The Hero’s Journey: A Guide for Fiction and Nonfiction Writers
The Hero’s Journey is one of the most enduring story structures of all time—and for good reason. It mirrors how we experience transformation in real life.
Whether you're writing a novel, a memoir, or a nonfiction book, the Hero’s Journey offers a powerful lens to understand what your story is about beneath the surface—and who it’s for.
In fiction, it can help you shape your protagonist’s internal and external arc.
In memoir, it can help you identify and refine your own transformation.
In nonfiction, it can guide how you structure your book for the reader—because they are the hero.
Let’s break it down and explore how to apply it in your work.
What Is the Hero’s Journey?
Coined by Joseph Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces, the Hero’s Journey is a narrative arc made up of several key stages that mark a character’s transformation. You’ll find it in everything from ancient myths to Star Wars, from The Odyssey to your favorite modern memoir.
The journey typically follows this path:
The Ordinary World
The Call to Adventure
Refusal of the Call
Meeting the Mentor
Crossing the Threshold
Tests, Allies, and Enemies
The Ordeal (Rock Bottom / Major Challenge)
The Reward (Insight / Gift / Transformation)
The Road Back
Resurrection (Integration of Change)
Return with the Elixir (Sharing the Gift)
This doesn’t mean your story has to hit every single beat perfectly—but it’s a helpful scaffold. And most importantly, it’s adaptable.
For Fiction Writers: Your Character’s Emotional Arc
The Hero’s Journey gives you a map for your main character’s development—not just what they do, but how they change.
Start by asking:
What is my character’s “ordinary world”?
What internal or external event calls them to something new?
What fears, beliefs, or circumstances make them resist that call?
Who or what helps them move forward?
What’s their “ordeal”—the thing that changes them forever?
What do they learn or receive—and how do they return to the world changed?
Even if your story doesn’t involve dragons or space travel, your character is going through a change that’s just as important. Maybe they’re falling in love for the first time. Maybe they’re leaving home. Maybe they’re finally choosing themselves.
The Hero’s Journey invites you to build tension and transformation—not just plot points.
For Memoir Writers: You Are the Hero
If you’re writing a memoir, you are the character at the center of the journey. But that doesn’t mean your entire life story belongs on the page.
Use the Hero’s Journey to anchor your narrative:
What was your “ordinary world” before the central experience of your memoir?
What event or realization called you toward change?
Where did you resist—and why?
Who helped you along the way (mentors, friends, therapists, books, or even your younger self)?
What was your lowest moment?
What truth did you uncover or gift did you earn from that experience?
How have you returned to the world—and how are you now able to offer something to others?
A memoir doesn’t have to solve everything or tie everything up neatly. But readers are looking for some shape to the story. They want to feel like they’re walking through something with you.
The Hero’s Journey gives you that path.
For Nonfiction Writers: Your Reader Is the Hero
If you’re writing nonfiction—whether it’s a self-help book, guide, or framework—the hero isn’t you. It’s your reader.
That shift is everything.
Your role? You’re the mentor. You’re helping the reader navigate their own threshold moment. They’ve picked up your book because they’re facing a challenge, seeking change, or asking a question.
Think of your book like a journey:
Ordinary World: What’s your reader’s current situation?
Call to Adventure: What are they yearning for—or what’s breaking down?
Refusal: What fears or limiting beliefs are holding them back?
Mentorship (You!): What tools, perspectives, or stories can you offer?
The Ordeal: Where will they meet resistance on their path? How can you prepare them for it?
The Reward: What’s possible for them if they stay the course?
Return: How does this insight carry over into their real life?
By using this structure, you can guide your reader through a process of real transformation—one that lasts beyond the final page.
Why the Hero’s Journey Works
As readers, we want stories of growth, challenge, and revelation. We want to see ourselves reflected in characters—fictional or real—who go through change and come out stronger, clearer, or more whole.
Using the Hero’s Journey helps you create momentum and meaning in your story. It helps you focus your narrative—whether it’s imaginative or entirely lived—and clarify what your book is really about.
Bringing It Into Your Writing Practice
Try this in your drafting process:
Map your story against the Hero’s Journey story beats
Write a one-sentence summary for each stage
Identify where there might be gaps—or places where the transformation isn’t yet clear
Use the structure as a revision tool to deepen emotional stakes or clarify purpose
And if you’re writing nonfiction, walk yourself through your reader’s journey. Where are they when they begin your book? Where will they be when they finish?
At Her Narrative, I work with writers to uncover the heart of their story and guide it toward the people who need it most. Whether you're crafting a novel, memoir, or nonfiction book, the Hero’s Journey can be your compass. Let’s work together to help your story transform—and be transformed.
