Plot & structure · Tip 34 of 82 · 5 min read
The Hero's Journey for Young Writers
Discover the ancient story path that heroes have followed for thousands of years, and use it yourself.
Have you noticed that lots of adventure stories follow a similar path? A hero leaves home, faces trials, wins something important and comes back changed. This pattern is called the hero's journey, and storytellers have used it for thousands of years.
The path, step by step
- Home: meet the hero in their ordinary world.
- The call: something invites them on an adventure.
- Saying no: the hero is scared and doesn't want to go, at first.
- The helper: a wise friend gives advice or a special gift.
- Crossing over: the hero leaves the safe world behind.
- Tests and friends: challenges, new allies and new enemies.
- The big trial: the hardest moment, where all seems lost.
- The reward: they win the prize, or learn the truth.
- The road home: they return, changed for ever.
A tiny hero's journey
Pip the hedgehog had never left the garden. One morning a robin told her the garden pond was drying up, and only the rain spirit on the hill could help. Pip said no; the hill was far too big. But Old Toad gave her a leaf umbrella and said, "Every journey starts with one roll." So Pip rolled under the gate. She outran a fox, made friends with a mole, and dug through a hedge. At the top of the hill, the rain spirit was asleep, and no one had ever dared wake it. Pip sang it the garden's song until it opened one cloudy eye and wept for joy. Pip came home soaking wet and braver than any hedgehog in the garden.
Use it as a map, not a rulebook
You don't have to include every step. Use the hero's journey to check your story has a strong shape. Is there a moment of doubt? A helper? A really hard trial before the end?