(P. 40) "The dramatic purpose of the hero is to give the audience a window into the story. Each person hearing a tale or watching a play or movie is invited, in the early stages of the story, to identify with the hero, to merge with him and see the world of the story through his eyes. Storytellers do this by giving their heroes a combination of qualities, a mix of universal and unique characteristics."
Growth
"Another story function of the hero is learning or growth. In evaluating a script sometimes it's hard to tell who is the main character, or who should be. Often the best answer is: the one who learns or grows the most in the course of the story. Heroes overcome obstacles and achieve goals, but they also gain new knowledge and wisdom. The heart of many stories is the learning that goes on between a hero and a mentor; or a hero and a lover, or even between a hero and a villain. We are all each other's teachers."
Action
"Another heroic function is acting or doing. The hero is usually the most active person in the script. His will and desire is what drives most stories forward. A frequent flaw in screenplays is that the hero is fairly active throughout the story, but at the most critical moment becomes passive and is rescued by the timely arrival of some outside force. At this moment above all, a hero should be fully active, in control of his fate. The hero should perform the decisive action of the story, the action that requires taking the most risk or responsibility."
Sacrifice
"People commonly think of heroes as strong or brave, but these qualities are secondary to sacrifice -- the true mark of a hero. Sacrifice is the hero's willingness to give up something of value, perhaps even her own life, on behalf of an ideal or a group...."
Dealing with Death
"At the heart of every story is a confrontation with death. If the hero doesn't face actual death, then there is the threat of death or symbolic death..."
Heroism in Other Archetypes
Unheroic characters can grow to be heroic; occasional heroism can overtake anyone.
Character Flaws
(P. 43) "Interesting flaws humanize a character. We can recognize bits of ourselves in a hero who is challenged to overcome inner doubts, errors in thinking, guilt or trauma from the past, or fear of the future. Weaknesses, imperfections, quirks, and vices immediately make a hero or any character more real and appealing..."
"Flaws also give a character somewhere to go -- the so-called 'character arc' in which a character develops from condition A to condition Z through a series of steps. Flaws are a starting point of imperfection or incompleteness from which a character can grow...."
Varieties of Hero [Mayo, mustard, pickles, lettuce... have it your...:-]
I will let you read the book for details, but there are willing and unwilling heroes, the antihero (an outsider, rejected by society, and yet...one of us), group oriented and loner heroes, and catalyst heroes.
That's probably more than enough from the book for today.
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Re: Writer's Journey (Part Two)
Date: 2008-02-01 05:05 am (UTC)Audience Identification
(P. 40) "The dramatic purpose of the hero is to give the audience a window into the story. Each person hearing a tale or watching a play or movie is invited, in the early stages of the story, to identify with the hero, to merge with him and see the world of the story through his eyes. Storytellers do this by giving their heroes a combination of qualities, a mix of universal and unique characteristics."
Growth
"Another story function of the hero is learning or growth. In evaluating a script sometimes it's hard to tell who is the main character, or who should be. Often the best answer is: the one who learns or grows the most in the course of the story. Heroes overcome obstacles and achieve goals, but they also gain new knowledge and wisdom. The heart of many stories is the learning that goes on between a hero and a mentor; or a hero and a lover, or even between a hero and a villain. We are all each other's teachers."
Action
"Another heroic function is acting or doing. The hero is usually the most active person in the script. His will and desire is what drives most stories forward. A frequent flaw in screenplays is that the hero is fairly active throughout the story, but at the most critical moment becomes passive and is rescued by the timely arrival of some outside force. At this moment above all, a hero should be fully active, in control of his fate. The hero should perform the decisive action of the story, the action that requires taking the most risk or responsibility."
Sacrifice
"People commonly think of heroes as strong or brave, but these qualities are secondary to sacrifice -- the true mark of a hero. Sacrifice is the hero's willingness to give up something of value, perhaps even her own life, on behalf of an ideal or a group...."
Dealing with Death
"At the heart of every story is a confrontation with death. If the hero doesn't face actual death, then there is the threat of death or symbolic death..."
Heroism in Other Archetypes
Unheroic characters can grow to be heroic; occasional heroism can overtake anyone.
Character Flaws
(P. 43) "Interesting flaws humanize a character. We can recognize bits of ourselves in a hero who is challenged to overcome inner doubts, errors in thinking, guilt or trauma from the past, or fear of the future. Weaknesses, imperfections, quirks, and vices immediately make a hero or any character more real and appealing..."
"Flaws also give a character somewhere to go -- the so-called 'character arc' in which a character develops from condition A to condition Z through a series of steps. Flaws are a starting point of imperfection or incompleteness from which a character can grow...."
Varieties of Hero [Mayo, mustard, pickles, lettuce... have it your...:-]
I will let you read the book for details, but there are willing and unwilling heroes, the antihero (an outsider, rejected by society, and yet...one of us), group oriented and loner heroes, and catalyst heroes.
That's probably more than enough from the book for today.