Bookmap: The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler

Legend has it this book originated as a seven-page memo outlining mythic structure for Hollywood studios.

In the memo, Christopher Vogler interpreted Joseph Cambpell's "The Hero with a Thousand Faces", the book in which "Campbell explores the theory that important myths from around the world which have survived for thousands of years all share a fundamental structure, which Campbell called the monomyth."

Vogler simplifies Campbell's more scholarly work into a practical handbook for writers. In a new preface to the second edition he answers critics who called The Hero's Journey formularic by saying it is a form, not a forumula. He goes on to make some interesting contextual points about its reception in "herophobic" cultures such as Australia and Germany. "Australians," he says, "distrust appeals to heroic virtue because such concepts have been used to lure generations of young Australian males into fighting Britain's battles..." while "...the legacy of Hitler and the Nazis has tainted the concept... distorted the powerful symbols to enslave, dehumanize and destroy."

A new section looking at several modern films in heroic context includes "Titanic", "The Full Monty" and oddly "Pulp Fiction". The latter doesn't naturally fit the form, so instead it's used to view the individual journeys of the three characters Jules, Vincent and Butch.

Back trouble leads to Adam Curtis OD

A new osteopath has recently put me to rights, but before that I spent much of the past few weeks on my back.

Earlier this year I began to lazily neglect the exercises my old osteopath gave me. Driving to Leeds to see Leyton Orient become the first team to take a point home from Elland Road this season (rightfully all three, if only the linesman had been correctly placed in the closing minutes) put more strain on my back than it could handle and within 24 hours I was only able to move when doubled over.

Determined not to waste this precious time, I spent most of it reading, before deciding to catch up on a batch of Adam Curtis documentaries I downloaded some time ago.

I was impressed by "The Trap: What Happened to Our Dream of Freedom" earlier this year. Each programme begins, in classic Minto pyramid style, with a statement of what "in this programme..." Curtis will explore. Once introduction hooks you the momentum never lets up.

I watched four complete series, prone, in various rooms of the house, often accompanied by my six month-old daughter, who found the idea of daddy lying around the house just as novel as a little screen displaying stock footage from the past 100 years:

- Pandora's Box told of the danger of placing all your trust in systems and technology (I really should lend that to some people in IT)

- The Mayfair Set looked at the impact of four members of a Mayfair gambling club on the British economic and political landscape

- The Century of the Self looked at how Freud's theories influenced PR, marketing and self improvement through the 20th century

- and The Power of Nightmares looks at the parallels between the rise of the neoconservative and radical Islamist movements.

Each episode is based on strong storytelling, illustrated with archive footage interspersed with interviews. Watching them all in one go you notice footage being reused in different series, emphasising the overlaps between them.

It's a simple technique to emulate - turn the sound off and you could just as easily be watching "The Staggering Stories of Ferdinand De Bargos" - but the strength of the storytelling keeps you engaged. You constantly feel you are going somewhere.

Something to bear in mind next time you sit down to work on a set of PowerPoint slides.