How Star Wars perfectly constructs a compelling Call to Adventure
The Hero's journey is a very flexible template and outline for a fictional narrative. While the complete version as written by Joseph Campbell is capable of being used 1-for-1 to tell a complete story, certain parts can be swapped with each other and even discarded to better fit a specific story. However, one part of the hero's journey is essential to any story starting from the beginning. And that element is the Call to Adventure. Without the call to adventure, there would be no adventure. Starting off with a compelling motivation for the hero is important both so that the hero feels some sense of urgency as well as hooking the audience in to keep them engaged. And Star Wars succeeds on both fronts to perfectly craft a call to adventure. We begin in a scene of action. Princess Leia's ship is under attack and about to be fully taken over. Most of her guards have been captured or killed and she herself is nearly surrounded. A dark figure has emerged on Leia's ship, cle...