Writing Prompt: Send Your Characters Back to School

Writing Prompt: Send Your Characters Back to School

It’s back to school season, and students everywhere are returning to classrooms after weeks away. But the return to school each autumn isn’t just a rite of passage. It’s a major change.

The best stories, inspired by strong prompts, center around change. That’s why you should use the return to school as the Inciting Incident for your new story.

Situational Archetypes: 8 Essential Hero’s Journey Scenes Your Readers Want

Situational Archetypes: 8 Essential Hero’s Journey Scenes Your Readers Want

What do you get when you string a bunch of scenes together?

A story!

Since stories are composed of individual scenes, it makes sense to study them and figure out which scenes your story will need. And if you’re going to write a Hero’s Journey (in any genre), there are some scenes, or situational archetypes, that your reader will instinctively expect your story to include.

Let’s explore five essential scenes to write in your next Hero’s Journey story!

8 Hero’s Journey Archetypes Universally Used for a Protagonist

8 Hero’s Journey Archetypes Universally Used for a Protagonist

There are heroes everywhere. A great Hero’s Journey can take place in any genre. But did you know there are eight hero’s journey archetypes that work especially well for a universal protagonist? 

Your reader will unconsciously expect your story to have certain characters. If you want your next heroic story to be a success, you’d be wise to plan the entire journey around these key characters. Or at the very least, with them.

Without these hero’s journey archetypes, you might have a story that fails to “work,” and this will leave the reader dissatisfied and confused.

To avoid this, let’s go over who these character archetypes are, and why they will push your hero on their journey.