Benjamins Yarn

[From our deconstruction of hundreds of Hollywood blockbusters and sitcoms at www.clickok.co.uk….; 188 stages of the Hero’s Journey you need to know about…]

The Hero’s Journey is the template upon which the vast majority of successful stories and Hollywood blockbusters are based upon. In fact, ALL of the Hollywood movies we have deconstructed are based on this template.

Understanding this template is a priority for story or screenwriters.

The Hero’s Journey:

a) Attempts to tap into unconscious expectations the audience has regarding what a story is and how it should be told.

b) Gives the writer more structural elements than simply three or four acts, plot points, mid point and so on.

c) Interpreted metaphorically, laterally and symbolically, allows an infinite number of varied stories to be created.

and more…

The Hero’s Journey: Failure to Launch (2006) basic deconstruction

FADE IN: Meeting the Hero: Tripp on a date.

Inciting Incident: still living at home.

Meeting Mother and Father Mentor: Mom and Pop in bed.

Ordinary World: Tripp getting dressed; Mom makes the house, cooks breakfast.

Meeting Shape Shifter and Ally: Ace and Demo in yoga class.

Call to Adventure: you’re afraid of love.

Refusal: it’s gonna take a stick of dynamite to get me out of my parents house.

Pushed to the Journey: the neighbours son has moved out; Tripp hasn’t met the right girl.

Introducing the Romantic Challenge: Paula walks into the cafe and lays on the recliner.

Meeting the Romantic Challenge: Tripp goes over to talk to Paula.

Conscious Decision to the First Threshold: I’ll meet you here on Monday.

Romantic Challenge’s Ordinary World: Paula walks into her apartment.

Romantic Challenge’s Ally: Kit

Romantic Challenge’s Ally’s Challenge: that bird!

Time Pressure: Paula meets Mom and Pop; she’ll get him out by 15 th Sept.

Rules: Paula tells how she’ll do it.

Developing Characters and Relationships: Tripp with Ace, Demo and Geoffrey in his room.

Pushed to the First Threshold: Mom won’t do the housework anymore.

Outer Cave: lunch on the boat (almost).

Elixir: I’d like to own a boat like this but it’s not the right time in my life.

Trial: Paula pretends she’s a buyer.

Middle Cave / Meeting Allies: mountain biking with the boys.

Challenge Reminder: bitten by the squirrel; imbalance with nature.

Inner Cave: Tripp arrives at Paula’s apartment.

Ally’s Challenge: Kit and the bird problem.

Belly of the Whale: dinner; flicking the food.

World of Trials and Transformation:

Paula plays hard to get/ Kit’s bird problem.

1:

Outer Cave: Hero in his Professional World: Tripp trying to sell a yacht.

Middle Cave: Paula persuades Tripp to come to the Vet.

Inner Cave: Paula and the Vet discuss the deception.

2: the paint balling sequence:

Outer Cave: Ace sees Kit.

Middle Cave: Ace tries to talk to Kit.

Inner Cave: Paula wins at Paintball.

Transformation: Paula gets the nod.

3:

Outer Cave: Paula lets Tripp teach her to sail.

Middle Cave: Push to the Elixir: Paula tells Tripp he should buy that boat.

Inner Cave: Kit smells fun; Paula had fun.

Resistance / Return to the Ordinary World: Tripp decides to dump Paula on the surfboard.

Resisting the Return to the Ordinary World: the Dolphin bites Tripp; imbalance with nature.

Return:

Outer Cave: Tripp introduces Paula to his parents.

Middle Cave: Mom tells her he’s breaking up with her.

Inner Cave: Paula refuses to be dumped; Paula stays the night.

Transformation: Mom catches Paula sneaking out.

Kit’s Challenge: she wants the shotgun.

Developing Characters and Relationships: Paula thinks she’s still in control / Tripp tried to break up with her (talking in the bike shop).

Meeting with the Oracle: Paula with another client; Ace spots her; he wants something.

Resisting the Sword: Kit wants the minimum wage slacker.

Journey to the Sword: the date at the Oceanarium; the begin to get on.

Guardians of the Sword: Kit and Ace shoot the bird; they CPR the bird.

Seizing the Sword: they kiss and fall; assumed sex.

Shape Shifter revealed: Demo wants to talk to Paula about the dating my best friend for money thing.

Near Death Experience: Paula has to break up with Tripp because Geoffrey’s mother was going to marry Tripp; an ethical problem.

Atonement: Demo tells Tripp that Paula was hired by Mom and Pop to get him out of the house.

Apotheosis: Tripp cooks and confronts everyone at dinner.

Ultimate Boon: Tripp decides to move out.

Refusal: get the fuck out of the car.

Disgust with the Self: Tripp alone; Tripp talking to Geoffrey.

Pushed to the return: Paula returns the money; Mom realizes Paula’s in love with Tripp.

Resisting the Return: Tripp won’t get in the car.

Pushed to the Return: you should see Paula.

Challenge Reminder : Imbalance: mountain climbing; getting bitten; falling.

Magic Flight: Paula is moving to Colorado.

Kits Challenge Resolved: she’s persuaded someone to sleep with her more than once.

Forced to Face the Challenge: Nature rejects Tripp.

Allies Challenges Resolved: Demo is a traveler and Ace has bought his own home.

Pop’s Challenge resolved: Pop in the naked room.

Mom’s Challenge Resolved: Mom tells Tripp what she’s afraid of.

Rescue from Without: Mom calls a meeting.

Deception / Forced to Return: Kit tells Paula what she thinks of her; lets get the sweater.

Crossing the Return Threshold: Kit takes Paula to meet Tripp.

Catharsis 1: Demo gets the girl in the coffee shop.

Catharsis 2: Paula tells Tripp she was going to break up with him.

Catharsis 3: Ace puts it all on the big screen.

Developing Characters and Relationships: the people watching.

Master of Two Worlds: Tripp and Paula make up; everyone kisses.

Freedom to Live: Mom and Pop alone in the house.

Freedom to Live: Tripp and Paula on the yacht.

Hero’s Challenge Resolved: the dolphin doesn’t bite.

Learn more…

The Complete 188 stage Hero’s Journey and other story structure templates can be found at http://www.clickok.co.uk/

You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.

Kal Bishop, MBA

**********************************

You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made, the author’s name is retained and the link to our site URL remains active.

Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. His specialities include Knowledge Management and Creativity and Innovation Management. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached at http://www.clickok.co.uk.

There is no doubt that Spam has affected online business in a very big and negative way. So serious is the Spam problem today that many ISP filters will routinely reject and filter out messages you need from clients and business associates. Many times even email sites are trying to control ever rising Spam volumes. Many times this makes even genuine communication via email very difficult. Just try sending mail from Yahoo to AOL and you will get an idea of what I am trying to say here. Even sending out email newsletters or ezines, which are a very important online marketing tool, can be quite a challenge these days. Not to mention safe lists that are mostly a nightmare of bounced or unread emails. Out of the volumes sent, only a tiny fraction ever gets opened, let alone read. The result is that online marketing experts have been forced to look for other options and tools to help them meet their online business objectives.

Articles are proving to be of increasing importance in many Internet marketing campaigns. Well-written articles have a lot going for them. For starters when folks go to a search engine and type out a keyword, what they are really looking for are detailed and informative free articles that will give them the information that they are looking for. This means that articles have a very good chance of being read by a large number of people. And what’s more folks who read articles are very targeted traffic. There is no way somebody with no interest in Golf will read a Golf exercise article. This means that properly used well-written targeted articles can be a very potent and effective marketing tool in the Spam world that we are in today. No Spam filters can stop them and unlike safe lists, articles get read a lot.

By posting you article at article directories and high traffic free article sites, the chances are very high that they will not only get read by a large number of people, but will also be passed on via email or by getting re-posted at other sites all over the net. This will create a continuous and growing number of links pointing back at your site since your key contact information will usually be in the article resource box.

Lois S. is a Technical Executive Writer for http://www.websitesource.com and http://www.lowpricedomains.com with experience in the website hosting industry.

1. Don’t set yourself a writing routine or stick to it.

2. Always make sure that doing your writing is at the bottom of your list of priorities, and even when you are writing, if something else you have to do that day springs to mind, then go and do that instead.

3. If one of your friends comes round to invite you out for coffee, just go, no matter how busy you are with your writing.

4. Whenever you’re writing, answer the phone every time it rings and answer the door every time someone knocks.

5. Always feel guilty for doing your writing instead of doing what other people want you to do.

6. Don’t read any articles about writing, especially if it’s written by an expert.

7. If anyone ever tells you of a simple and profitable way to make money from your writing, don’t believe them and never try it.

8. Never take a writing course to hone your skills.

9. Don’t visit any writing sites on the internet, and never subscribe to their newsletters.

10. Don’t join any writer’s forums or participate in any online discussions.

11. Don’t get your own website to showcase your writing ability and writing services to the whole world.

12. Do everything you possibly can not to get your name known in the writing world.

13. Keep your work secret. Always put your writing away in a draw when you’ve finished and never show it to anyone - especially editors and publishers.

14. Don’t enter writing competitions.

15. Don’t submit articles to paying websites.

16. Never even think about writing a book.

17. Especially don’t consider writing a profitable e-book.

18. They say you should write at least 5 article proposals or short stories every week. If you do write them, don’t mail them.

19. If a magazine or publisher offers specific guidelines for submissions, don’t follow them.

20. If an editor likes your work and publishes it, never offer to write for them again.

21. If you send in a query to an editor and don’t hear anything for a couple of weeks, start ringing them and don’t stop until they make a decision about whether or not to publish your work.

22. If one publication rejects your work, assume that it’s worthless and unsuitable for every other publication and don’t send it anywhere else.

23. Whenever you receive a rejection letter, take it personally and throw your work in the bin.

24. Never ever consider the possibility that, if your work’s written from a different angle, it could be suitable for another market and sold again.

25. And if all that doesn’t make you fail, you can always just give up writing.

Ruth Barringham is a freelance writer and editor of www.writeaholic.co.uk, the website for serious writers who want to get published and get paid not just every month or every week, but every day. Subscibe to Writeaholic News, the free monthly newsletter from Writeaholic.co.uk and receive the free ebook, ‘Become A Freelance Writing Success’.

One of my college speech teachers was a dynamic fellow who, though advanced in
years, emitted the energy of a power plant.

Years before, he was tapped by Dale Carnegie, not the course or the franchise, but
the actual man, to be one of his original instructors. I could see the wisdom in Mr.
Carnegie’s selection.

Anyway, my professor was a colorful guy, a former Navy Captain, and a great role
model. He was the only one of my professors who tooled around campus in a
Mediterranean blue Cadillac convertible, and with his shock of white hair matching
the car’s interior, he cut quite a figure.

One of his best suggestions was to collect quotations from sources far and wide,
because a great quote can set the perfect tone for a speech.

I think he’d really like this one, from the great General George S. Patton:

“I don’t fear failure. I only fear the slowing up of the engine inside of me which is
pounding, saying ‘Keep going, someone must be on top, why not you?’”

Most of us, because of false modesty or simply low aim or lack of ambition, get
this backwards. Our quote would read: “Someone must be toward the bottom.”

It’s sad, really.

There are winners, top dogs if your will, in every walk of life. Patton had to share
glory with Generals Bradley, Eisenhower, Marshall, and even that famous Brit,
Montgomery.

He didn’t like it one bit, chafing at the idea that he had to answer to, or be second
banana to anyone.

Simply, to feel he was in the saddle, to feel things were right in the world, he had to
be the standout, the leader.

Perhaps if we DON’T feel this ourselves, we’re a little out of step, at least with
greatness.

Someone must be on top, right?

Why not you?

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote
speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of
12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone