Character and Structure by Chris Andrews

One Way to Approach The Hero’s Journey in Fiction

The book rather pompously states in the very front that it is not a writing book but rather a masterclass in “combining character with structure to create emotional impact.” Let me be clear; it is a fiction writing book. In the early part, it feels like the author is having a hard time coming to a point, or at least distilling his ideas. When he moves from the theory to more practical matters, that’s when the book gets interesting. The book looks at what the author calls the “unholy alliance” of story and structure, story being about what happens to your characters and structure being how that unfolds—all with the end goal of creating better emotional engagement for the reader with the characters in the story. The author draws heavily from the hero’s journey and also seems to take some Concepts from the Story Grid. Each of the practical chapters ends with application questions that you can ask about your own story to see how you are doing about the particular topic just addressed. The practical chapters are also filled with examples from popular movies, some of which are based on books. If you are a fiction writer, you might find this book as a way to engage with the hero’s journey—and ultimately as a way to creating better structure and emotional resonance.