Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t: Why That Is And What You Can Do About It

by Steven Pressfield

Here’s the nutshell version: 1) Hero starts in Ordinary World. 2) Hero receives Call to Adventure. 3) Hero rejects Call. 4) Hero meets Mentor. Mentor gives hero courage to accept Call. (If you’re following along, this is Luke on the evaporator farm. Luke finds R2D2, Luke uncorks distress hologram from Princess Leia, Luke takes R2 to Obi-Wan Kenobi.) 5) Hero crosses Threshold, enters Special World. 6) Hero encounters enemies and allies, undergoes ordeal that will serve as his Initiation. 7) Hero confronts Villain, acquires Treasure. 8) The Road Back. Hero escapes Special World, trying to “get home.” 9) Villains pursue Hero. Hero must fight/escape again. 10) Hero returns home with Treasure, reintegrates into Ordinary World, but now as a changed person, thanks to his ordeal and experiences on his journey. Cue up any movie from Casablanca to The Martian, including films with seemingly rulebook-defying structures like Pulp Fiction or Charlie Kaufman’s Adaptation. At the heart of each, in one form or another, you will find the hero’s journey.