Christopher Vogler The Writers Journey
W h a t are its
rules and design principles?
Over the years I began to notice some common elements in adventure stories
and myths, certain intriguingly familiar characters, props, locations, and situations.
I became vaguely aware there was a pattern or a template of some sort guiding the
design of stories. I had some pieces of the puzzle but the overall plan eluded me.
T h e n at the U S C film school I was fortunate enough to cross paths with the
work of the mythologist Joseph Campbell. T h e encounter with Campbell was, for
me and many other people, a life-changing experience. A few days of exploring the
labyrinth of his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces produced an electrifying reorga
nization of my life and thinking. Here, fully explored, was the pattern I had been
sensing. Campbell had broken the secret code of story. H i s work was like a flare
suddenly illuminating a deeply shadowed landscape.
annaabi.ee 
