: Re: Can I write a Hero's Journey without them leaving an Ordinary World? (Monomyth template) I was recently taught about the Hero-Journey template Instead of the Hero leaving the Ordinary World, can

@Sarah872

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The Hero's Journey is really just a catalog of elements that are commonly found in epic myths and popular folktales from around the world. According to the theory, they have profound psychological resonance, but even the original source stories don't include all the elements in every story, or consistently present them in the same order.

With that said, the establishment of the "Ordinary World" is one of the core "Hero's Journey" elements, and it's arguably just good storytelling. However, it absolutely doesn't have to be literal. All it means, in practice, is whatever your character has come to accept as day-to-day normality for his or her own life --leaving it does not need to be a physical journey. It also doesn't need to resemble what the reader views as ordinary (although if it does, it may help build identification with the character).

If you omit it entirely, and just throw the reader into the middle of the action, your story is likely to feel more episodic --it will be more difficult to bring it back around to a place that feels like an appropriate final stopping point.

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