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Writing and Speaking > Writing > Heros Journey, Screenwriting, Story Structure – Good Ideas for Stories
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Article rating : 0.00, 0 votes. Author : Kal Bishop
The starting point for any story is the apotheosis – the seminal insight, enlightenment or illumination that the hero has.
Once you have that, then you know what the obstacle to the illumination is (atonement with the father).
With the above two in hand, you can work backwards and forwards along the path of the Hero’s Journey.
e.g.
In The Shawshank Redemption, Andy Dufresne's apotheosis is that you either get busy living or you get busy dying. He reaches that insight in the scene by the prison wall with Red (Morgan Freeman). His illumination is that he will never get out of prison (Warden Norton will never let him go).
With this information, you have the hero and a number of resistances that prevent him attaining his illumination, which he has to conquer – you have the basis of a story.
e.g.
In Al Pacino Scarface, Tony Montana's insight is that the rewards of the path he's chosen are not worth the spiritual price he is paying, expressed with the words (in the restaurant scene): "is this it? Is that what it's all about Manny? Eating, drinking, fucking, sucking," "no free rides in this world
kid," "I lost my appetite," "is that what I worked for? With these hands? Is that what I killed for? For this?"
Again, with this information, you already know what the illumination (apotheosis) is. All you have to do is figure out what the temptation was and you have the basis of a story.
The Complete 188 stage Hero’s Journey and FREE 17 stage sample and other story structure templates can be found at http://www.managing-creativity.com/
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Kal Bishop, MBA
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You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made and the author's name and site URL are retained.
Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. His specialities include Knowledge Management and Creativity and Innovation Management. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached at http://www.managing-creativity.com
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