government, no matter how much they protest, the minority is still the minority. Saviors or slaves. That’s the pattern. That’s always the pattern. But we’re never stuck with just two choices. In Fight Club the narrator is the follower, Tyler Durden is the rebel – so the follower’s martyrdom serves the double purpose of killing both characters in the same instant, leaving an enlightened survivor. The good boy and the bad boy die in order to create the adult. When you recognize the type of myth you’re telling, you have the freedom to create a variation. Your reader will recognize the basic form of the myth and that familiarity will keep the reader hooked, even if the hero is an elf or the setting is a galaxy far, far away.
For homework, take another look at the plots of your favorite books. Is there a passive character? A rebel? A witness? This form shows up in even more movies. And now that you know the secret formula – look for variations that people have created. Notice how just a little tweaking leaves you with a bitter, sad end to a story. In final scene of the novel Valley of the Dolls, the witness takes her first pills so we know she’s learned nothing and will be destroyed – but then, We The Readers become the witness and learn the big lesson. Also, notice how these smart, dark endings tend to get re-written for the movie version. There, the witness will learn – and We The Audience will just watch that happy enlightened ending. Is that another pattern? Do novels tend to teach by a doomed example – but movies teach by a successful example? If so, why? Is it because movies are rated and books are not?
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