THE HERO’S JOURNEY
BLOGGING
Hello, dear readers. Remember me? I used to blog fairly regularly. Many of you actually read those posts—and for that, I am deeply grateful. But these days, quiet time in front of the keyboard is a rare and evasive creature, and when I sight it, I block out all other thoughts and (attempt to) WRITE BOOKS. Which leaves little time for blogging. However….
PODCASTING
As you may know, I’ve lived other lives before becoming an author. One as an actor, the other as a musician. Which means I have performance skills and a garage full of equipment and broken dreams. Just kidding. Sort of.
Anyhoo, ever since that first iPod with the clicky wheel came out, I’ve been excited by the concept of podcasting. I was a radio DJ in college, and I love being on mic and interacting with other hosts and listeners. It was almost like being Christian Slater in Pump Up the Volume (one of my favorite movies of all time.)
So, last year, I nagged my good friend, book blogger Dan Zarzana (check him out at bookthump.com) until he relented and agreed to co-host our podcast, The Hero’s Journey.
THE HERO’S JOURNEY
The Hero’s Journey is a set of motifs and archetypes that recur in stories across cultures and throughout history, from Sumerian mythology to the Matrix. The idea was pioneered by Joseph Campbell, the renowned American mythologist and writer probably best known for his 1949 opus The Hero with a Thousand Faces.
Campbell traveled to every continent on Earth, investigating the mythologies of big civilizations and small cultures alike. He also studied psychology (Jung and Freud) and theology. He discovered a set of story and character functions that exist across all cultures. A collection of ideas and elements that seems to be universal. He congealed this knowledge into a cycle that we call the Hero’s Journey.
In the 1990s, Disney Story Department veteran Christopher Vogler adapted Campbell’s idea into a short memo, which he later expanded into a bestselling book, The Writer’s Journey.
OUR PODCAST
Each month on our podcast, Dan and I examine a different popular book or film through the lens of The Hero’s Journey. We’ve got five stars on iTunes, and people seem to enjoy our irreverent approach to story analysis. Also during each episode, we sample a new beverage (and review it for your entertainment), discuss what we’re watching on TV and in the theater, and, lately, we play a round of what we like to call DEAL OR ORDEAL.
If you’re a fan of my writing or stories in general, please take a moment to check out The Hero’s Journey on iTunes or Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for reading.
Journey on,
Jeff
