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18th out of 319 books
—
506 voters
The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers
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 editons of this book have sold over 180,000 units, making this book a 'classic' for screenwriters, writers, and novelists.
Paperback, 326 pages
Published
November 1st 1998
by Michael Wiese Productions
(first published 1992)
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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...more
This book is a godsend for me. While I have read other books dealing with...more
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...more
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...more
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 my...more
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Just a copy of Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Face, but for modern readers.
A writer friend loaned me her copy of Christopher Vogler’s “The Writer’s Journey” in order to help me with my writing. This book belongs on every fiction writer’s bookshelf. Whether you write short stories or multi-volume epic sagas, this book has valuable information that will help you organize and structure your work. Building on the work of Joseph Campbell, this book is easy to read and understand where Joseph Campbell’s book is scholarly and dependent on a higher level of educational backgro...more
Apr 24, 2013
Christine Locke
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
essays,
on-writing
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, h...more
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, h...more
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 prescrip...more
I've been a fan of Joseph Campbell's theories about narrative for years. I was skeptical when I began "Hero with a Thousand Faces," skeptical of Campbell's argument that if you get down to the bare essentials of a story's structure, all stories follow the same basic structure. Really? All stories? Shouldn't we be wary of statements that include the words "always" or "never." But - Campbell's work is thorough, compelling, and it ultimately won me over.
This book is obviously not written by Joseph...more
This book is obviously not written by Joseph...more
Many people complain that Vogler just uses the works of Jung and Campbell. Yep, he does, and freely admits it. He also recommends the works he derives from.
This book IS a recipe of sorts. It ties the collective myth structures to modern storytelling, in particular to film writing.
I am not a screenplay writer. I am not a writer of any variety. I have read this book in sympathy to friends and lovers that are such, but found in it a world view, undoubtedly due to the sources he has derived from.
R...more
This book IS a recipe of sorts. It ties the collective myth structures to modern storytelling, in particular to film writing.
I am not a screenplay writer. I am not a writer of any variety. I have read this book in sympathy to friends and lovers that are such, but found in it a world view, undoubtedly due to the sources he has derived from.
R...more
After reading Michael Hauge, Psychology For Screenwriters by William Indick and watching the Vogler/Hauge Hero's Journey discs I picked up at a conference a few years ago, I'm almost through my mini-at-home-study and can honestly say Vogler's book is one that will remain on my keeper shelf for a considerable period of time. I do think it's easy to look at it as a 'formula' if you are new to writing, but from my point of view it is more of a guideline and a way of giving yourself a few 'markers'...more
Christopher Vogler readily acknowledges his debt to Joseph Campbell, whose 1949 seminal work on comparative mythology 'The Hero with a Thousand Faces' is the source of the Hero's Journey that Vogler uses as his template for an effective screenplay. Vogler's more contemporary style is perhaps more accessible for the modern reader, and his many examples from well-known movies ('Shane', 'Star Wars', 'Titanic') really help to demonstrate the practical application of the formula that he explains in r...more
One of the books they made us read in film school way back when was Christopher Vogler's book THE WRITER'S JOURNEY: MYTHIC STRUCTURE FOR WRITERS. Vogler has come out with a third edition, so I thought I'd take a read.
Vogler is coming at story structure out of the Joseph Campbell HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES tradition. Campbell theorized that hero stories have a similar structure across all human cultures, and that there are archetypes that we always see in them: the refusal of the call, the mentor...more
Vogler is coming at story structure out of the Joseph Campbell HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES tradition. Campbell theorized that hero stories have a similar structure across all human cultures, and that there are archetypes that we always see in them: the refusal of the call, the mentor...more
My review of this book is coloured by my expectations - always a dangerous thing. While this was certainly an interesting book, I don't know if was particularly helpful to me as a writer. Maybe it was just too much detail. Too many different potential players/personas to consider when someone is considering a putting together a story.
When I write I start with a germ of an idea, and maybe a few scenes in my head, but I'm not a plotter by nature. I have a background in mythic literature and medie...more
When I write I start with a germ of an idea, and maybe a few scenes in my head, but I'm not a plotter by nature. I have a background in mythic literature and medie...more
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...more
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...more
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...more
1) Ordinary World: Begins life as a cripple, with odds stacked against him
2) His quest becomes Jenny...more
This is an extremely useful tool when trying to plot out a novel. It has to be taken with a grain of salt, but the author himself points out repeatedly that the idea is not to slavishly follow his outline of the standard mythic patterns made famous by Joseph Campbell, but to use them as a guide and inspiration. His examples rely heavily on movie scripts, but his observations apply very well to novel writing.
Jul 27, 2010
Tessa
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
writers
Shelves:
writers-helpers
In this book, Vogler explores the relationship between mythology and penmanship by adapting Joseph Campell's classic work on mythology, "The Hero's Journey", to a writer's path.
Basically, this is a more easily read version of Campell's book with references to movies and books to illustrate certain points. It gives you a clear structure that, strangely, all stories ever told seem to follow in one way or another.
For the writer, this can be a set of guidelines of 'where to go' should their plot e...more
Basically, this is a more easily read version of Campell's book with references to movies and books to illustrate certain points. It gives you a clear structure that, strangely, all stories ever told seem to follow in one way or another.
For the writer, this can be a set of guidelines of 'where to go' should their plot e...more
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 thic...more
With a book this thic...more
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 min...more
These last few weeks I have indeed read it cover to cover, but this time I had a concrete goal in min...more
This book is a handy fix-it kit for anyone who has ever struggled to invent a plot for a short story or other work of fiction. Based on Joseph Campbell's classic The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Vogler lays out the template for the classic adventure plot. It starts with the hero's "Ordinary World" (think Kansas in the Wizard of Oz), and progresses through the "Call to Adventure," and subsequent stages like "Approach to the Inmost Cave," and "The Ordeal."
This template works well with some stories...more
This template works well with some stories...more
I wish I could give it 4,5 stars. This book is amazingly well structured and will help you to get your structure working. There are so many great tools presented in easily digistible ways. I also love how flexible Christopher Vogler is, saying that all stories can use the Hero's Journey as they need. There's no recepe, just a bunch of helpful observations.
Of course, if you want to follow a recepe, this book will let you do that as well. The book goes through something called The Hero's Journey w...more
Of course, if you want to follow a recepe, this book will let you do that as well. The book goes through something called The Hero's Journey w...more
Jun 18, 2008
Pandora
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
adult,
best-of-the-best
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.
A fantastic read about story structure and its basis in myth. It's essentially a re-purposing of Joseph Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces for screenwriters, but it's a useful distillation for anyone who writes popular media. It goes into satisfying depth about why we care more when our heroes act certain ways, and the purpose of all those act two punches in the gut they have to endure. Strongly recommend to all writers. For an easy-to-follow example of the principles in this book, watch Elmo...more
A great book that talks about Joseph Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces and relates the concepts of the archetypal hero to how to structure a story. Interesting examples given on how this structure was used in many famous movies (Star Wars anyone?) and how writers can use the techniques to craft a story that follows this formula. Even if one hates formulaic stories, this is good reading to help understand the flow of stories and even help to write oneself out of a corner if the plot/story doe...more
Very helpful book that gives a lot of practical insights into 'journey' types of stories. I've learned a lot and I've gotten many ideas to use in stories. I liked that the author didn't present his analysis as the only and only structure, or the blueprint to follow. That results in a lot of freedom and inspiration. As he states: the story itself is always leading. There were two small downsides: there's quite a bit of repetition in the book and the structure could have been clearer at times. Als...more
I didn't have any of the grumbles with this book that many seem to have. Yes Jung and Campbell crop up, in ideology and structure at least, but it's not disguised as something original.
What I grabbed this book for was the brilliantly concise tidbits that I could utilise in my coursework assignments. I loved the vein of this book and it was particularly useful since I was dealing with my own 'mythical hero' on a journey (to be fair, my 'hero' had made his journey and was now marooned...).
I no ac...more
What I grabbed this book for was the brilliantly concise tidbits that I could utilise in my coursework assignments. I loved the vein of this book and it was particularly useful since I was dealing with my own 'mythical hero' on a journey (to be fair, my 'hero' had made his journey and was now marooned...).
I no ac...more
Not only is this an excellent book for writers of fiction, I'd recommend it very strongly to anyone who reads or watches films with a critical eye. Vogler relies on Joseph Campbell's explorations into myths and why humans need them to build a classic story telling formula that works. How do we know it works? He's got example after example, and honestly, it's hard to argue with the success of The Wizard of Oz, Titanic, the Indiana Jones' franchise, etc as successful story telling. Certainly, book...more
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 li...more
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 li...more
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...more
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...more
1 like · like · see review
Found that Vogler's 'The Writer's Journey' is a great resource for me. Being an aspiring writer I see many ideas about writing that I had not considered before. I read Campbell's 'The Hero with a Thousand Faces' many years ago, in graduate school, and plan on taking it down from my bookshelf again for re-read. I feel that 'The Writer's Journey' has helped me to a deeper understanding of Campbell's master work and that once I go through Hero again I will have a greater understanding Vogler's book...more
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“I realized that the good stories were affecting the organs of my body in various ways, and the really good ones were stimulating more than one organ. An effective story grabs your gut, tightens your throat, makes your heart race and your lungs pump, brings tears to your eyes or an explosion of laughter to your lips.”
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13 people liked it
“The young, in their innocence, are often wise and capable of teaching the old.”
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