: 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

Can you have the Ordinary World in flashbacks? Absolutely. It can be a place or a state of being which used to exist and now doesn't, and the goal of the journey can be to restore it. We do need to get enough feel for the Ordinary World to know why the Hero wants it restored, so that we feel that along with the Hero, but if it doesn't currently exist, that's fine. This is, of course, presuming that the Hero wants to get back to the Ordinary World.

Can the Hero stay put and the world change? Also absolutely. In David and Leigh Eddings's Belgariad and Malloreon series, several characters start as "simple farm boys," but their actions change the world (and in some cases the universe) around them. The Ordinary World of their innocent childhoods has been changed, or for one character obliterated. They miss the innocence of childhood, but they don't actually want to restore that life, because there were Bad Things happening at the time as well which they had to conquer. Lyra goes on a similar journey in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials.

A Hero's Journey without an Ordinary World to return to is, as Chris Sunami points out, more of an episodic cycle, like Star Trek or a police procedural. Each single episode may (or may not) return to the status quo; on Trek this is known as Hitting the Reset Button. If your story is too episodic, then the characters don't grow or learn anything. That's more of a comic strip (like Foxtrot, where nobody ages).

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: This tag should be used for questions about writing intended for readers between 12 and 18 years old. (Often abbreviated YA.) For readers ages 8-12 use [middle-grade]. For readers under 8 use

: 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

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: Can I use already used fictional language? When creating a world where there are either aliens or fantasy races, you know that they should speak their own language. But the truth is, that for

: Report writing: should I use Â® Â© symbols? I am busy writing a report for university. For this, I did some programming in MATLAB and simulations in Aspen Plus and HYSYS. When referring to

: When does satire (parody) become plagiarism? Stephen Fry wrote a novel called The Starsâ€™ Tennis Balls, and claimed that only afterwards did he realize heâ€™d rewritten The Count of Monte Cristo.

: This tag should be used for questions about writing intended for readers between 12 and 18 years old. (Often abbreviated YA.) For readers ages 8-12 use [middle-grade]. For readers under 8 use

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