#Heroine's Journey

[high-quality-tiktoks]

Love spotting the heroine's journey in film & hoping to see it in barbie

[whilereadingandwalking]

The Heroine with 1,001 Faces by Maria Tatar is a powerful book of literary analysis seeking to do for heroines what Joseph Campbell famously did with "the hero's journey" (in which he dismissed female characters as having much purpose at all).

I really enjoyed most of the literary analysis in this book! I particularly loved the monomyth of woman as weaver/truth-teller/spider/spinner. Charlotte and her web, Arachne punished by Athena, Philomena exposing her assault through tapestry. Women and girls are silenced, limited in their creativity, but they use it. Women use their supposed invisibility to find ways around silencing. Telling truth, exposing story, seemed to be women's fundamental purpose in myth and folklore, broadcasting injury and harm to change the world or impose justice, even when their good work is then punished.

Increasingly over the years, the stories that women used to pass on knowledge became vilified in our culture, dismissed as 'old wives' tales' as women became gossipers, storytellers but of stories with little to no value. Yet even as this disdain for women's speech grew, women authors wrote characters who used their curiosity, nosy-ness, gossip, to succeed. And then they wrote heroines who learned to fly under the radar to investigate and expose the truth, from Nancy Drew to Marple to Katniss Everdeen.

So much of the analysis by Tatar was fascinating and brilliant. I did sometimes struggle with the writing however. In academic fashion, she brings in many examples where she'll analyze without a concluding statement or point. Sometimes I was desperate for a sentence at the end of an analysis or even a chapter that summed up a bit, connected it back to the larger thesis. I could have used a more conclusive tone, in other words, throughout a lot of the book, to keep me as a reader on track with the heroine's journey she was showing us.

Still, I loved a lot of this, and will take a ton of it with me moving forward as a reader and writer. I especially loved her point that myth is still evolving, that the women retelling old fairytales and myths right now are doing the work that was always needed, because those stories were never meant to be written, cemented fixtures, but ever-changing stories that shift to fit their times and listeners. Altogether, an interesting if sometimes difficult read.

[allgirlsareprincesses]

I'm gonna write a meta about Guildford Dudley's Heroine's Journey in My Lady Jane. Because there's nothing I love as much as a man going on a feminine journey!

[love-too-believe]

Why Namor x Shuri makes sense in terms of story structure

So if we go off context, Nashuri was already planned by the writers, as seen in interviews and the og script. Which isn't surprising because viewers picked up on their chemistry and romantic undertones in the movie already. The only reason this was changed is because they wanted to focus on the theme of grief and dealing with loss. Which has been the main theme for phase 4 in general since we're moving on to new heroes.

Also not sure if people are aware of this but the choice to kill Ramonda was more or less a last minute decision by Ryan. Angela only agreed to it after Ryan brought up how often it is for characters to come back.

So this could mean Ramonda's coming back to life or will continue to make appearances. If she does come back to life this more or less weakens the "but he killed her mom!" Argument.

Now let's talk about Shuri's story and Namor's role in it. Because at the end of the day this is Shuri's story.

Shuri's story in WF is her journey from childhood to adulthood. Tenoch has said this is his favorite thing about her story.

In the beginning she is a girl by the end she is a woman.

The particular kind of story structure Ryan used is called "The Heroine's Journey" a popular method to use in storytelling with female leads.

You'll find similar stories following this method in movies like "Star Wars, Labyrinth, The Hunger Games, The Wizard of Oz etc."

"The Heroine's Journey" is a female version of "The Hero's Journey" which is used for male leads. T'Challa actually goes through his hero's journey during "Civil War" and "BP" so im not suprised Ryan used the female version for his sister.

If you look at the structure of the heroine's journey Shuri pretty much hits all of these.

Distancing herself from her mother, venturing out of Wakanda (both in America and in Talokan) aka leaving the nest, and having her time to shine.

Both the hero and heroine's journies are a method to mature your lead in a way that makes sense and is relatable since hey, we all gotta grow up some times.

Also a subtle thing Ryan incorporated was how both Ramonda and Okoye treat Shuri like she's a child while Namor treats her like an adult, because she is.

Now something that is not always included but is common in both, is the hero or heroine's being presented with sexual incitement, at times for the first time. This signifies them coming into sexual maturity which is why you won't see it in every story or may just get subtle hits of it.

Now if it wasn't obvious Namor is ment to be Shuri's expirence with sexual enticement. Possibly her first encounter since we don't know her history.

And this isn't a "maybe" situation he literally just is. Firstly, this role usually is presented when the hero leaves the nest, not to mention Namor takes up every single trope of this role.

-Invades the hero's space (hut scene)

-whispers to them (again hut scene)

-touches or caresses them (First holding her hand then putting his mother's bracelet on her)

-shows them something new and exciting (Talokan)

-Is usually older then the hero (20s vs 500)

-Often times wears clothing that is either tight fitted or very little clothing (bro is literally walking around in nothing but jewelry and booty shorts)

Secondly, sometimes you'll straight up get subtle hints and/or introductions of sex it's self.

-In Star Wars there's a scene where Leia has to sit on Han's lap and the ship starts bouncing up and down...

-Again, in Star Wars Kylo Ren wipes his mouth which we see has water on it after meeting with Rey through the force...

-With Shuri in Namor, their fight has a weird amount of grappling and holding, not to mention the back scratching...

Namor treats and speaks to Shuri like she's a grown woman. He doesn't handle her with kid gloves like everyone else, he respects her as an adult who can make her own decisions.

In a dark sense even when it comes to either raging war after Ramonda's death or the alliance. He leaves it up to her to decide.

Also Riri, just isn't this to Shuri. This is not to say people can't ship it cause you can ship whatever you want, their all fictional. But Shuri refers to Riri as "a kid", "a child" or "a girl" depending on what translations you watch. This is to show the audience that Shuri does not view Riri as an adult. They're confirmed to have a sisterly bond. Shuri lost a sibling and gained a sibling.

But back to Namor, he also is noticeably kinder to her then he is to literally anyone else in the movie besides his people. Not to mention it's canon that he finds her charming and interesting. He also likes her smile.

It's confirmed by Ryan that he never wanted to kill her even during their fight which some fans noticed, he never tries to kill her even when he has an obvious chance.

And lastly, he sees Shuri as an equal by the end of the movie, showing he has respect for her as a protector of her nation and possibly even views her as a god now but we have to wait and see on that one.

As quoted by Ryan, Namor is ment to be a Peter Pan archetype and when you think about it he really is. He's black and white way of thinking is very childish, he's incredible stubborn, he's arrogant and cocky, yet at the same time, curious and charming. Like Peter he's a father to his people (he literally refers to them as his children) and their sole protector.

There's innocence to his character that's very compelling and shows how young he is in mind.

-he collects (maybe steals, very Killmonger of him) Mayan artifacts from the surface since he never got to see Ancient Maya.

-speaking of collecting things, he even collects random surface world stuff. He has 2 gramophones in his hut, which he most likely got from a ship back in the day.

-he's suprised and charmed by Shuri's kindness. Which makes session since she's the first surface person he's ever spent time with.

-and hey, he got his love of drawing from his mama.

Now what does all this mean for Namor and Shuri in the future? Well for one you got a good amount of back up for them no longer being enemies.

1. Shuri's heroine's journey is over now.

2. Namor was the one who forced her into womanhood.

3. We concluded the story at her finalizing her grief

4. It's canon that Namor was humbled by Shuri after their fight.

5. Wakanda and Talokan will be working with each other.

6. Namor may play a mentor like role with Shuri

7. Dispite many romance scenes being removed they still chose to keep enough hints for people to pick up on.

8. Their fight is described as "intimate" by both writers.

9. Namor and Shuri are described as "two sides of the same coin" and "twin flames" (these are the same descriptions that were used for Rey and Ben Solo in Star Wars)

Why does them having a possible relationship make sense? Well the most basic answer? They're the only two people that can understand what the other is going through.

Their both protectors of great nations that are centered around a resource unique to their land and have a culture and ancestry untouched by colonization. They both know grief of losing people they love. (Namor's mother and his two handmaids, Shuri's brother and mother) Their both EXTREMELY intelligent. (Namor build a vibranium sun underwater and I don't remember where I read it but he learned English in a week.) They both find each other interesting. They both see each other as equals. They both have alot of growing to do.

So will they have some kind of relationship? Most likely. Will it be romantic or platonic? Who knows. But we know they won't be enemies so we have to wait and see.

[tinyreviews]

Writing Tips: Heroic Story Structures

Hello! Today I’ll talk about the story structure of Hero’s and Heroine’s Journey. And how they (and all popular structures) are similar.

The Hero's Journey:

The quintessential heroic story structure is also referred to as the "Hero's Journey" or the "Monomyth," a narrative pattern identified by Joseph Campbell in his work "The Hero with a Thousand Faces." This structure outlines a series of stages that the hero typically goes through in their journey. 

Here’s my interpretation of the Hero’s Journey:

The Ordinary World: The hero's normal life before the adventure begins. This establishes who the hero is and what his goals are.

The Call to Adventure: The hero is presented with a challenge, problem, or adventure. This event disrupts the hero’s normal life and sets the story in motion.

Refusal of the Call: The hero initially refuses the call to adventure due to fear, insecurity, or other reasons.

Meeting the Mentor: The hero encounters a mentor who provides guidance, wisdom, magical gifts, or training. The mentor helps the hero prepare for the journey ahead.

Crossing the Threshold: The hero commits to the adventure and leaves his ordinary world, entering a dangerous new world.

Tests, Allies, and Enemies: The hero faces challenges, makes allies, and encounters enemies. These experiences help the hero grow and develop.

Approach to the Inmost Cave: The hero approaches a major challenge or crisis. Perhaps, a dangerous place where the object of the quest is hidden.

The Ordeal: The hero faces a life-threatening challenge that tests his abilities and resolve.

The Reward: After overcoming the ordeal, the hero receives a reward or accomplishes his goal. This reward could be an object, knowledge, or reconciliation.

The Road Back: The hero begins the journey back to his ordinary world, often facing additional challenges or a pursuit by remaining enemies.

The Resurrection: The hero faces a final test where everything is at stake, maybe involving a moment of death and rebirth. This stage represents the hero’s ultimate transformation.

Return with the Elixir: The hero returns to his ordinary world, bringing back something valuable that can benefit his community. This "elixir" can be a physical object, knowledge, or a new sense of purpose.

The Heroine's Journey:

Originally proposed by Maureen Murdock as a framework for exploring the female experience in literature. A counterpart to the Hero's Journey.

Here’s my interpretation of the Heroine’s Journey:

Separation from the Feminine:  The heroine begins in a world dominated by traditional female roles and seeks to escape from these limitations, rejecting her feminine qualities.

Identification with the Masculine: The heroine embraces traditionally masculine traits to succeed in a patriarchal society. She gathers allies who help her navigate this new world.

The Road of Trials: The heroine faces a series of challenges and obstacles. These trials help her develop abilities and resolve.

Finding the Boon of Success: The heroine achieves her goal. She gains success in the masculine world.

Awakening to Feelings of Spiritual Death: The heroine experiences a sense of emptiness. Her previous pursuit brings no fulfilment. She confronts inner fears and doubts.

Ascent to the Goddess: The heroine embarks on an inner journey, reconnecting with her feminine aspects and seeking deeper wisdom. She faces her shadow self.

Reconnect with the Feminine: The heroine feels a strong desire to reintegrate the feminine into her life, recognizing the importance of balance and wholeness. This involves healing relationships and embracing compassion

Healing the Mother/Daughter Split: The heroine heals her relationship with her mother or maternal figure, symbolizing the reconciliation of feminine aspects within herself. This can also represent healing with other significant female relationships.

Healing the Wounded Masculine: The heroine helps to heal the wounded masculine within herself and others, fostering a balanced and integrated sense of self. This often involves acknowledging the positive aspects of masculine traits.

Union of Masculine and Feminine: The heroine achieves a wholeness of both masculine and feminine qualities, finding harmony within herself. She finds a new sense of wisdom and balance.

Bonus - Return to Community: The heroine returns to her community with her new understanding. She imparts her knowledge to her community.

Drawing upon both structures, and simplifying them further, into my favorite 7 beat structure:

Old World: Establish who the hero is. The heroine is usually dissatisfied by her feminine qualities and adopts masculine qualities.

Call To Adventure: Also known as the Inciting Incident. An event propels the hero(and heroine) towards a New World. 

New Journey: They meet with mentors, allies, enemies, and obstacles. 

Midpoint: An important twist or reveal happens. For the heroine, she experiences an early victory here.

Lowest Point: They experience drastic setback. All seem lost. For the heroine, she feels empty, without her feminine self.

Highest Point: The final conflict where they overcome their greatest obstacle to achieve their goal. For the heroine, she realizes she must embrace both masculine and feminine qualities to be whole, to be her best self. She uses this to overcome her greatest obstacle.

New World: They gain new experiences, new knowledge, maybe even a physical boon. And use this to benefit their community.

So there you have it. Both Hero’s and Heroine’s story structure. I feel all stories follow the same structure, more or less. Old World, Call To Adventure, New Journey, Mid Point, Low Point, High Point, and New World. The Heroine’s story is more nuanced I guess. In that she gets both an external and internal journey. Though we can also write the Hero’s journey in the same fashion.

I am always on the lookout for structures that are wholly different than this 7 beat structure. But so far, I always manage to contort all other structures into this one. So I am still searching...

This is part of my Writing Tips series. I publish writing tips to this blog.

[writingtheother]

Webinar: The Heroine's Journey with Gail Carriger

We've all heard about the Hero's Journey, but how often do we hear about the Heroine's Journey, Western culture's other prominent story structure?

In this webinar, New York Times bestselling author @gailcarriger provides a full break down of what aspects of the heroine's journey make for compelling narratives and voracious readers, where these elements originate, why they're successful, and how to write them. She'll help you take control of story structure by delving behind the scenes for hidden messages and gain insight into under-studied narrative conventions and modern publishing markets.

After this webinar you'll have the tools to craft narrative beats, steps to write a compelling journey, and an understanding of why these are appealing based on history and mythology. You'll also gain an understanding of why genre fiction (and romance in particular) is dismissed, vilified, and disregarded, and how to combat this negative stereotyping.

You'll leave with a solid and powerful alternate model to the overused and chronically discussed Hero's Journey that is guaranteed to have you looking at and discussing plot structure in pop culture differently for the rest of your life.

When: June 15th, 2024 | 10AM – 5PM Pacific Time Can't make the live webinar? Register to get the recording after Price: $75 – $100 Scholarships Available | Deadline: May 25

Please visit our website more details on registration options, required texts (if any), technical requirements, our accessibility statement, class audience, and the scholarship application.

👉🏾👉🏾 Details and Registration 👈🏾👈🏾

[innervoiceartblog]

Vasilisa Goes Into the Woods by Forest Rogers

[fortunatefires]

I could be crazy but Fang Runin follows the heroine's journey when it comes to her culture

Separation starts even before the story began. She is a war orphan raised completely separate without any knowledge of her culture.

Then there is identification with her colonizers, recognizing that they are the only way she can escape her life.

She is kicked out of her classes for her dark skin and social class. But Jiang soon recognizes her dedication and trains her.

But instead of healing there is only rage. She breaks away from the culture that has bound her.

[castielsdeadlyparasol]

Listen, I watched The Magnificent Seven (1960) so I could see if it fit the heroine's journey (it does) and tell my dad about it. But like, that is the queerest movie I think I have ever seen. How is there only 230 fics on AO3 for it? Yul Brynner spends the entire film in light black jeans and Steve McQueen wears a gay little bandana around his neck and pops his hip every chance he gets.

[thetoxic35]

While playing Persona 5 Royal, I noticed that Makoto Niijima's character arc had quite a few steps in common with the archetypical Maiden arc, especially her Phantom Thieves alias, "Queen." Naturally, I had to write about this.

For this article, I pulled from K. M. Weiland's writings on the Maiden, Hero and Queen Archetypes and compared the Maiden Arc to Makoto's. I also read Maureen Murdock's The Heroine's Journey, specifically the section "Descent to the Goddess."

Unfortunately, my discussion on Makoto's own "descent to the goddess" will be saved for another article as I wanted to focus on Makoto's journey from Maiden, to Hero, and eventually Queen (in more than just name).

[jesterbells]

Dunno how to put it properly into words but lately I find myself thinking more about that particular innocence of fairy tales, for lack of better word. Where a traveller in the middle of a field comes across an old woman with a scythe who is very clearly Death, but he treats her as any other auntie from the village. Or meeting a strange green-skinned man by the lake and sharing your loaf of bread with him when he asks because even though he's clearly not human, your mother's last words before you left home were to be kind to everyone. Where the old man in the forest rewards you for your help with nothing but a dove feather, and when you accept even such a seemingly useless reward with gratitude, on your way home you learn that it's turned to solid gold. Where supernatural beings never harm a person directly and every action against humans is a test of character, and every supernatural punishment is the result of a person bringing on their own demise through their own actions they could have avoided had they changed their ways. Where the hero wins for no other reason than that they were a good person. I don't have the braincells to describe this better right now but I wish modern fairy tales did this more instead of trying to be fantasy action movies.

[writingtheother]

Reminder: The Heroine's Journey webinar registration ends June 9!

There are still spots available. And you can still register to get the recording after.

Date: June 15th, 10AM – 5PM Pacific Time Price: $75 – $100

👉🏾👉🏾 Get Details or Register Now 👈🏾👈🏾

@gailcarriger

[tarysande]

Mass Effect 2: The Case for the Heroine's Journey

I have a theory. And I think it's something others--especially other storytellers--might find interesting. It explains why some people absolutely adore Mass Effect 2 while others (not as many, in my experience!) think dealing with all the companions and their personal quests is boring or irrelevant.

What it boils down to is the difference between the Hero's Journey and the Heroine's Journey. There a couple of takes on the Heroine's Journey (ranging from more philosophical and psychoanalytical to more story-based), and I'm going to be pulling hard from the story-based iteration, which author Gail Carriger has written a fabulous book about. I highly recommend it.

One thing I want to mention right off the bat: the gender, sex, or sexuality of your protagonist has nothing to do with whether they're a hero or a heroine.

Everyone and their dog knows the Hero's Journey. A literal ton of writing advice refers to the Hero's Journey as if it's the be-all and end-all of narrative (thanks Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell, and Christopher Vogler); it ain't called the monomyth for nothing.

But if a part of you grits your teeth every time it gets trotted out as The One Right Way to tell a story that sells or a story people love, you may have your mind blown by the concept of the Heroine's Journey. Every single one of you who tingles with excitement at the very thought of found family (or romance, for that matter)? Yeah, strap in, we're going for a ride.

I don't want to go into a lot of detail about the Hero's Journey; it's everywhere. You know it even if you don't realize you know it. So for brevity's sake, I'll give you wikipedia's one-sentence description: a hero goes on an adventure, is victorious in a decisive crisis, and comes home changed or transformed. Luke Skywalker. Everyone always talks about Luke Skywalker. And on the surface, Mass Effect could seem like a Hero's Journey, right?

According to Gail, a Hero's Journey boils down to

A repeated pattern of withdrawal and return, and those withdrawals are voluntary, as voluntary withdrawal and increased isolation yields self-reliant strength.

Victory is in isolation and asking for help is bad.

But looking at it (especially ME2) through the lens of the Heroine's Journey is where it gets interesting.

This is the infographic Gail created and supplies on her website:

In her book, Gail notes that not every element has to be present to qualify a story as a Hero/Heroine's Journey and the events don't have to happen specifically in this order.

In the Heroine's Journey

The heroine's withdrawal is involuntary; something is broken and she must abdicate the power she had in order to rebuild, retrieve, or reunite with what was taken or broken.

Victory is a group effort; asking for help is a sign of strength; and the protagonist realizes that while she can't do everything herself, she has surrounded herself with people whose skills she can effectively deploy.

In the Heroine's Journey, the DESCENT is involuntary. Something is done to her or taken from her, and it breaks her familial network.

In ME2, obviously, uh, the thing that's taken from Shepard is her own life. Of course, instead of that being the end of the story, it's the inciting incident that leads to the involuntary withdrawal from her found family on the Normandy, her connection to the Alliance, and her Spectre status. Her home is literally destroyed. And then, kinda hilariously, she wakes up in the literal underworld. You know. Cerberus, dog that guards the gates of Hades?

I play a very Paragon Shepard and haven't played Renegade, so I can't speak to that. However, I can tell you that my Paragon Shep wakes up working for Cerberus and promptly proceeds to gain more Renegade points in the first couple of missions--hell, the first couple of conversations with Miranda, Jacob, and TIM--than she got in all of ME1.

Jacob: Do you trust me, Shepard? Shepard: NO, omg.

I've probably played ME2 five or six times with this Shepard, and she always strikes me as a bit off, a bit manic even, until she sees Tali. And she doesn't really start to settle or feel like herself until Archangel takes off his helmet, believes she is who she says she is, and without hesitation agrees to follow her into hell.

(As the protagonist in his own story, Garrus is also a heroine on a Heroine's Journey, by the by. Shepard's death breaks his network; C-Sec and the Council's denial of the Reapers leads to his abdication of power in the hunt for justice. His underworld is Omega. He puts together a surrogate family to fight injustice; he learns to delegate; he doesn't do it for glory... And then Sidonis's betrayal breaks the new family and sends him on another cycle. My theory, however, is that if you let him kill Sidonis, his journey takes on the revenge aspect of a Hero's Journey instead of the family and reunification structure of a Heroine's Journey.)

In ME2, the arc of recruiting an ally, earning their loyalty, and deploying their suggestions to improve the entire team's chances of survival is repeated over and over; this is the SEARCH of the cycle. And anyone who's ever tried to race their way through ME2 without doing all those loyalty missions or without scanning all those planets for resources finds out pretty quick why they're important.

So, while you potentially could race through ME1 without even recruiting several teammates (did you even know you can play that game without recruiting Garrus???), thereby making it much more of a Hero's Journey of the Strength of the Individual, you really can't do that in ME2 without massive casualties. You need the people around you. You need to build relationships. And you need to learn to delegate well, or things will absolutely fall apart during the end run.

Even the stated mission of ME2 is more Heroine's Journey. You're not fighting for glory; in fact, most of the people who used to be in awe of you now think you're a crazy terrorist. You're fighting to stop what's happening to human colonists.

The end run is so satisfying specifically because it leans in to the Heroine's Journey of information gathering and network building. You cannot beat the game as a solitary soldier. You cannot achieve a good outcome--minimal deaths, etc.--without having spent a lot of time and effort gaining the loyalty of your crew and then knowing how to deploy them to best serve the whole team.

ME2 is a story about finding and building a family after the last one is broken.

And though it's a whole other can of worms, I actually think the reason why the ending of ME3 was ultimately so unsatisfying for so many (again, not all) is because the majority of the game is once again a Heroine's Journey--team building and information gathering across the galaxy--but the endgame pulls the expected narrative out from under you. Instead of actually using the resources you've so carefully built, you're quite literally beamed up into complete isolation (weakness) and left to make a choice in isolation. It breaks the narrative promise that's been set up since the beginning of the game. And, whether you realize it or not, that's a huge part of why that lonely choice feels so hollow. Instead of a structured reunion and a rebuilt network, it's actually the broken family and involuntary descent that heralds the beginning of a new Heroine's Journey--not the the end of a successful one.

Also, incidentally? It's Heroine's Journeys that usually get satisfying instead of distracting-the-hero-from-his-real-mission romance, banter, fully realized side characters, and humor.

[theaddictspoetry]

Grief is weird I think of you every day, Some days I smile. some days I cry. some days I just drown, drown in the could have beens, should have beens, the unknown. the unknown- is what truly kills us. this wasn't supposed to be this way, i'll spend forever trying to find out why you're not here anymore.

@theaddictspoetry

[suzannahnatters]

Subplot Romance

Over the years I've created some twitter threads on writing and history and I've decided it's a good time to start compiling and sharing them on this Tumblr. I'm going to tag them "writing".

-

Here's what I've learned about writing subplot romance. (People who write genre romance probably already know this stuff. It's those of us who are mainly leavening romantic subplots into fantasy novels that need this info).

1. Romance = fundamentally character-driven. All internal conflict & internal growth. (Can these two trust each other? Will their character flaws drive them apart?) The more study you put into creating characters and building character arcs, the better your romantic writing.

A romance arc is not the SAME as a character arc, but it 100% NEEDS solid character work undergirding it.

2. Romance needs two ingredients: a compelling reason for the characters to be TOGETHER, & a compelling reason for them to be APART. This forms the conflict in the romance so do not skimp on either.

Eg, a common mistake in male-penned stories: female lead has no compelling reason to want male lead. "He's a good-looking warrior dedicated to winning her throne!" Yeah nah, she's literally surrounded by good-looking warriors dedicated to winning her throne, why's he different?

3. Romance needs chemistry = a believable spark of attraction. Something that blew my mind when I realised it: romantic chemistry =/= sexual chemistry. Sexual chemistry (purely physical attraction) is simply PART of romantic chemistry.

Romantic chemistry is a good deal broader. (Read/watch some good romances to see how chemistry is built by different storytellers. One fave of mine is the Romola Garai EMMA. Peerless friends-to-lovers chemistry. Watch the actors' body language; the way they gravitate to each other; the way their faces light up)

Chemistry tip A: if the driver behind sexual chemistry is lust, the driver behind romantic chemistry is trust. Protag needs/wants someone to trust. It's the way you play with trust/distrust that will create romantic tension.

eg: love interest holds protag's hand. With sexual chemistry, protag simply feels a jolt at the contact. With romantic chemistry, protag feels comforted and trustful - then betrayed when it turns out LI is tracking her pulse to see if she's lying to him (see: MISS SHARP 😇)

Chemistry tip B: if protag is falling for someone, that person should occupy their mind. LI should be mentioned/thought of each scene, even when absent. When present: LI consistently provokes unaccustomed emotion - either positive or negative, depending.

Chemistry tip C: make the characters their best/most lovable/most iconic selves when with each other. Quirkiness, smarts, hilarity. Make these the most fun character scenes in the book & the audience will ship them. Passionately.

4. Build romantic chemistry/attraction through escalating moments of trust and tension. If aiming for happily-ever-after(HEA)/for-now(HFN), then the overall arc is towards greater trust, but you need those moments of tension to give the big payoff scenes appropriate catharsis.

OTOH, if you're writing a tragic/backstabby romance, you need the trust/comfort moments in order to sell the big tragedy/betrayal.

5. Trust, comfort, & happiness are POWERFUL. This is what genre romance thrives upon. Even in dark/spiky stories, the most surprising thing in the story can be the moment when the LI DOESN'T betray the protag. That too can be wildly cathartic. Use it.

6. Just as character-driven skills help you with romance, so if you master romantic writing, you'll be better able to write ALL types of relationship - platonic, friendly, hostile.

OK that's all so far. Two book recs: ROMANCING THE BEAT by Gwen Hayes & THE HEROINE'S JOURNEY by Gail Carriger teach you the rules/expectations of genre romance so you'll know what the rules are for a happy romance subplot & how to break them for a tragic version.

[the960writers]

The Heroine's Journey

Hello writers, I want to introduce you all to The Heroine’s Journey.

I've pulled this together from an old series of posts I've written for a project at @the-wip-project. There will be homework!

Through general media consumption most of us know about or have at least unknowingly absorbed The Hero’s Journey. I spare you the details, they’re easy to look up, but in the most general sense, lots of very successful stories are set up like this:

The Ordinary World

The Call of Adventure

Refusal of the Call

Meeting the Mentor

Starting the Quest

Tests, Allies, Enemies

Approach the Underworld

The Ordeal

Reward

The Road Back

Recognition

Glory, Reward, and Isolation

If you look at that and think “Star Wars: A New Hope” you got it exactly right. A lot of successful stories are written with these steps in mind. It usually follows a hero, who has to overcome internal and external conflicts to reach their goal.

The lesser known Heroine’s Journey is the equivalent to this but with a focus on connections and relationships. Where the Hero’s Journey is about a lone hero, the Heroine’s Journey is about finding community.

The concept of the Heroine’s Journey is not new but there wasn’t a lot of easy to read literature written about it. But recently, Gail Carriger has written a delightful and educational non-fiction book for writers and readers, called, not surprisingly, The Heroine’s Journey.

The terms Hero and Heroine are gender neutral, for instance the movie Wonder Woman is a Hero’s Journey while a buddy comedy like Man In Black is a Heroine’s Journey (generalizing here).

I like to think about it in terms of found family and friends. These stories are Heroine's journeys, they tell of community building and how we are stronger together. If you think about your WIP and how it can be applied to it, it might just blow your mind. Let me just says those tropes, “found family”, “the gang gets together”, “me and my friends gonna kick your ass” that we all love? Those are all elements of The Heroine’s Journey 😘. Doesn't that sound great?

Just to compare it to the list I made at the beginning of the post, The Heroine's Journey has the following points:

A broken familial network

Heroine's pleas are ignored

Abdication of power

Family offers aid

Subversion and disguise

Find surrogate family

Visit the Underworld, search aided by companions

Information gathering, delegation, networking

Negotiation for reunification

Revenge and Glory are irrelevant

Network established or rebuilt

Let me just put in a graphic here that Gail Carriger provided on her website.

Homework: The Heroine’s Journey begins with the protagonist having broken with their familial network, their pleas being ignored, turning away / being pushed out from their position, and finding help from family/friends. Think how this beginning could apply to your WIP.

I'm pretty sure, a few of you had the kind of “omg why did I not see that?” epiphany with The Heroine’s Journey 😀. Same thing happened to me and I realized why one story just wasn’t working. It couldn’t work because I was trying to cram a Heroine story into a Hero’s Journey. If you want to hear the author Sasha Black have that kind of epiphany live on air (so to speak), listen to this [podcast], where she interviews Gail Carriger about The Heroine’s Journey. Just be warned, that epiphany involves a lot of swearing 😜.

We talked about the beginning of the Heroine’s Journey. In this first part, the Heroine is involuntarily kicked out of their familial network. This is one of the main differences to the Hero’s Journey, where the Hero refuses and turns away voluntarily. The first part of the Heroine’s Journey is about involuntary isolation.

The Hero refuses the quest, for whatever reason, the Heroine is getting kicked into the quest.

The next part is the Search.

The Heroine’s Journey follows a pattern of connections, reunification, finding family. Mentally, physically, or emotionally. A successful journey ends with new connections, new community.

The Heroine searches for new connections, new companions, to solve the problem the story gives them. Often they employ disguise/subversion and alter their identity in this part. They form a new network, a found family. With the network, they go on a quest into “the Underworld” to gather information and build more connections.

Homework: Applying the Heroine’s Journey to your WIP, what connection does your protagonist make? What kind of community do they form? And if you have a problem with your WIP, maybe try giving your protagonist more friends?

As humans, we easily think in binary concepts, things are either this way or that way. But in reality, things overlap, mix and match, and the same can be said for the Heroine’s Journey and the Hero’s Journey.

Stories can have a Hero and a Heroine working together. Think about your basic buddy comedy, the one stoic character who wants to work alone and the fun character, who has many friends and connections. That’s a Hero with a Heroine in the same story and one possible arc could be that the Hero changes into a Heroine.

In romance, you often have the bad boy, a rogue character, who wants to stay on a Hero’s Journey, but the love of the one good person in their life changes them and pulls them into their Heroine’s Journey.

Stories with multiple characters may have each character on a different journey, with different focal points on what is important for their journey.

I also think that fanfiction often has a way of turning a Hero’s Journey into a Heroine’s Journey. When the source material says “and they won the fight but now they’re all alone”, fanfic takes a stick and whacks that on the head with “but what if they had friends /whack/”, “and they all lived together in a house /whack/”, “and they raised tomatoes, kids, and chickens together /whack whack whack/”.

Homework: Think of your favorite characters (from your WIP or from an interesting source material) and identify who leans more towards Hero and who leans more towards Heroine. Sketch out how they influence each other and what direction their stories could go.

This has been a short overview of the Heroine’s Journey, if you’re interested in this structure, I very much recommend the book [https://gailcarriger.com/books/the-heroines-journey-for-authors-book/]. It’s really a fun read, Gail Carriger did not switch to some weird academic tone for this book. She has lots of popular examples in the book, to illustrate how these concepts apply to stories we know and love.