Most writers and fans of speculative (or any) fiction are aware of the 'hero's journey'. It's a narrative structure device by which the main character undergoes a period of change and growth through the medium of plot. There are various well attested tropes and archetypes used along the way. So what if the fiction you write just doesn't fit this well discussed structure? It's possible that you are actually writing the 'heroine's journey' instead. In fact you might have been all along and just not realised it. The terms 'hero' and 'heroine' are in themselves misleading because they are narrative descriptors and not indicative of gender - a hero or heroine in this context may be any gender at all! So what is the Heroine's Journey? The dragons get into the weeds on that and the ways it differs from the hero's journey in this week's episode. On the slab this week: My Hero Academia, Protector of the Small - Tamora Pierce, Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Dissecting Dragon: Episode 74: The Sorting Hat and Other Trials - Finding your Tribe in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 73: Sand and Sky - Desert Archetypes in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 72: Maenads, Black Magic & Demon Drink - Addictions in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 71: The Lazarus Effect - Back from the Dead (Again!)
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 70: They Shall take up Serpents - Religious Cults in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Ep 69: When you say Nothing at all - Sparkling Dialogue in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 68: Cautionary Tunes - The Fantasy & History behind Folksongs & Nursery Rhymes
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 67: That Ship has Sailed - Happy Endings, Fan Service & the Appropriate Finale
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 66: Strange Familiarity - the Uncanny in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 65: The Strange Case of Professor Lupin - the Subversive Power of Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 64: Rogues, Renegades and Robin Hood - Our Favourite Outlaws in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 63: Mentors, Wizards and Wise Women - Portrayals of the Elderly in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 62: Occult Detectives - Urban Fantasy and Mystery
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 61: Lords of Misrule - Tricksters, Con-artists and Grifters
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 60: Comic Can't - Conventions, Talks and Launches
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 59: Room 101 - the Concept of Dystopian Hell
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 58: One Ring to Rule them All - Magical Artefacts that made the Hero
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 57: Defying Gravity - the Incredible Unlikeliness of Musical Theatre
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 56: Symbiosis - Why we need Writing Buddies
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 55: Break 'em to Make 'em - the Heroes who Rise from the Ashes
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