Joseph Campbell and his theories about The Hero’s Journey have had an immense impact on the way particularly Western authors think about storytelling, and also the way consumers approach those stories. Even if you haven’t heard of Campbell, you almost certainly have expectations for how a hero’s story will run, and will be surprised if there’s great deviation. In this new essay, Donna Glee Williams unpacks some of the impacts of Campbell and his ideas, and suggests ways that deviating from those might do all of us the world of good.