Never Forget the Literature

I think no matter what I end up doing in life, I will always have a passion for storytelling.
Not just listening to stories, but making them up in my head as well.
I just LOVE stories... and I think most people do as well.
This is a bit vague, so let me try to make this more concise.

As a person who is making up their own comic book story, as much as I would just like to dive in and start imagining and world building, I know this isn't the smartest route. I love thinking up new stories, but I know 1) you can't just completely start messing about... it's a great creative process but too structurally unsound and 2) you need to know your basics.

I really appreciate my Grade 11 English teacher, Ms. Guezalova for introducing me to a book called the Writer's Journey by Vogler. It laid out the foundation of the myth for me. The structure of plot, the type of characters you need.. you know... how a mythical story is built with a hero. I consider it to be an invaluable tool to building your own myths as well. Cuz deny it all you want... the best stories are never originals (I dun think that's even possible) but time tested tales that have taken creative liberty and changed into something "new".

So, invigorated with the idea I may find MORE books like this I scoured the shelves for more books like A Writer's Journey. I found an interesting one called Mythology: The Voyage of a Hero by Leeming at BMV and I look forward to reading it. But... doing some more intensive searching on Amazon, I'm intensely interested in picking up The Hero of a Thousand Faces because it is apparently the bible on this topic. The Mythic Journey is supposedly a reference book to The Hero of a Thousand Faces.

As I brush up on my myths, I'm wondering how many manga writers actually go to the trouble of researching methods of story telling like this. It's noted in the mythic journey that screenplays (the good ones anyway) will resemble this form in some way.

I'm really looking forward to it and I don't want to neglect the other types of mythology as well.

Mythology: The Voyage of a Hero - Google Books Preview