1) Introduce main character(s); set the scene
2) Give the character a problem, obstacle, obsession, or addiction
3) Let the character work out a plan to overcome the problem
4) Before setting out to solve the problem, there may be a moment of doubt that will require the hero to seek advice from a mentor such as a teacher or best friend. This is an opportunity to let the audience know more about the problem and weigh it up in their own minds. What they would do?
5) With new resolve (and often a magical gift from the mentor: the watches Q given James Bond; Dorothy’s ruby slippers) the hero sets out to overcome the problem, obstacle, obsession, or addiction
6) Overcoming the problem or challenge (getting the girl; escaping tyranny; saving the world) will be met by extreme opposition from the rival who will usually have greater but different strengths and will in some way bear similarities to the hero: the nemesis is the hero’s dark side
7) The hero will appear to fail in his quest. He will give up or glimpse defeat, even death and will require superhuman effort to overcome this daunting final task.
8) The hero wins the final battle with an opponent or enemy or with himself and returns to his natural state wiser, or stronger, or cured, but not necessarily happier. The journey has made him a different person. He has glimpsed death and can never go back to the simplicity of what he once was.
Oliver Fitch
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