The Hero’s Journey
Connecting with Readers
Would you be surprised to hear that even technical books tell stories? Not all of them, of course, but at The Pragmatic Bookshelf we strive to connect with readers through what we call the hero’s journey.
If you have a tech story to tell, we’d like to hear from you.
What Is the Hero’s Journey?
Asking authors to follow a hero’s journey isn’t meant to be some kind of hook or mystery. It simply means that authors need to make the reader (and the reader’s needs) the driving force of the book. The author is a facilitator and mentor. The reader is the hero.
The hero’s journey is a concept Joseph Campbell made popular through his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949). It is a storytelling pattern of separation, initiation, and return that is eerily similar across cultures. A person (or character) leaves a realm of comfort to set forth on an adventure. During this adventure, the character faces challenges, often involving supernatural forces, which seem insurmountable, leading to inevitable struggle and self-doubt. However, with the guidance of a mentor, and lessons learned through facing ever more difficult challenges, the character achieves something remarkable. Upon return to the original realm, the character is considered a hero and continues in life bestowing upon others the gifts or the wisdom gained.
The hero’s journey helps you connect with readers and makes readers feel like heroes. It is your job as an author to be the mentor and churn out heroes for the world. But mentors don’t lead heroes in the making by the nose. The mentor sets up the adventure for the hero and provides encouragement and gentle guidance along the way. Eventually, the mentor’s role changes and the hero is in control of the adventure with the mentor looking on in the background. Once the hero completes the adventure, the mentor is there again to celebrate the victory, but the adventure and victory both clearly belong to the hero, not the mentor.
Successful Examples
Most books you’ll find from The Pragmatic Bookshelf are successful examples of the hero’s journey, including the one that launched this adventure: The Pragmatic Programmer by Dave Thomas and Andy Hunt. If you need convincing that the hero’s journey resonates with people, consider some hugely successful stories that use this pattern like Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings.
In fact, this nifty infographic shows six wildly popular movies and how they use the hero’s journey:
How Can I Create a Hero’s Journey?
As an author, you are encountering your heroes after they have accepted a challenge — to learn your topic. While a technical book doesn’t need to have an explicit storyline, there are particular strategies that help you convey the hero’s journey.
Where Can I Get Help?
If the hero’s journey concept is new to you, don’t worry. Our developmental editors have been there and done the journey a thousand times. Authors who write with The Pragmatic Bookshelf get a dedicated developmental editor from day one, and your success is their number one priority.
In addition, your book goes through two rounds of technical review and a publisher review. Finally, you have beta readers who will let you know when you need to offer more (or less) guidance on their learning journey.
So if you are an aspiring author ready to take the first step, reach out to The Pragmatic Bookshelf by way of our Publish with Us page.
If you enjoyed this article, you might like our other writing tips for aspiring authors. Check out the following articles.
