I’d been introduced to the story wheel some years ago from a book that I can’t remember.
I have googled the story wheel and it’s perhaps the case that my mind is fogged and there’s a different name for this concept and I’ve made up the story wheel name to suit my designs.
The concept though is like this.
The hero sets out on a journey of discovery, sometimes assisted or prompted or encouraged by someone else, sometimes on their own due to a feeling or a vision or some knowledge that they’ve obtained.
They’re bright and excited and enthusiastic but soon things turn dark and they reach a crossroads somewhere around 6 O’clock where it looks like the world might end and only through their will or their effort or any number of specific circumstances do, they emerge stronger and wiser and better and even victorious.
The story wheel itself is more complex than this but if you apply this principle to almost every story you have ever liked you will see that it fits.
That’s because it’s deeply human and it’s because, in many respects, that is what life is like.
Sometimes at the end of realistic story wheels people die and go away but apart from that follows this pattern.
All the way through last week cycling in France and Spain, every stage was one of my story wheels as the whole week was a story wheel.
To be able to recount these experiences and the things that we have learnt and the things we have seen, it’s fundamental as human beings and its why people who understand the story wheel teach things and inspire people and encourage action to be taken and even to sell things.
On an almost parallel side point related to this, I read recently in Johann Hari’s book that reading fiction is the best way to create empathy in an individual.
I think empathy is based in stories and in listening to stories and telling stories and to understanding other people’s stories.
Blog Post Number - 3139