The Writer's Journey

Beginning life as a seven-page memo to Hollywood studios, The Writer's Journey was first published in 1992 as a guide for screenwriters concerned with classically organic structure and development within their work, based on the ideas of the mythologist Joseph Campbell. Unsurprisingly it was voraciously devoured, so much so that this is a second revised and expanded edition which also considers recent blockbusters such as Titanic, Pulp Fiction, The Lion King and The Full Monty in relation to its theories. The book is essentially a distillation of Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces, in which the author considers myth and storytelling as a definable framework that renders a narrative instructive and psychologically true. Vogler, applying this idea, and with frequent recourse to Carl Jung, has developed a 12-stage cycle which he believes is inherent in all good drama if manipulated to fit the writer's intent. And, for the most part, he is correct.

Using auteurs such as Hitchcock and Spielberg and classic films, notably The Wizard of Oz and the Star Wars trilogy, Vogler demonstrates how much mainstream Hollywood has absorbed the tenets of mythic structure into its thinking. As with most "this will change your life" proclamations, when his ideas are themselves distilled they come down to a fundamental few, which are nuggets of wisdom. The main body of the book is written as a step-by-step guide to the "hero's journey" in accessibly short paragraphs, each chapter concluding with a series of questions for the reader to consider about their own work. If your ambition lies beyond becoming the next George Lucas then this book may have its limits, but in making conscious the intuitive structure of storytelling Vogler has come up with a valuable text for those moments of structural panic and characterisational chaos that cause all writers' fingers to ttttremble. --David Vincent

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CLASS! - Rated
This is a great book. If you don't like it you are probably lame. Like the people who gave it a poor review above and below. Chris has done his work and is sharing a deep understanding of story writing and story telling and most importantly the function of character. The conceptual stuff will help you to recognise archetypal characters in any setting. The Movie comparisions make this accessable to lazy writers like me. If you get a footing in these concepts you have already climbed a mountain. It is written in a clear concise, precise style, that makes it gripping and informative. There is a personal element which makes it all the more accessible. I simply stumbled on this book in a shop and it was like a finding a piece of gold.

A good place to start - Rated
Having read this book, gone to the 2 day seminar with the author and read the other reviews here I thought I'd write my review. I found Joseph Campbell's the hero with a thousand faces very heavy going, this book will give you the same essence in a much more approachable way. As a starting point for understanding story structure it is great. I can also recommend the seminar as Vogler is a very good tutor, speaking without notes in an entertaining and inspirational way.

An excellent writers tool - Rated
Vogler has a long history of being a top script analyst for Hollywood studios. 'Eeek' you may say but this book really isn't like all the others that try to tell you how and what to write. Rather, The Writer's Journey delves into the strong mythical tradition, via Joseph Campbell, that most stories seem to be based and attempts to extrapolate a few common features to aid the errant script writer as they try to construct a story around the world and characters in their imaginations.

This book's strongest aspect is its twelve point plan of a good story structure which really helps you begin actively thinking about a good story framework and discusses in depth the various archetypes that have populated most stories since human's started telling them.

I strongly recommend the Writer's Journey to anyone who is trying to write a screenplay or a novel - it really is thought provoking and helpful without the usual didacticism usually found in books of this kind.

The book works well in conjunction with McKee's "Story" - Rated
Vogler crystalises a useful, central concept in his book - the character-driven energies of the story shape its structure. The book isn't simply a Hollywoodised account, but one interested in a certain type of story energy - where a story ulimately works from the writer's sense of characters' roles, as against his/her concept for the narrative style. The book presents a good abstract for writing for an audience, but does not offer a formula since it is problem/solution-driven. As such, the book is very good complement to McKee's "Story". Both work well as a touchstone for the ideas and issues a writer may lose sight of. As for the potentially disappointing/embarassing examples he offers, it must be said that their accessibility preceded their financial success. Their success validated all manner of things - high concept-writing, special fx, etc. But they perhaps also imply that their audience responded to something more than the pyrotechnics - for good or ill, the myths.

Very disappointing - Rated
'The Writer's Journey' (TWJ) came to me highly recommended.... Perhaps this was why I was so disappointed: I was expecting more than the book could ever deliver.

In essence, TWJ is a distillation of Joseph Campbell's 'Hero with 1000 Faces' combined with 'readings' of various films. However, instead of elucidating Campbell's work Vogler has merely reduced his source material to the level of formula. The result lacks substance; tries to fit the theory to the films rather than vice versa; and is often ponderous & pretentious.

Vogler is also a rather careless writer. The book is littered with unnecessary mistakes: Vogler's assertion that Daedalus helped create the Minotaur (p.50) when actually he only built the labyrinth that housed the beast; or James Bond's deactivation of the bomb in 'Goldfinger' (p.205) -it is actually disarmed by Felix Leiter... these are just a couple of examples in a book endemic with inaccuracy.

On the positive side, Vogler's model for reading 'hero texts' can throw up some surprises: trying watching 'Saving Private Ryan' in the light of TWJ and you will realise that the true hero of the movie is not Private Ryan, nor Cpt. Miller (the Tom Hanks character) but actually Private Opheim - the translator.

Overall though I must once again state my disappointment with TWJ(inspite of wanting to like it). Apparently it started life as a 7 page memo to Hollywood studios. Perhaps it should have stayed just that: a 7 page memo! If you are really looking for a book that deals the principles of myth and the hero, may I strongly suggest Vogler's inspiration: 'The Hero with a 1000 Faces'. It is a much more rich and rewarding text and one that does not disappoint.