I have to wonder if you're way too far into the field or just not running in healthy circles.
Searching plot structures on google will almost always produce a varied list of options. If you read from these sites, it's impossible to come out with the idea that the hero's journey is your only option.
Here's what I mean by websites offering alternatives in their articles:
Reedsy's Hero's Journey write-up offers this in its closing:
The above links into a page which shows the three act structure and save the cat, which is what romance authors swear by.
Here's another random site on the first page of search results for plot structures, jerryjenkins that lists the Hero's Journey among others.
Here you have the johnfox giving another listing which features the hero's journey as one of many
Here you have Kindlepreneur:
Here's dabblewriter's and an excerpt from their article of structure fundamentals:
These sites pop up on a simple search for story structure. If I was a newbie again, and read these websites, I wouldn't be radicalized on the Hero's Journey as the one true savior.
And, these sources aren't so oppressive about only using the Heros Journey. They're all pretty reasonable in their stances.
Pro Writing Aid's write-up includes these parts:
So, you see, this is why its "obvious" to me. Every starting guide is pretty kind with whether or not you need to lock into a certain structure. Then again, most of these websites know it would be foolish to champion any one of the story structures as god's gift to man since that's a pretty stupid position to take.
Again though, your video is good for the newbies espescially if they're being hounded by the people you run in critical circles with.
Oh, you meant options like that. That, to me, isn't exactly what I'm talking about with all this. XD Though
@owotrucked covered well what I am speaking about. The depth of things that often don't get spoken about and the narrative surrounding all this.
There's a similar issue in drawing like Loomis method to draw head or anatomy. If you are a complete beginner, it gives built-in style choices, content and structure to the figure you draw without the need for you to consciously decide them.
But it will hold you back if you decide to draw big tiddies anime waifu or stylized figure. That's why you never see speedpainting recording where artist lay down every guidelines. They have a looser framework in their head or they just pick whichever method suits in the moment.
In practice I'm as much of a pantser as an outliner so all my narrative structure ends up in fire anyway.
IRL you will find people complain about how one style is better than another (especially pissing on anime style). It's the same with the hero's journey, and it's ok for people to find one style more aesthetically pleasing than another style of stories. It's just that people must not lose sight that this taste is subjective and hero's journey in its original form actually turns out to be more niche than a true recipe of universal popularity (unlike how Campbell sells it).
I fucking died and dropped the hobbit when they opened the story with dwarves singing and cleaning the dishes or smth.
Agreed and I feel this comes back around to the comment I made about seasons. ...This is really getting me inspired to work on a video I've wanted to do on the 4 Stages of Fiction Writing.
But yeah, as a whole, I've learned that there are different phases to reaching mastery. There's stuff at the very beginning that's very raw and unfocused, then you spend time learning form and function under others to understand what's going on and why, then eventually push beyond those boundaries to where you seek to experiment and find your own solutions, connect dots, etc. It's the whole "A beginner trying the expert phase immediately will be more likely to fail than the expert since they lack the expert's experience and understanding." Then beyond that is mastery, where one can effortlessly combine the rational with the intuitive into something that works.
Oh yeah and, quick side note, I'm absolutely watching the video you gave on family structures! This can make some fascinating study material and I've a feeling I'll end up connecting it to something more.
