#254. How to Outline Your Novel With the Hero’s Journey

Learn how to outline your novel using the Hero’s Journey—without mistaking this classic framework for a complete story blueprint.

The Hero’s Journey is one of the most widely recognized story frameworks out there. But knowing the twelve stages—like the Ordinary World, the Call to Adventure, the Ordeal, and the Return with the Elixir—isn’t the same as knowing where those stages belong in a full-length novel.

In this episode, I’m walking you through how to outline your novel with the Hero’s Journey framework, including how to divide your word count into acts, break those acts into scenes, and map the twelve stages across a novel-length manuscript.

You’ll also learn what the Hero’s Journey can and can’t do on its own—because while it’s a powerful way to track your protagonist’s external adventure and internal transformation, it’s not a substitute for developing your genre, premise, character, conflict, theme, and stakes.

You'll hear me talk about things like:

[02:40] What the Hero’s Journey is and how to use its three acts and twelve stages as a tool for outlining a novel

[05:15] How to split your word count across the three acts (and the percentage breakdown that tells you how long each one should be). 

[07:45] A complete walkthrough of all twelve stages of the Hero's Journey, and the job each stage does for your plot and your character. 

[14:00] The death-and-rebirth moment at the center of the Hero's Journey, and why it's one of the most powerful ideas in storytelling.

[17:45] Why your draft loses steam even when all twelve stages are in place, and the foundation that's usually missing underneath them.

And so much more…

If you've been curious about using the Hero's Journey to plan your novel, or if you've tried it before and felt like something was missing, this episode will help you understand both the strengths and limitations of this classic framework.

🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:

• Get on The Notes to Novel Waitlist
• Take Author Success Quiz (FREE)
• Ep. 30 - Novel Length: How Long Should Your Book Be?
• Ep. 244 - How to Create Characters Readers Will Love
• How to Outline Your Novel with Save the Cat!
• The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler

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