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The Writers Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers

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The updated and revised third edition provides new insights and observations from Vogler's ongoing work on mythology's influence on stories, movies, and man himself. The previous two editions of this book have sold over 180,000 units, making this book a 'classic' for screenwriters, writers, and novelists.

370 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1992

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About the author

Christopher Vogler

13 books155 followers
Christopher Vogler is a Hollywood development executive, screenwriter, author and educator, best known for working with Disney and his screenwriting guide, The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers, from 2007.

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5 stars
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 720 reviews
Profile Image for Nicholas Karpuk.
Author 4 books67 followers
March 16, 2010
The most effective movie moment on writing I've ever seen came in "Wonder Boys" when Rip Torn very dramatically intones, "I...am... A WRITER!" It's said without any trace of irony. This is a common feature in writers both amateur and professional. No empathy, no sense of irony.

If you've seen a lecture about story structure, you've probably been listening to someone regurgitate this same set of values.

It's doubly funny because from what I can tell, Vogler essentially rewrote Joseph Campbell while dumbing it down for writers.

You learn about a set of archetypes, then a series of steps that Campbell suggests are Jungian archetypes that crop up everywhere.

I find this whole monomyth concept thoroughly overstated. Many of these points are so vague as to be meaningless, while others can be simplified or even removed. Books like "Save the Cat" suggest that a writer must follow all of them. Vogler at least has the decency to suggest that these are merely guides, not rules.

I don't think Joseph Campbell did the work he did because he wanted to create easy lesson for hacky screenwriters (for some reason all these books seemed geared towards movies). He seemed to just find the reoccuring events of fiction fascinating.

The thing is, these archetypes only really seem good for creating a boy's first adventure. Many mature story diverge so greatly from the formula that it's more of an act of creativity to make them fit.

When I was at the GDC this year, I listened to a two hour lecture by a member of the Pixar writing staff. Here's their story structure:

Exposition
Inciting Incident
Progressive Complications
Climax
Resolution

Funny how the formula used by one of the most successful studios is roughly the same structure explained to me in grade school.

Though there were a few interesting points in this fairly thick book, I feel like these guides succeed and keep getting written for all the wrong reasons.

Wannabe writers want a shortcut. They want a blue print to art, a way to bypass understanding things like human empathy, harnessing irony, or the need to practice. They don't want to put in the 10,000 hours of work for mastery suggested by the book Outliers. Writing was a wild hair urge summoned up in college, and they want results right-the-hell now!

A lot of the things you need to know about writing can be gleaned from a careful examination of what makes you care about the works you love. Ira Glass once stated that people get into writing because they have good taste, and want to add to the amazing conversation of ideas that their taste has created.

To me the best advice on the matter is, "You should write more. You should read more." And pay attention while you do both.
Profile Image for بثينة العيسى.
Author 23 books27.2k followers
July 13, 2010
Reading this book wasn't a lot of fun!

Few years ago I read " The Hero with a Thousand Faces " By Joseph Campbell ( and I loved it! ), and I also read about 4 books for C.G. Jung ( I loved 'em either!) ..

This book is primarily based on the great work, effort, sweat, and research of these two Godfathers of mythology, and it annoys me to see the richness and depth of their work converted into a "recipe" for "ready-meal microwave writers!".

I Love Mythology, I think we all crave it in a way, and it is true that all stories can be related to it, but this does not justify the fact that the author stripped this fascinating field of knowledge from its spiritual and magical dimensions.

I believe writers should read about mythology! But I think they should go to its "supreme source" instead of buying a "10 minutes snack" from a consultant.

Writing is a trip into the unknown, it is a journey indeed! But it is not a ready template that you can apply to your script and " win " some points of so called "depth" or " mythic dimensions! " .. this is simply like picking a shell from a beach in Bali, putting the shell in one of your rooms in the house and call it " a Balinese rooms"!

Do your work properly, dig in the dirt, absorb the mysterious world of mythology slowly and take your time.
Profile Image for Mevsim Yenice.
Author 4 books1,096 followers
November 25, 2020
Joseph Campbell’ın Kahraman’ın Sonsuz Yolculuğu kitabının senaristler, senaryo yazmak isteyenler ya da bir hikaye anlatmaya ilgisi olanlar için bir nevi tekrar yazılmış hali. Kendisiyle sınırlı kalmayan bir kitap bu yönden. Mitler, masallar, arketipler ile başka okumalara da sıçratıyor sizi. Bana bu yönden en büyük katkısı; Jung’un Dört Arketip’i oldu. Yıllardır okunmayı bekliyordu, bu süreçte birlikte okuyunca parçalar daha güzel oturdu yerine diye düşünüyorum.

Kitabın daha da güzel, kişisel katkısı sanırım şuydu: Kendi yolculuğumdaki kahramanlığımda, zaman zaman sınavlar, müttefikler, mağranın derinliklerine yaklaşma, orada kendi gölgemle karşılaşma anlarını, başka mitler, hikayeler, versiyonlar üzerinden gözlemlemek oldu. Ve şunu hatırlattı tabi, herkesin yolculuğu farklı, herkesin yolun sonuna gelme serüveni başka, aslolan yolculuktur, sen kendine ve yola güven, gerisine çok da kaptırma.☺

Karakterin yolculuğunu izlemeyi, anlamlandırmayı, buna kafa yormayı seven herkese mutlaka öneririm.
Profile Image for Dannii Elle.
2,111 reviews1,699 followers
May 22, 2017
I found this to be of invaluable help in shaping my novel and is a must for any writer's arsenal. Whilst many of the examples I had not heard of, as they are now outdated, the knowledge was imparted in such a straight forward way and with such a conversational tone as to garner no confusion. Writers, both amateur and expert, can benefit from comparing their writing to the outline suggested and I believe all can benefit from the advice given.
Profile Image for Mark Vandervinne.
33 reviews8 followers
October 2, 2016
My father was an English Lit and Humanities teacher. He gave me a deep appreciation for the story. I've loved Joseph Campbell ever since I saw him on PBS with Bill Moyer. I went back and have read several of his books. Unfortunately, he seems to have written them for academia, instead for the layman, and sometimes I feel they are difficult to get through. Also, he doesn't always help tell how to use the myths and folklore.

This book is a godsend for me. While I have read other books dealing with the theories of JC, this takes them and shows how to apply them to a story. While I am still reading it, it has already given me insight into looking at stories and movies in a different light. Being a Fantasy and Sci-Fi fan, I've understood the archetypes for a long time. For instance, Ben Kenobi (Obi Wan) and Gandalf are really the same archetypal figure of Mentor and are plain to see to me. But I never really thought of looking beyond that and seeing the same Mentor figure in other movies, like Robin Williams' character in Dead Poet's Society, M in the Bond films and books, or Father in Hellboy. Also, it has helped me to understand that the role can also be used as a mask, where a different archetype can pick it up and wear it as need be for the story, such as Julia Roberts girlfriend-prostitute in Pretty Woman, where she isn't always a Mentor, but she can be at times when the hero (boy or girl) needs them to be.

So far an incredible book and one I'm sure I will use if ever I decide to pan out the story ideas in my head. If not, then I at least will look at film and stories differently and possibly even my own life. (Yeah, that good so far.)

Finished it and it was everything I had hoped. An incredible book. If you are interested in the "behind the scenes" of story telling, this is a must read. Can't wait to read his other book.
Profile Image for Michael Burnam-Fink.
1,539 reviews247 followers
January 22, 2013
This is basically The Hero With a Thousand Faces turned into a self-help guide for aspiring screenwriters. Vogler is deeply experienced in how Hollywood makes stories, having worked as a professional narrative-smith for several major studios including Disney and Fox, and the advice is pragmatic, flexible, and surprisingly robust. Each chapter is concluded by a set of questions that a keen professor might ask of a story. Vogler would be the first to admit that the Hero's Journey is not a prescription for a good story, and that many films fall outside of its Archetypes and Steps, but if your story can't be described by the Hero's Journey, you probably have some work to do.

Some of the example movies are a little dated in the Year of Our Lord 2013 (Romancing the Stone, what's that?), and there isn't much said about the more complex stories typical of extended trilogies or television shows, but for all that, this is a critical book for writers looking to improve the structure of their stories.
Author 7 books97 followers
June 4, 2020
A few years ago, I did comb through The Hero with a Thousand Faces and create my own guide for my storytelling. It was hard. It took a long time--time that I could have spent writing. If you are, like me, more a storyteller than a scholar, you need to dive right into this one.
If you are already a Jungian or a Joseph Campbell scholar, this book is not for you. Anyone else, writer or not, should give Vogler's work a try. If he challenges and inspires you to find out more about Campbell and Jung, he has done a noble thing indeed.
And, along the way, you will learn some things about why some stories fly off with our collective imagination and others...well, just don't. And if you are a writer and you've struggled with this problem in selling your own works, you can get some help here. Unless you don't care about what readers feel and think and you just want to write for you. That's cool. If that's the case, this book is not for you, either.
But there are several chapters beyond the "formulaic" bulk of the book that are worth a look even if you catch yourself looking down your nose at this text. The appendix entitled "Stories are Alive" underscores the importance of your character's initial wish for a change, but also emphasizes that WILL is at least as important as wish. And I did enjoy "The Wisdom of the Body.” The final section "Trust the Path" was a moving one for me and most likely the reason why, in the end, this accessible, amusing and very approachable book is a 5 star read for me.
Profile Image for ياسمين ثابت.
Author 6 books3,184 followers
November 23, 2015


من المذهل ان تكتشف ان كل القصص تتكون من نفس البناء والقواعد ان جردتها
كانت هذه حقيقة اكدتها تعاليم هذا الكتاب


منذ اسبوع حضرت محاضرة عن كتابة السيناريو قدمها الكاتب المحترم شريف عبد الهادي
اعترف انه حمل في محاضرته المكونة من ساعتين ونص محتوى واسلوب اقوى وافضل بكثير من هذا الكتاب


كنت قد قررت قراءة هذا الكتاب لاضافة تفاصيل وتثبيت المعلومات التي حصلت عليها من محاضرة شريف لكن الكتاب لم يكن ممتعا ومركزا مثل المحاضرة بل كان يحمل الكثير من الحشو واللف والدوران حول نفس النقطة كما ان الاسلوب كان مزعج بعض الشئ


ربما يظن البعض انه كتاب موجه لمن يكتب السيناريوهات فقط هذا غير صحيح هو موجه للكتاب الحكايات سواءا الروايات او القصص بشكل عام, حتى انه يمكن ان يكون موجه للقراء ليستطيعوا فهم اكبر قدر ممكن من الاشارات الرمزية االغير مباشرة في كل الحكايات والتعمق في ادراكها بشكل اكبر

لذلك فهو من الكتب التي يفضل ان يقرأها الجميع او يكون عنده المعلومات الاساسية فيها على الاقل


يمكنك ان تقرأ الفهرس او العناوين في كل صفحة وستصل لك المعلومة بشكل اساسي






8 reviews4 followers
Currently reading
January 27, 2009
When I first heard about this book, I resisted it as it sounded like a formula for success in Hollywood (Vogler was an advisor at Disney). I was at the beginning of my writing journey and wanted to give myself freedom to write in whatever direction I wanted. Also, I had just finished a Ph.D. program, and I wanted to write without rules for awhile. That was ten years ago, however, and lately I've become interested in mythic structure and archetype Since Vogler translates Campbell's ideas about myth and archetype for modern storytelling, it seemed like a good place to start. As I read, I'm amazed by how much mythic structure is I've absorbed already by osmosis. There are so many points of correspondence between Vogler's points and the structure of the book I'm writing, it's spooky. But now that I'm aware of those correspondences, I hope I can make my narrative stronger by tightening them those points and letting them play out.
Profile Image for Ely  Gocce di Rugiada.
Author 16 books35 followers
January 29, 2021
Un saggio che ho studiato nel dettaglio per i miei progetti futuri.Lettura indispensabile per tutti coloro che vogliono scrivere un romanzo o per sceneggiature.
Profile Image for Theresa.
274 reviews17 followers
October 2, 2018
If you're a writer and you aren't using this book, you need to be using this book. We used it to study character archetypes and stages of a hero's journey in Harry Potter this semester, but the book honestly gives you so much more than that. At the end of each chapter is a series of questions for you to answer about your own WIP, making it clear where the gaps are. I loved using this for class, and I'm happy to be getting more than a semester's use out of it.
Profile Image for Kevin Xu.
280 reviews99 followers
June 30, 2011
Just a copy of Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Face, but for modern readers.
Profile Image for Elita Lahm.
102 reviews2 followers
September 6, 2023
4.5 such a good book, I wish there was a newer edition, unless I am not aware of it? This book is not for those in the film industry only, as it was recommended to me for scriptwriting, but for any writer overall. It covers everything, from characters to story structure, any writer can find something useful and interesting. I personally enjoyed every chapter. Yes it's a lot to take in and it took a while for me to finish, but I actually wish I would've read it even slower. I learnt a lot, and I believe by reading it again I would learn even more. Also it had one of the most beautiful endings a book can have. Very glad I read it.
Profile Image for Marc.
39 reviews
November 12, 2017
This book goes well with a cup of hot tea and Bill Moyer's video.

The title was poorly chosen in my opinion because it limits readership to those who see themselves as writers. How sad. This book is for anyone--anyone who knows or doesn't know that they are the hero of their own story. Which is pretty much everyone, since the definition of hero includes, "central character", "he who grows the most throughout the story", and so on.

So aside from bringing more clarity and enjoyment to the movies you see or the books you read, this book could very well do the same for your life.
Profile Image for Ali Arabzadeh.
177 reviews56 followers
December 27, 2016
چیزی که هنگام خواندن این کتاب برای‌م جالب بود لذت کشف چیزهایی بود که تا آن لحظه‌ جلوی چشمم بود ولی من به وجودشان یا دست‌کم به این‌که «این‌طور» هستند متوجه نبودم. مثل وقتی که کسی به صفتی یا خصیصه‌ای در شما اشاره می‌کند و شما در عین تصدیق به وجود آن صفت، جا می‌خورد که چطور تا به امروز خودم به همچنین چیزی توجه نکرده بودم.
Profile Image for Øleksandra Banina.
104 reviews30 followers
December 12, 2023
Письмо — це часто сповнена небезпек подорож всередину нас самих, за якої ми досліджуємо глибини своєї душі й повертаємося з мандрівки з Еліксиром досвіду, гарною історією. Низька самооцінка чи непевність щодо цілей можуть бути Тінями, які заважають нашій роботі, а редактор чи власний внутрішній критик можуть поставати як Вартові Порогів, що стають перепоною на шляху.

я працюю з текстами досить давно, і хоча здебільшого це коротка форма, сторітелінг має своє місце у моїй роботі та серденьку. і це найкращий посібник зі сторітелінгу, який мені траплявся - вперше в житті в мене половина книги переклеєна стікерами))

Воґлер розбирає міфологічну структуру побудови художнього твору за теоріями Джозефа Кемпбелла: пояснює архетипи, етапи, ділиться цікавими інструментами і дає питання, що наштовхнуть на роздуми та допоможуть у роботі. це все на прикладах відомих романів та кінофільмів, є навіть окремі розділи з детальним розбором, де легше вловити всю структуру. написано все досить легко, тому впевнена, що читати буде цікаво не тільки райтерам)

єдине, що мені не сподобалося — це те що і в цей прекрасний міфічний світ припхали русню з розбором казок. але роблю поправку на те, що книга писалася більше 25 років тому (ArtHuss переклали вже оновлене видання 2020го року)
Profile Image for Graham.
1,309 reviews64 followers
February 14, 2012
I bought this book as set reading for a writing course I'm currently studying. Having recently finished, I can say without doubt it's the most useful book on writing I've ever read - and I've read a fair few of them.

The great thing about this book is its simplicity. The main concept - that all stories and narratives follow a set path, or journey, involving archetypal characters - is a strong one that's easy to grasp. The rest of the book then elaborates on the theme, exploring diverse avenues like polarity and the nature of supporting characters.

Of course, Vogler's analysis won't apply to every book or writer, but as somebody striving to get published in genre fiction, this book was a godsend. It's already helped me plot out my next book and it's going to be an invaluable resource in the future - one of those books you always need to have at hand, just in case.
Profile Image for Sara Molina León.
162 reviews29 followers
May 10, 2020
¡Este es el mejor manual de guión que he leído hasta la fecha! Práctico, útil, sencillo y detallado. Todo sobre los arquetipos y las etapas del viaje del héroe. Sirve incluso para historias que tienen una estructura dramática no tan clásica como la de los tres actos. Además incluye análisis de películas. Lo recomiendo mucho para quien necesite ayuda a la hora de construir sus historias o pulir / ordenar el material narrativo.
Profile Image for Jeania.
Author 3 books10 followers
July 7, 2010
I learned a new way of looking at stories and movies from this book. They say it is one of the fundamental texts for hollywood script writers and I believe the archetypes and journey stages are strong models to refer to for the fiction writer. One might best explain this book in applying one of its models - the journey stages - to a film many of us are familiar with. I tried it with Forrest Gump:

1) Ordinary World: Begins life as a cripple, with odds stacked against him

2) His quest becomes Jenny, an early friend who treats him normally and represents normal life. She speaks the Call to Adventure: Run Forrest, run!

3) Reluctant Hero: Forest still gets beat up, still called stupid by most

4) Mentor = Momma, who believes in him and tells him he can do anything/ “Stupid is as stupid does.”

5) Crossing the First Threshold: Becoming a football hero (through running & confusion)

6) Tests: Nearly getting killed in war, Jenny rejecting him in a coffee house, fights with Jenny’s boyfriend (they represent hippie counterculture when he is a Viet Nam military hero they protest), Jenny almost killing herself and taking his goal of gaining her as his true love from him.

7) Inmost cave: Forrest faces his first real failure in a long time as a shrimper, but Lt. Dan faces his fears of failure too and they both ride out a storm that ultimately is the saving grace for their shrimp boat business. Also, Lt. Dan invests their money making them financially secure for life.

8) Ordeal: Momma dies

9) Reward: Jenny comes back only to leave him the day after she has sex with him to prove she loves him.

10) Road Back: Forrest starts running again. People see him as a wise man and follow his lead.

11) Ressurection: Jenny contacts him, they come together, he learns he has a son! Who’s smart!

12) Return With The Elixir: The family goes back to Alabama. Jenny dies, but little Forrest is an important legacy of big Forrest’s original quest.

Profile Image for Clark.
39 reviews4 followers
May 7, 2013
The Writer's Journey is as interesting to read as a textbook, but about as deep as half a dozen copies of Writer's Digest. If you read a lot and write quite a bit and you pay attention while you do these things, there is nothing in here you don't already know. Maybe you don't know the author's terms for each component, but you already know the stuff. I thought this would be a good reference, something to sit on the shelf and go back to when I need to look something up. Nope.

With a book this thick, I was hoping for some in-depth study. With a title like this, I expected a look into mythology and how it affected contemporary fiction. Instead, I read a lot of repetition and many vague descriptions. Do you know what an anti-hero is? Of course you do. Do you want to hear a scholar's analysis of the anti-hero, what makes them tick why we identify with them? Of course you do; so did I. You won't get that here. This book will tell you that anti-heros are characters like Han Solo. Then the author will say that again and then once more for good measure. That's all you'll get.

The last third are just stories of the movies the author helped "improve," citing all of the ideas he offered that were used in, say, The Lion King as well as all of the ideas he had that were not used and would have made the movie better had the executives listened to him. I won't even opine; if that sounds like good reading to you, be my guest.

Mostly, this book is a collection of abstracts from better authors - it gets two stars for encouraging me to go read some more Jung.
Profile Image for Fernando.
78 reviews6 followers
December 11, 2011
When I first browsed tried to read this book 10 years ago I didn't get passed the first 50 pages. My main problem with these kind of books is that they are so packed with information that it is hard for me to apply their lessons later. I might retain the gist of what they preach, but I end up forgetting most of the specifics, and so it feels like a waste of time to read them from cover to cover.

These last few weeks I have indeed read it cover to cover, but this time I had a concrete goal in mind. I have a story that I've wanted to write for a long time, and I needed help refining the structure, filling the holes in the plot and sharpening the themes and the characters. I didn't use the book as a recipe, but as a sounding board, a tool that allowed me to ask all the right questions before I actually sat to write my story; and it has proven extremely useful in that respect.
Profile Image for Shannon Mayer.
Author 105 books6,386 followers
February 10, 2011
Great book in the beginning and middle (Mapping and Stages of the Journey) drags near the end as Vogler starts to ponitificate a bit. He likes to write and it shows in that the point is always made but not before many, many pages of buildup. I found this left me skimmmng and not reading so much near the end.

I'm sure I will re-read sections of this book again in order to get more from it. Seems to me it is that kind of book and I do believe that it is a read neccessary for all authors at all levels of their craft as the hero's journey applies to all genres.
Profile Image for Erin Brenner.
103 reviews23 followers
July 31, 2018
This is a great book for anyone wanting to understand how to use Campbell's Hero's Journey in their writing, be it fiction or nonfiction--including content marketing. Vogler is a movie-script writer and he focuses on popular movies as his examples, making it easier to familiarize yourself with the example if you haven't seen it.

I read this book after it was recommended in a webinar that reviewed the basic structure of the Hero's Journey for use in content marketing, and I was able to immediately put it to use. Learning and inspiration can come from anywhere!
Profile Image for Eric Witchey.
Author 22 books50 followers
October 20, 2008
Excellent distillation of Joeseph Campbell's work. This book delivers examples and guidance about how to use the mythic archetypes described by Campbell in his works. The book is for writers of fiction who hope to capture the power of the Heroic Journey described in The Hero of a Thousand Faces. However, this book is no substitute for reading Campbell's work, which is much broader and richer, as Vogler points out.
Profile Image for Giovanna Barbieri.
Author 21 books65 followers
February 4, 2017
Imperdibile per chi desidera fare della scrittura un mestiere. Il saggio analizza gli achetipi che si trovano in letteratura e nel cinema: la figura dell'eroe, del messaggero, del saggio (o mentore), del guardiano della soglia, dell'ombra e dell'antagonista.
Certo, alcune figure potrebbero anche mancare in un romanzo e non ne risentirebbe affatto :)
Profile Image for Pandora .
295 reviews13 followers
June 18, 2008
If you want to truly understand the power of story this is a must read. What Vogler has done is taken A Hero of a Thousand Faces and made it simple to understand. Instead of using myths that no one knows he uses movies to show how stories are shaped by an ancient pattern. Powerful book.
Profile Image for Giorgia.
Author 3 books738 followers
August 28, 2021
Un viaggio imprescindibile all'interno della struttura delle storie. Per quanto concerne lo sviluppo del personaggio, ritengo molto più valido il testo di Dara Marks (e anche più attuale, meno ancorato ad alcuni elementi vetusti delle storie).
Profile Image for Chocobo.
19 reviews
April 8, 2023
lo que cuenta en el fondo es interesante pero diosmio menudo tostón, perfectamente se podría haber resumido en la mitad de páginas sin perder contenido pero a este señor le gusta repetir 50 veces las mismas ideas y ejemplos
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