on The Book Designer:

Ah, the hero’s journey. It’s a tried-and-true storytelling structure that makes up the bones of our favorite movies, books, and TV shows. You may not even know it, but most of your favorite stories probably follow the hero’s journey.

If you’re an author, you’re probably also familiar with using the hero’s journey to outline. A solid outline can really make or break a draft, and the hero’s journey can be as detailed or flexible as you need for your story.

But let’s slow down. What is the hero’s journey? And how can we learn to identify it in the stories we watch? Learning how the hero’s journey works is the first step in learning how to use it yourself, so let’s break down what the hero’s journey is and walk through a few examples of how it works in practice.