Archetypes and Storybeats Part II: The Virgin’s Promise

In last week’s blog I discussed the Hero’s journey and the nexus between certain character archetypes that are so well-recognized that they come ready-made with their own set of story beats. The Hero’s Journey as interpreted by Chris Vogler in his book on screenwriting (The Writer’s Journey), has been so widely read that it’s often offered up as the only pattern for stories.

But anyone who writes romance knows that the hero’s journey isn’t a good fit much of the time. It’s hard to see how Cin...