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The Hero's 2 Journeys
Michael Hauge author of Writing Screenplays that Sell.Christopher Vogler author of The Writing Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers.Hear each superstar teacher present his unique approach to The Outer Journey and The Inner Journey
3 pages, Audio CD
First published January 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
January 27, 2019
One of the best storytelling books I've ever read in my life. Highly recommended!
December 31, 2020
Short, but compact. It's for screenwriters, but all of it applies for novelists as well. In fact, as a novelist, I appreciate the chance to hear a talk about story and character, without the mechanics of writing cluttering my brain.
"You are really here to learn only one thing, and that is: how to elicit emotion. People go to the movies, they read novels, they see plays so they can feel something. Not simply so they can think. You can get them to think, but to get them to think, you have to get them to feel."
"You are really here to learn only one thing, and that is: how to elicit emotion. People go to the movies, they read novels, they see plays so they can feel something. Not simply so they can think. You can get them to think, but to get them to think, you have to get them to feel."
December 25, 2019
Very action inspiring and presents scaffoldingfor the narrative. Feels like there's more focus on telling the story of writing than the method itself.
November 2, 2020
I actually read Christopher Vogler's The Hero's Journey but its not listed. Explains mythic structure and how modern plots are simply re-workings of ancient tales - eg. Star Wars is actually rooted in creation myths and Greek myths like Homer's Odyssey. A great framework with which to write a book. Very flexible - can be tailored to young writers to explain the mechanics of how a story works or used by experienced ones to fix story faults.
June 29, 2017
These lectures make up a short - just over 3 hours - refresher of two slightly different approaches to story structure (Christopher Vogler's and Michael Hague's). Really interesting to hear them unspool their different approaches together in the same room. Really good recap if you know their work and want a refresher, or maybe good inspiration to read them if you're not familiar with them.
January 1, 2021
Not bad. Recapitulation of Jung's work/ another book about story shapes recommended by a friend (which I cannot now recall) that lays out what each story needs in order to 'work'. This was like that but for movie scripts, and I found some of the nuance added as a result of the medium change to be useful.
November 19, 2022
Loved the approach of both, excellent presentation and presentation skills. Both are talented teachers.
Content was useful, not revolutionary but will give you a few AHA moments in understanding what makes good writing actually good. Applies also for movies.
Reccomended, also short and straight to the point, points in my books nowadays.
Content was useful, not revolutionary but will give you a few AHA moments in understanding what makes good writing actually good. Applies also for movies.
Reccomended, also short and straight to the point, points in my books nowadays.
October 19, 2023
This is a good lecture on story structure and the external and internal journey that both your plot and your characters should follow for a well thought out story. My only company was that I think the actual in person lecture involved graphics/charts that would have been helpful. I recommend sitting down the listen to this so you can take notes.
July 5, 2018
This is about the Hero's Journey, adding to Joseph Campbell's work.
The two speakers are seasoned, realized practitioners of their craft.
They continue to share insight after insight.
I believe this work is highly relevant to everyone, not just writers.
This is a gem.
The two speakers are seasoned, realized practitioners of their craft.
They continue to share insight after insight.
I believe this work is highly relevant to everyone, not just writers.
This is a gem.
September 18, 2020
I'm not a screenwriter, but I love studying the hero's journey to learn more about how it applies to life. This gave me some interesting new insights to ponder. It is definitely a seminar, though!
December 8, 2023
For any and all writers...fiction, memoir, screenwriters...the journey is for all mcs/heroes; this audio book is actually a ted talk like workshop that breaks down all stories into a formula that makes sense.
August 23, 2017
Really liked it. Offers additional insights for stories. Shouldn’t be your first book on the topic of story telling, imho.
August 9, 2018
Interesting, but a little long and hard to follow without the diagrams.
December 7, 2018
The audio quality isn't great, but there are definitely some useful writing bits in here.
December 27, 2018
A great primer on the basics of good story telling.
June 15, 2020
If you write, borrow this! Excellent.
October 10, 2020
Audiobook that gives a clear modern day version of the hero's journey. (Inner & outer).
Read
March 31, 2023Powerful!
November 26, 2023
I loved this! It's exactly the right balance of theory and practical tips.
I wish it could have been longer!
I wish it could have been longer!
December 3, 2025
Fantastic!
Love these two phenomenal presenters - great insight, lots for food for thought and can’t wait to get back to this with a notebook, pen and more time to take in all the lessons.
Love these two phenomenal presenters - great insight, lots for food for thought and can’t wait to get back to this with a notebook, pen and more time to take in all the lessons.
June 17, 2012
I enjoyed this. The audience is screenwriters, but the ideas are excellent and valuable for novelists.
Christopher Vogler and Michael Hauge conducted a workshop for writing movie scripts based on Joseph Campbell’s work. This is the recording of that workshop which includes some questions from the audience.
I rarely watch movies. My feeling is why watch a movie when I could read a book? Books have more depth. When I see movies based on books I’ve read, I’m disappointed although I do enjoy the visuals. As I listened to this lecture, I felt further reluctance to watch movies. They’re all made with the same formula! (or most of them) The first 10% is seeing the ordinary world and the call to action. Other parts include meeting the mentor, encountering tests, the supreme ordeal, and return with the elixir. These parts were first defined by Joseph Campbell. He studied mythology and found consistency in all myths in all cultures. Apparently all humans always want the same story.
During the 1970s George Lucas used these ideas when he wrote the first Star Wars movie. During the 1980s Christopher Vogler wrote a memo organizing Campbell’s ideas into guidance for movie making. Vogler worked for Disney at the time. Vogler later turned his memo into a book “The Writer’s Journey.” I was bothered by Vogler’s claim for credit. He talked as if he were “the first one” to consider using Campbell’s ideas for movie making. He never mentioned that Lucas used them earlier. On Vogler’s website (mentioned below) he states “I had discovered the work of mythologist Joseph Campbell a few years earlier while studying cinema at the University of Southern California. I was sure I saw Campbells ideas being put to work in the first of the Star Wars movies and wrote a term paper for a class in which I attempted to identify the mythic patterns that made that film such a huge success.” This rubs me wrong. Lucas clearly stated that he used Campbell’s work when he wrote Star Wars. Vogler’s comments are pompous. My distaste is the reason I did not give this 5 stars. But the subject matter is excellent. Most of the examples are from three films: The Firm, Shrek, and Titanic. I was surprised that the speakers didn’t use Star Wars as an example.
This audiobook is a good way to learn about Campbell’s ideas. The authors talk about the hero’s outer journey, his inner journey, and major character types. Hauge defines four character types: hero, reflection (friend), nemesis, and romance character (or the object of hero’s pursuit). Vogler’s website (thewritersjourney com) has a helpful summary of the outer journey and eight character types. (My thoughts, not in the lecture: Since all plots are the same, it is critical to have unique, engaging, and fascinating characters. This seminar does not discuss that.)
A couple of Hauge comments. The inner journey is to find your essence. At the end of the workshop, Hauge summarizes with three arcs that consistently occur in American movies - three transformations the character needs to make.
1. risk being who you truly are
2. risk connecting to other people (romantically or other)
3. stand up and do what is right, the honest thing, to stand up for the truth.
He says “love encompasses all of these. All great movies are love stories.”
NARRATORS:
The narrators are the authors. Their voices were fine.
DATA:
Unabridged audiobook reading time: 3 hrs and 10 mins. Swearing language: none. Sexual content: none. Workshop date: probably 2003. Genre: nonfiction.
Christopher Vogler and Michael Hauge conducted a workshop for writing movie scripts based on Joseph Campbell’s work. This is the recording of that workshop which includes some questions from the audience.
I rarely watch movies. My feeling is why watch a movie when I could read a book? Books have more depth. When I see movies based on books I’ve read, I’m disappointed although I do enjoy the visuals. As I listened to this lecture, I felt further reluctance to watch movies. They’re all made with the same formula! (or most of them) The first 10% is seeing the ordinary world and the call to action. Other parts include meeting the mentor, encountering tests, the supreme ordeal, and return with the elixir. These parts were first defined by Joseph Campbell. He studied mythology and found consistency in all myths in all cultures. Apparently all humans always want the same story.
During the 1970s George Lucas used these ideas when he wrote the first Star Wars movie. During the 1980s Christopher Vogler wrote a memo organizing Campbell’s ideas into guidance for movie making. Vogler worked for Disney at the time. Vogler later turned his memo into a book “The Writer’s Journey.” I was bothered by Vogler’s claim for credit. He talked as if he were “the first one” to consider using Campbell’s ideas for movie making. He never mentioned that Lucas used them earlier. On Vogler’s website (mentioned below) he states “I had discovered the work of mythologist Joseph Campbell a few years earlier while studying cinema at the University of Southern California. I was sure I saw Campbells ideas being put to work in the first of the Star Wars movies and wrote a term paper for a class in which I attempted to identify the mythic patterns that made that film such a huge success.” This rubs me wrong. Lucas clearly stated that he used Campbell’s work when he wrote Star Wars. Vogler’s comments are pompous. My distaste is the reason I did not give this 5 stars. But the subject matter is excellent. Most of the examples are from three films: The Firm, Shrek, and Titanic. I was surprised that the speakers didn’t use Star Wars as an example.
This audiobook is a good way to learn about Campbell’s ideas. The authors talk about the hero’s outer journey, his inner journey, and major character types. Hauge defines four character types: hero, reflection (friend), nemesis, and romance character (or the object of hero’s pursuit). Vogler’s website (thewritersjourney com) has a helpful summary of the outer journey and eight character types. (My thoughts, not in the lecture: Since all plots are the same, it is critical to have unique, engaging, and fascinating characters. This seminar does not discuss that.)
A couple of Hauge comments. The inner journey is to find your essence. At the end of the workshop, Hauge summarizes with three arcs that consistently occur in American movies - three transformations the character needs to make.
1. risk being who you truly are
2. risk connecting to other people (romantically or other)
3. stand up and do what is right, the honest thing, to stand up for the truth.
He says “love encompasses all of these. All great movies are love stories.”
NARRATORS:
The narrators are the authors. Their voices were fine.
DATA:
Unabridged audiobook reading time: 3 hrs and 10 mins. Swearing language: none. Sexual content: none. Workshop date: probably 2003. Genre: nonfiction.
September 28, 2016
This was awesome listening to two great story consultants. Most of it speaks of writing screenplays but it easily applies to any mode of storytelling.
February 20, 2024
Great in terms of explaining the building blocks and blueprint of writing not only a fictional story, but non fictional too - which can be used for other purposes like in a businesses marketing and persuasion - and beyond.
Although this was a short instructional workshop recording on how to do it ( and you can go far deeper and advanced ) but it was impressive of how simple and easy to understand it was to the point you can follow along and craft an impactful story from this little resource alone - which made it even more impressive and a value packed resource.
To Our Continued Success!
Seemy
Waseem.tv/Blog
👆🏼 P.S -
If you found this review helpful - I’d like to invite you to discover more on our blog. Where the community share some of our most important insights to level up each others knowledge 💡- from experience in studying books like this, training programs, podcasts and much more - visit the blog link above to find out more.
P.P.S 😅 - You probably noticed from my profile that I’ve reviewed a LOT of books over the years now - if you love seeking knowledge like me I’d love to connect with you further as a like minded person (send me a friend invite! 😀) - Also if you are curious - here is my preferred and recommended resource for seeking timeless wisdom - Check it out via the website invite link below 👇🏼 (You’ll be able to claim some awesome books for free 📚)
https://Waseem.tv/GoodReadsBookInvite
Although this was a short instructional workshop recording on how to do it ( and you can go far deeper and advanced ) but it was impressive of how simple and easy to understand it was to the point you can follow along and craft an impactful story from this little resource alone - which made it even more impressive and a value packed resource.
To Our Continued Success!
Seemy
Waseem.tv/Blog
👆🏼 P.S -
If you found this review helpful - I’d like to invite you to discover more on our blog. Where the community share some of our most important insights to level up each others knowledge 💡- from experience in studying books like this, training programs, podcasts and much more - visit the blog link above to find out more.
P.P.S 😅 - You probably noticed from my profile that I’ve reviewed a LOT of books over the years now - if you love seeking knowledge like me I’d love to connect with you further as a like minded person (send me a friend invite! 😀) - Also if you are curious - here is my preferred and recommended resource for seeking timeless wisdom - Check it out via the website invite link below 👇🏼 (You’ll be able to claim some awesome books for free 📚)
https://Waseem.tv/GoodReadsBookInvite
September 21, 2011
~A QUICK STARTER~
If you want to quickly refresh the stages of a story, be it a novel or a movie script, this is your just-short-of-4-hours guide! I listened to it in several days while walking on a machine in the gym, and took notes, too! I feel fully equipped to read and analyze a story or even jump into writing my own :)
MICHAEL HAUGE is a Hollywood script consultant and screenwriter who coaches writers, filmmakers and studio executives. His best selling book WRITING SCREENPLAYS THAT SELL has become an industry standard.
CHRISTOPHER VOGLER is a motion picture producer, a story consultant to major movie companies and the author of the hugely successful book THE WRITER'S JOURNEY: MYTHIC STRUCTURE FOR WRITERS.
Victoria Evangelina
September 19, 2007
Great reference. MICHAEL HAUGE is a Hollywood script consultant and screenwriter who coaches writers, filmmakers and studio executives. His best selling book WRITING SCREENPLAYS THAT SELL has become an industry standard.
CHRISTOPHER VOGLER is a motion picture producer, a story consultant to major movie companies and the author of the hugely successful book THE WRITER'S JOURNEY: MYTHIC STRUCTURE FOR WRITERS.
CHRISTOPHER VOGLER is a motion picture producer, a story consultant to major movie companies and the author of the hugely successful book THE WRITER'S JOURNEY: MYTHIC STRUCTURE FOR WRITERS.
Read
October 16, 2020Excellent "book". I've already read Christopher Vogler's The Writer's Journey, so the first half of his presentation was familiar, but I hadn't read any of Michael Hauge's work, and it truly transformed my current work-in-progress. I will refer back to their work often. I recommend this to writers who want to get deeper into their protagonist's journey, regardless of which genre they write. And this is just as much for novelists as it is for screenwriters.
March 2, 2013
Many interesting insights from two seasoned screenwriters.
October 30, 2014
Good stuff here, good stuff indeed!
December 27, 2015
I listened to the audio book version of this one and it was great! Really gets the mind working so that you can figure out where your story might be lacking and how you can improve it.
February 11, 2016
Pretty much the same as Chris Vogler's Hero's Journey book, but condensed into a seminar. Good, quick refresher of the book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews