The Most Popular Story Structures | Hero's Journey, Save the Cat, Story Circle

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So back in college I took a mythology class and learned about Joseph Campbell's the hero's journey (17 stages of monomyth) and it completely revolutionized my writing when I used it as a skeleton for my outline. And then once I found the writing community I was introduced to Blake Snyder's Save the Cat (and now Jessica Brody's Save the Cat Writes a Novel), as well as Dan Harmon's Story Circle (Also called Plot Embryo) which also upped my game. So today I'm shining a black light on all three of those. Are they the same? Are they different? Which should you use for your writing? If you want to see the hero's journey broken down in detail make sure to check out Cam's video on Wolfshot Publishing (link below). He reminded me to cover this topic so go give him a sub and show him some love. He has a cool authortube/booktube channel.
The hero's Journey to Save the Cat: • The Hero's Journey to ...
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2 окт 2024

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Комментарии : 48

@SixActStructure 5 лет назад

Awesome overview, Megan! I can attest that most story structure paradigms aren’t “created” as much as extrapolated from the existing. My own Six Act paradigm has its roots in traditional 3 act structure, but places the focus on a sequence of 6 universal character actions and goals that are surprisingly ubiquitous in modern storytelling across multiple genres. -Setup- ACT ONE: DEALING WITH AN IMPERFECT SITUATION/The Initial Goal Turning Point Catalyst 1: The Disturbance Turning Point 1: The Dilemma ACT TWO: LEARNING THE RULES OF AN UNFAMILIAR SITUATION/The Transitional Goal Turning Point Catalyst 2: The Reality Check Turning Point 2: The Commitment -Confrontation- ACT THREE: STUMBLING INTO THE CENTRAL CONFLICT/The False Goal Turning Point Catalyst 3: The Turn Turning Point 3: The Moment of Truth ACT FOUR: IMPLEMENTING A DOOMED PLAN/The Penultimate Goal Turning Point Catalyst 4: The Lowpoint Turning Point 4: The Newfound Resolve -Resolution- ACT FIVE: TRYING A LONGSHOT/The Ultimate Goal Turning Point Catalyst 5: All is Lost Turning Point 5: The Final Push ACT SIX: LIVING IN A NEW SITUATION My most recent video series “How to Outline Your Story Using Character Actions” gives a more in depth overview and examples. If you’re interested, I'm sure I can arrange to get you a copy of my book, "The Story Structure Secret: Actions and Goals". I'm not in the habit of giving it away, but I see how much you love books so I know it will be in good hands, haha! Either way, keep up the awesome work!

@RayOfTruth 4 года назад

Kishotenketsu is a good one that isn't related to Campbell's Hero's Journey.

@CloudKitten 4 года назад

Oh interesting, I don't think I've heard of that one before. I like the loop in the diagram lol

@pegasis76 5 лет назад

gotta say for a pantser trying to learn how to outline...its all confusing.

@yaboibradautry 4 года назад

Not a writer, but interested, I wanna say that the Leeming recounting of the Hero’s Journey is overtly theological. I don’t know if he’s religious but that was the life of Christ and he probably views it as the ultimate human drama. Hence the specific wording.

@CloudKitten 4 года назад

Oh interesting. That would make sense. I was raised without religion so I don't know much about it and tent to not pickup on hints like that. Good catch!

@PartridgeQuill 5 лет назад

"Nothing is original. Everything has already been had, and life as a writer is just rehashing other people's ideas until you die." -Megan Tennant

@CloudKitten 5 лет назад

I'm so good at inspirational quotes lmao

@1995yuda 3 года назад

@@CloudKitten This is not true at all. Ask any true Philosopher what it takes to earn the title of a 'true' philosopher and he'll say: It means to give birth to something only you can, it can only come from you, it is new, it emerges from the only source that could originate it which is you. Also, rehashing other people's ideas is not what writers or for that matter any artists do, rather, it is synthesizing elements into a new whole which transcends the parts, thus, it is wholly new and in fact not at all a "rehashing" of other people's ideas. I don't at all agree with your notion of originality.

@TheAquamarine4 Год назад

@@1995yuda i agree it’s synthesis and intertextuality not rehashing.

@sanaamin5651 3 года назад

Its confusing which is why I don’t even bother looking up other methods of outlining. I have done the Jessica Brody’s MasterClass on Save The Cat, and that has helped me tremendously. I suggest and vouch for that method as its ridiculously simple and easy to understand.

@kelseacabrera 4 года назад

i'm a writer from the philippines, thank you so much for your videos! it helps me a lot! ^_^

@michaelsurfingweb 6 месяцев назад

I think i am falling in love with cloud kitten

@kimberlyswartz138 5 лет назад

I use Save the Cat as a guide as I write my first drafts. It helps me see how much father I need to go (I'm a discovery writer). I use the calculator on line.

@CloudKitten 5 лет назад

Omg I didn't know the calculator was a thing that's fantastic! I'm going to do a video focusing in on Save the Cat soon and now I can include that. It's especially helpful because the page counts he includes is based on a 100 page script which is so much shorter than the standard novel. Thank you for this!!!!

@meetdasani5382 2 года назад

Thanks for the information, that was useful ......and also, you are very cute.

@CloudKitten 2 года назад

Thank you!

@Jessica_Burrows 5 лет назад

YES! Thank you! I've been screeching this from the mountain tops within the literary world for way too long. This video is gold!

@ramyfili1434 5 лет назад

How about 3 act story structure?

@mistermastermind528 3 года назад

That just creates numbers to the parts of your story. The hero's journey in particular is built around the 3-act structure: ordinary world, special world, and return to the ordinary world. If you were to go beyond 3 acts, my mentor told me that you basically just extended your act 2. Trilogies are also built the same way. It's one big over arching 3-act structure.

@IneffableSquirrel Год назад

Hi! I’m a first time watcher, and I just stopped watching. Then, after your video dropped off my screen, I felt remorse. There was a specific reason that I abandoned the video, and I thought I could at least tell you why. You referred to one of the greatest psychologists ever, a contemporary and sometime friend of Sigmund Freud and the founder of Depth Psychology (not to mention Jungian psychology) as well as the psychological study of myth and many other very good things, as “Carla Jung.” Carl was a male. And the “J” is pronounced like a “Y”, and the “u” like the “oo” in Moon. So, it’s Carl Yoong. I’m sorry it’s so complex, but it is. Other than that, I appreciate your sharing your knowledge with us listeners. Please keep doing your videos. There was a young man the other day on a video for authors, and he was so conceited that I couldn’t stand it. I stopped watching, but didn’t tell him why. 😢 But I told you why. 😊 I’ll drop by again later. All the best to you.

@susanbuckminster282 4 года назад

Thank you!

@PaintingMeJosh Год назад

When I first started writing my WIP I knew nothing about plot structure. Didn't even know that was a thing. But by pure coincidence (or by me getting a solid feel for structure based on the movies and books I enjoyed) it turned out my WIP fairly closely follows all of this.

@geoffreydonaldson2984 4 года назад

Cousineau: Kooz-in-No. Okay?

@1995yuda 3 года назад

David Leeming's version does not at all invoke the notorious WTF ? expression if you just consider the source of the Hero's Journey to begin with, which is steps of Esoteric Initiation... In that world Leeming's version is highly accurate of the journey the adept goes through, much more so than many of the other renditions of the so called "Hero's Journey" which serves a different function, namely, that of storytelling, for storytelling's sake. Basically, the origin of the story structure as a whole, and of storytelling, springs from the process of esoteric initiation.

@StrayBats 3 года назад

Chris Vogler’s plot structure was my jumping off point, but since then I’ve found other’s like Dan Wells’ 7 Point Story Structure (which he explained during a lecture at a convention, all of which has been uploaded to RU-vid), and most recently Adam Skelter’s Anatomy of Story (also found via RU-vid series from his channel, The Art of Story). Wells is a novelist, and while his system was “shamelessly pilfered” (his words) from the Star Trek RPG handbook, he explains the points in a way novelists can understand. He uses movies to explain it, but 2 of his examples are adaptations of novels, so the beats should be the same (HP and Pride & Prejudice). I found it is very effective at outlining the plot. Skelter’s has a very detailed breakdown of his method in his RU-vid series, describing his application of 24 points and 7 core beats to outline his story. While he is a sceenwriter, he designed his method to be flexible so novelists can use it too, so points can be added or removed, however the 7 core beats remain (he also has one published novel that uses this method, which is also an example he uses in one of his videos). In addition, he applies these over a 4 act structure where each act represents the phase of the character’s journey. I found it is the most effective at outlining character arcs. I like Skelter’s method because he spreads it over 4 acts, because like me he needed a refined focus for the middle section of the story and if you’re going to split the middle into 2, you may as well call it acts 2 and 3 anyway. PS. Cousineau = Coo-si-no

@uncleanunicorn4571 4 года назад

I see no reason why my galactic adventure woman can't just put herself at risk to save a kitten on a crashing starship about to fall onto a dangerous planet?

@drillgirl718 4 года назад

can you review Verbalize by Damon Suede, i also have been studying story structure for many years and this book is a whole different take at making a story.. he explains that is VERBS that make characters, not a character sheet and all that stuff that the reader doesnt care about.. hope you get time to read it.

@danielkelley7548 2 года назад

Wow. This was awesome. I can't stop watching this. I'm writing my first fiction. I've written and published two non-fiction How-to books on Lucid Dreaming, but fiction is new for me. It's a Mid-Grade book that combines two narrative structures. This video helped me a lot. By the way, your Apoptosis/Apotheosis mishap is how originality survives.

@CloudKitten 2 года назад

Thank you for the kind comment and welcome to the world of fiction writing! And good point on the originality, I hadn't thought of it that way

@MahOlivares 2 года назад

OH MY GODDDD!! watching a video of yours for the first time and what a spetacular background is that!!! im absolutely gagged. Also thank you for the amazing content

@CloudKitten 2 года назад

Thank you so much!! I have a Notion database to track content notes and I have to have a datapoint for spine color so I can find things, but it's worth it. Thank you for the kind comment!

@ace_of_cups4096 3 года назад

I've had to force myself to stop reading Aletheia long enough to actually write and im sad cus I dont wanna stop.... XD its SO good!!!! Also, im super grateful for the story structure videos because i have bad anxiety and being able to sense at what point that shuts gonna hit the fan has saved me from MANY panic attacks, whether the book is fantasy/dystopian/or contemporary.

@CloudKitten 3 года назад

I'm so happy the videos are helping!!! Some people avoid narrative structures because they're worried it makes stories predictable, but most of those people end up intuitively using structures by matching the flow of stories they consume. So I'm a firm believer in just using structures as a rough map from day 1. It 100% saved Aletheia from disaster. The bits i wrote before pulling out the hero's journey were such a mess and I got super stuck. Being able to outline with a guide led to all my best ideas and let me really weave together all the characters actions and history to make everything more complicated

@1995yuda 3 года назад

You make incredible content I am very thrilled to have found your channel.

@Mzbonezz 3 года назад

OMG YOUR BACKGROUND LITERALLY GAVE ME GASMS. *melts*

@CloudKitten 3 года назад

Thank you! It's a pain in the ass when I want to find a book and don't remember what its cover looks like, but otherwise I'm pretty happy with it lol

@innergi5516 2 года назад

((Read my comment & save your time as I put this video in a nutshell.)) Heros journey is the only way to tell a story. Save the cat & the story circle are just dfrnt forms of heros journey.

@CloudKitten 2 года назад

That is not what I'm trying to say. At their very core they are the same, but they are presented in very different formats, and different writers and content scholars will have preferences. Some will mesh better with the story circle which is short, sweet, and most easy to recall on command. Other's may have interests in screenwriting and thus vibe better with Blake Snyder's film-oriented terminology. I personally like the complexity of the original hero's journey as I feel that the additional prompts lead to a more complex final story. Narrative structures are simply tools for understanding story flow. A clicky mechanical keyboard and a membrane keyboard are fundamentally the same and have the same general result, and yet the experience is entirely different between the two and most users have a strong preference. If you don't know what tools are out there you can't choose the right version for you.

@CamWolfeAuthor 5 лет назад

I didn't even know about Dan Harmon's story circle when I filmed my video, but looking into it it's hard to say it's not... "inspired"

@CloudKitten 5 лет назад

I had seen it on Racheal's channel but only looked up the actual sheet recently and it's definitely different. He said he wanted to simplify writing. Well he definitely simplified the hero's journey. A bit too simplified for my taste though. I'll stick with my 12-17 stages I think.

@SixActStructure 5 лет назад

@@CloudKitten I agree it is a bit simplified. Harmon's area of expertise is the 30 minute, cyclical TV show, so I would imagine the simplicity works well for the medium. While he says it can work well for feature length films and presumably novels, I think it would need to be expanded upon to be a viable solution to create a full outline vs a broad overview.

@eepmeep8550 4 года назад

Huh. My story fits the Leemings version.

@CloudKitten 4 года назад

Neat! I find it really cool how many different options and versions there are.

@teucer915 4 года назад

The eight-sequence model was pretty standard in writing feature films and Snyder knew it well, so I strongly think he's also using it a lot (although he moves some of its transitions into things that were selling better while he was working rather than making the original eight sequences equal in length). It's worth a look, but it'll feel a little old-fashioned. You can also look at Shakespeare's five-act structure for another vintage approach. And both of them also map decently well onto a hero's journey, just with different advice for pacing.