Story Circles, Part IV: Gail Carriger's Heroine's Journey

Previously on my Story Circles series, I introduced Maureen Murdock and her theory that character fulfillment isn't just about bringing home the prize, but wholeness. 

Gail Carriger has a similar arc to her interpretation of the heroine's journey, and while I haven't taken one of her courses or read her book (yet!) I know writers who have, and they both come highly recommended. So if you're looking for a deeper dive into this kind of storytelling, the resources are available.

copyright Gail Carriger

So, like many journeys, Carriger's circle begins with The Descent. 

In Act I, we have a main character with a broken familial network. Her pleas are ignored, she gives up power, and withdraws from her community. Her family tries to help but to no avail. She doesn't have a choice in this. She is broken in some way and is desperate to reconnect (with something).

At this point, she steps into Isolation and Danger within The Search. 

In Act II, the heroine is now at risk. She is operating in disguise or pretending to be someone or something she isn't. She gathers a surrogate family around her and takes a visit to the "underworld," which looks more like a deep low point or depression.

One of the key differences between the hero's journey and the heroine's journey is that the heroine is building her network (rather than losing it) and is more likely to compromise to get where she needs to be, while the hero is isolating himself in order to succeed on his own. 

When the heroine asks for help, she's going to get it, and she's going to get it from a group of sidekicks who will remain faithful to her.

The compromise begins The Ascent, and in Act III she's built a new network, found a new family, and/or reconnected with her old family. She has reached her goal and is whole/complete. As an aside, her success in reaching her goal is typically beneficial to others in some way (i.e. she is not the only one who walks away a winner in this journey). 

So again we have this wholeness or completeness at play. This certainly pushes past the hero's journey, which ends after the successful completion of the quest.

Interestingly enough, many YA novels are heroine's journeys, and, if you write romance (which is ultimately about connection), your characters are definitely on a heroine's journey arc.

Like I mentioned previously, don't think you're limited in your gender construction with these arcs. A heroine in a story can go on a hero's journey and vice versa. 

So if something is going wrong in your YA or romance novel (or whatever story you're writing that's not on a hero's journey spectrum), try breaking the plot down to its skeleton and plugging in the key points onto this circle to see if you missed a step or pulled a character in a direction they aren't logically meant to go.

(Because these arcs are so psychologically ingrained that readers *will* pick up on deviations, whether they're aware of it or not.)

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

Story Circles, Part III: Maureen Murdock

Last week, I introduced the idea of the Heroine's Journey on the blog, so this week I want to talk about the first encapsulation of this type of journey, which is more about going deep inside, healing and reclaiming one's spirit, rather than heading out into the world and seeking that "magic elixir" (or whatever goal the hero is pursuing).

This first iteration hails from research performed by Maureen Murdock and was rooted more in the psychology of women and an understanding of their healing journeys rather than as a structure for storytelling (though this would come later).

Here is the journey circle she established:

Image Source: maureenmurdock.com

Shift from Feminine to Masculine

The journey begins with a separation from the feminine, most likely a mother figure or some kind of mentor, but mostly from the rules that one is governed by (which is why this circle works so well with minority populations).

Identification with the Masculine

In separating from the feminine, a new way of life appears--one outside traditional societal roles, as this structure now feels too limiting for our heroine.

Road of Trials

The heroine faces antagonists who will try to persuade her to return to what is comfortable, to turn her from this new path.

Illusory Boon of Success

The heroine overcomes the trials presented, but the new way of life isn't fulfilling, either. 

The Descent/The Meeting with the Goddess

Her new path is a problem, and the heroine falls into despair. This becomes a crisis moment. The dominant group strategies that she has adopted (i.e. the masculine) won't fully work for her.

Yearning for the Reconnect

As hard as she tries, she can't return to the feminine, either. No path seems to work, anymore.

Reconciliation with the Masculine

The heroine makes peace with both the feminine and masculine traits, pulling knowledge and skills from both sides in order to form a new perspective and way of life.

The Union 

Both perspectives are fully integrated, and the heroine can now face her world.

~:|:~

What's so nice about this type of growth arc is that there are no binaries. It's not about male or female, success or failure, good or bad--it's about wholeness.  

Hero's Journeys often end with the "Boon of Success," but we know (and so did Murdock) that life goes on, and Heroine's journeys tend to focus on growth after the success, or "the rest of the story."

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

The Heroine's Journey vs. The Hero's Journey

I'll admit, I hadn't heard of the Heroine's Journey until last year--shame on me, I know.

But until I saw a mention of this from another author, I had no idea there was a counter-journey to Campbell's Hero's Journey, and that there are several of them, in fact.

I also think they're worth mentioning here because as stories continue to evolve, we're going see more of a shift to these types of structures. My eyes have certainly opened to how dynamic story arcs can be, even if we are writing to a "circle" journey or formula. 

Campbell's journey was referenced in a previous post, but I think it's important to mention here that a hero's journey is not just limited to a male protagonist, and that the heroine's journey is not limited to the female. A male protagonist can follow the arc of a heroine's journey and vice versa.

There are several different types of heroine's journeys, and I'll address some of these in more detail in future posts, but since we've already outlined our hero's journey, it might be helpful to use this post as a springboard into the topic and discuss which aspects of our journeys overlap.

In both journeys, for instance, we begin in an ordinary world, a world our protagonist will be forced to leave. They will reject part of themselves in order to try to stay in this world and fit in with their surroundings. They will discover a new talent, skill, or gain some sort of knowledge. They will gather their allies and encounter enemies along the way. They will be tested to some degree. They will experience doubt in that they aren't sure they're cut out to complete their task, but despite this they will emerge victorious, returning to their world as transformed, self-actualized beings. 

So the skeleton of the journeys are very similar, but we're going to find, I think, that the heroine's journeys focus more on self-worth and identity, while the hero's journey is geared more toward finding that treasure and bringing it home. The motivation is more external. They are both changed by the end, of course, but the heroine's journey is really more about the journey itself, whereas the hero's journey is centered around the end goal. The hero wins the prize. The heroine becomes whole.

And, again, both journeys apply to protagonists of either gender.

Photo by Leah Kelley from Pexels

At any rate, I'm looking forward to diving into these heroine's journeys because I think we're going to see more elements of this kind of storytelling in the future. 

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~