What is a Monomyth?
A monomyth is the just the mythic structure of stories. I believe that life mirrors stories, or we wouldn't be so deeply drawn to them.
Think of a monomyth as an ancient story structure, or a series of ‘story beats’ like plotting out a novel or setting up life goals. For those who know it, the writing help book series Save the Cat is a modernized version of a monomyth.
The scholar who popularized the monomyth concept was anthropologist Joseph Campbell. He studied numerous ancient legends and folklore, noted the structure and is most famous for it today. There were others who recognized it, but Joseph Campbell's book “The Hero with A Thousand Faces," is most well known.
Not every myth or story will fit in this structure, and some have criticised it for being male dominated. However, the concept of female adventurers such as Xena and Gabrelle in Xena: Warrior Princess - wasn't on Joseph Campbell's mental template because he based his works off Western Civilization. That meant that he was looking at male dominated cultures of Greece, Rome and Mesopotamia. There are plenty of female centric myths and even within the male dominated myths there are strong female characters, so don't allow the criticisms to prevent you from using the monomyth as a writing or self discovery device.
How are we going to use it?
I will walk you through each step and attempt to place the steps in the context of trauma, healing and storytelling.
If you want a preview here’s two sources:
Monomyth: 17 Stages of the Hero's Journey
Perpetual Disclaimer for this series:
I am not a counselor or a mental health professional. I am going to attempt to avoid things which will cause alarm or harm, but I can't know what will trigger each individual. If you need to speak to a mental health professional please know that there are resources available.
Your stories are amazing!
Chronic Writer