCAPE Crichton receives a revelation from his “copy” who had died and his call to action. By the end of Season Three, Crichton has his second transformation into hero of mythic stature. “This is my path,” he informs his companions as he calls on them all to join him on his largest most ambitious quest as true hero to stop Scorpius on the Command Carrier in a suicidal mission.

ACT THREE: THE RETURN

• The Road Block: Our hero must deal with the consequences of confronting the dark forces of the Ordeal (e.g., often the chase scene). In STAR WARS this is when Luke is forced to fight his father on board the Death Star, overseen by the evil Emperor; in FARSCAPE this occurs throughout Season Three with the culmination of the infamous coin toss.
• Resurrection/Atonement: The hero is transformed in this climactic moment through her experience and seeks atonement with her reborn self, now in harmony with the “new” world; the imbalance which sent her on her journey, mostly corrected or path made clear. In STAR WARS this is when Luke makes the choice not to kill his father, is almost destroyed by the emperor but for Vader’s intervention and Luke reconciles with his father; In Season Four Crichton comes to terms with the revelation of his true path with news of Aeryn’s pregnancy and her departure…he must deal with his new focus (to protect his beloved and her world) when she—and Scorpius—return.
• Return with the Elixir: Our hero returns to the Ordinary World with some elixir, treasure, or lesson from the Special World. In STAR WARS the last scenes with Luke and his Jedi “family” suggest a new life rich in lessons; in FARSCAPE Crichton returns to his old home, Earth, with alien technology. However, his true gift is how he secures the safety of his new home and is presented with the gift of his child.

You can read my previous posts on the Hero's Journey, the first on "The Journey" and the second on "Archetypes".
This article is an excerpt from The Fiction Writer: Get Published, Write Now! (Starfire World Syndicate, 2009) (Part One of the Alien Guidebook Series). The Hero's Journey is also part of my online writing class and workshops. This lecture/workshop series will be available summer 2010 on DVD at Amazon.

Recommended Reading:
Campbell, Joseph. 1970. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. World Publishing Co. New York.
Henderson, Mary. 1997. Star Wars: The Magic of Myth. Bantam Spectra. New York. 214pp.
Vogler, Christopher. 1998. The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. 2nd Edition. Michael Wiese Productions, Studio City, California. 326pp.

Nina Munteanu is an ecologist and internationally published author of novels, short stories and essays. She coaches writers and teaches writing at George Brown College and the University of Toronto. For more about Nina’s coaching & workshops visit www.ninamunteanu.me. Visit www.ninamunteanu.ca for more about her writing.

A Hero’s Journey: Part 1, the Journey

Midway upon the journey of our life I found myself within a forest dark, For the straightforward pathway had been lost—Dante Allighieri (Divine Comedy)

Summoned or not, the god will come—motto over the door of Carl Jung’s house

According to Christopher Vogler (author of The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers) “all stories consist of a few common structural elements found universally in myths, fairy tales, dreams, and movies. They are known collectively as The Hero’s Journey.” The Hero’s Journey is essentially the three-act structure of the ancient Greek play, handed down to us thousands of years ago and consisting of Beginning, Middle, and End (otherwise known as Opening, Development, Conclusion or “the decision to act”, “the action”, and “the consequences of the action”).

Star Wars, Our 20th Century Myth

Over thirty years after the first Star Wars motion picture blasted its way through our movie screens May 25, 1977, the saga continues to live strongly in literature and cinema. To date, six films and three animated series for television were made, with a live-action series and a 3D CGI animated series in pre-production as well as a 3D CGI full-length theatrical movie, The Clone Wars, scheduled for U.S. release on August 15, 2008. The six films alone have generated over $4.3 billion in revenue to date, making them the third highest grossing film series.

Although the current Star Wars New Jedi Order series (its 27th and last installment released in spring of 2004) leaves much to be desired from a literary standpoint, loyal fans of the Star Wars phenomenon, including, alas, yours truly, have persisted with the series, helping it maintain a place in the New York Times Bestsellers list. How did this come to be? Why do we read on despite our better judgement about literature and art? To understand the enduring success of a shallow plot-driven adventure series is to understand the basis for its creation: the original Star Wars concept as realized by George Lucus. The answer lies in one word: myth.