All Your Favorite Stories are the Same!

In our last class, we discussed the mythic cycles in storytelling, and how they relate to different seasons, emotions, colors, and genres. It really got me thinking about how a lot of good stories follow this. Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, O Brother Where Art Thou, every episode of Star Trek and many others follow these cycles and what's called the hero's journey. Pretty much any story you read will follow the arc of the hero's journey. The hero's journey is made up of twelve basic parts, which is best summarized in this picture and video.

It's incredible to me how we can have such a variety of stories in books, movies, and tv shows, but still have the same basic plot for each. Even in my own stories that I write, I see this same cycle portrayed unintentionally. So why do we follow it? Why don't we write stories in a different way? Well, it's kind of hard not to. Sure, we could have a story about a guy who sits in his house all day doing nothing, but who would watch that? We've been telling stories this way for thousands of years, because people can connect with them. Even the story of Jesus follows the hero's journey and the mythic cycle. He's born (spring), He grows and teaches (summer), He challenges the way people think and is betrayed (fall), He's crucified and buried (winter), and finally, He rises from the dead, triumphant (spring).

So here's my challenge to you. Write a story that follows this pattern, and see how you like it. OR write a story that does not follow it.

Thanks for reading! God Bless!