Across the maps

Same job, six names

Plot functions do not line up perfectly — that is the point. Read across a row when you are stuck: if Vogler’s Ordeal is not firing, Harmon’s Find or Murdock’s Aridity may be the scene you actually need.

The Monomyth The Writer’s Journey Story Circle The Heroine’s Journey The Virgin’s Promise Save the Cat!

Function	Campbell	Vogler	Harmon	Murdock	Hudson	Snyder
The life beforeStatus quo, incomplete. Campbell assumes it; everyone else stages it.	Implied Not a named station	Ordinary World	You	Separation from the Feminine	Dependent World	Opening Image / Set-up
The claim on the lifeSomething knocks. Desire or danger makes stasis a choice.	Call to Adventure	Call to Adventure	Need	Identification with the Masculine	Opportunity to Shine	Catalyst
The flinchFear makes the call expensive. Debate, stall, or a proxy who refuses.	Refusal of the Call	Refusal of the Call	Inside Need / Go Often folded	Inside Separation Refusal of the mother-world	Price of Conformity	Debate
Help on the roadA teacher, talisman, or witness. Equipment, not a substitute hero.	Supernatural Aid	Meeting the Mentor	— Helpers appear in Search	Gathering of Allies	Dresses the Part	B Story
The doorIrreversible entry into a world with new physics.	First Threshold	Crossing the Threshold	Go	Road of Trials	Secret World	Break into Two
SwallowedThe old self cannot survive the crossing. Death-and-rebirth as image.	Belly of the Whale	Threshold / Tests Often the first special-world shock	Search (start)	— Later: aridity is the true swallow	Secret World deepens	— Tone of Fun and Games’ first danger
The schoolingTests, allies, enemies, practice. Competence is earned in public or in secret.	Road of Trials	Tests, Allies, Enemies	Search	Ogres and Dragons	Secret World	Fun and Games
The inmost approachDread and preparation. The cave is named before it is entered.	Meeting with the Goddess	Approach to the Inmost Cave	End of Search Toward Find	Boon of Success	No Longer Fits	Late Fun and Games Toward midpoint
The crisis at the centerWant fulfilled or death brushed. The story becomes what it is about.	Atonement with the Father	The Ordeal	Find	Boon of Success	Caught Shining	Midpoint
The billPayment, temptation, aridity. Getting it costs the self that wanted it.	Temptation	Reward	Take	Spiritual Aridity	Gives Up What Kept Her Stuck	Bad Guys Close In
The near-deathA second, deeper unmaking — public, costly, past the midpoint.	Apotheosis	Resurrection	Take (peak cost)	Descent to the Goddess	Wilderness	All Is Lost
The giftBoon, elixir, light, plan. It must travel home.	The Ultimate Boon	Seizing the Sword	Find	What the descent returns	Chooses Her Light	Break into Three
The road homeFlight, pursuit, or a chosen return. The gift is now at risk.	Magic Flight	The Road Back	Return	Yearning to Reconnect	Kingdom in Chaos	Into the finale
The provingThe new self acts where the old self would have failed.	Master of Two Worlds	Resurrection	Change	Integration	Chooses Her Light	Finale
The life afterFreedom, elixir, a brighter kingdom. The opening image, answered.	Freedom to Live	Return with the Elixir	Change (lived)	A whole ordinary day	The Kingdom Is Brighter	Final Image