Advice from the Masters: Joseph Campbell

Mar 26, 2014 | Better Writing

Joseph Campbell was born on this date in 1904. Most of us found out about him by reading The Hero with a Thousand Faces or through Bill Moyers’ six-part PBS series: “The Power of Myth.

His “Hero’s Journey” is the structure beneath popular successes like Star Wars. You can use it as the underlying structure for your business book. But here’s a bit of advice that Campbell intended more generally.

“If the path before you is clear, you’re probably on someone else’s.”

That’s good advice for life and it’s good advice for writing a book. If everything about your book is clear and unfolding without struggle, stop and check. The odds are that what you’re writing is not distinctive and not really yours.

Want more? Check out the complete list of Advice from the Masters posts.