The Quest: Find or Change
by Laurie Schnebly Campbell
Pretty much any great protagonist, we know, needs SOME kind of a quest. Because, drat it, people who are content just to sit on their porch drinking tea can get rather dull after a few such chapters.
However, if they face some kind of challenge — whether it’s escaping the sudden invasion of killer bees, planning a vacation someplace they’ve never been, winning the prize for Town’s Best Lemonade Recipe, or learning to paint the vistas from their porch — readers will be a lot more enthusiastic about the story.
Notice how those quests fall into two areas? One involves FINDING something external, completely outside themselves. Discovering a killer-bees escape route or the perfect lemonade recipe are both in response to some outside challenge.
The other quest involves CHANGING something inside themselves. Deciding to travel or taking up painting represents a different way of living. While this character isn’t necessarily becoming a whole other person, they’re exploring a new path for their life.
Each kind of quest leads to great stories.
The external kind is what led to Joseph Campbell’s and Christopher Vogler’s identification of “The Hero’s Journey,” where the protagonist is battling external forces to find the elixir and save the day.
That’s a perfectly good journey. But what about protagonists whose challenges aren’t so much external as internal? Like, for instance:
- Someone who can’t work up the nerve to call the fellow student they have a crush on.
- Someone who dreams of life in a different land but can’t bear to disappoint the family who wants ‘em to stay put.
- Someone who craves excitement but has to settle for reading thrillers because there’s no time for real-life adventure.
We’ve all met people like that. We might even BE people like that. And those people are whose quest is identified by Kim Hudson in “The Virgin’s Promise,” which — in contrast to the Hero’s Journey with twelve steps — could be considered the Heroine’s Journey with thirteen.
That’s not to say characters whose quests involve changing their life rather than finding the elixir are automatically women, much less virgins. Plenty of women want to defeat the external dragon; plenty of men want to discover their best self. But in traditional mythology, it was usually the men whose quests were external. Odysseus traveled the world; Penelope stayed home.
What makes internal change harder than external?
To be fair, external change is seldom an easy-breezy walk in the park. (Anyone who’s repeatedly tried to lose five pounds can testify to this.) But the NEED for External Change is usually a lot easier to recognize.
- “The trail’s blocked by a fallen tree; I’ve gotta find a way around.”
- “My new grill torched all the burgers; I’d better find a pizza place.”
- “Riley’s been kidnapped by bandits; I need to find their hideout.”
Internal Change is something that a character might not perceive as vital...or even possible, no matter how beneficial it might be.
- “I’ve always been the quiet one; Sophia’s the one who’s in charge.”
- “I can’t just leave; nobody else would be able to keep us all going.”
- “Even if my life isn’t ideal, I’m lucky to have this kind of security.”
Most of us become pretty good at getting used to things the way they are. Sure, maybe our situation gets tough every so often, but by and large it’s all working well enough...right?
But what about when we don’t even RECOGNIZE the situation is tough, because it’s what we accept as normal?
This is where the Heroine’s Journey comes into play.
Think of a character whose quest doesn't involve one high-speed car chase after another, but who nevertheless faces challenges — the kind that don’t generally appear in news headlines. Like:
- An exhausting workload
- Betrayal by a friend
- Ongoing illness in the family
- The threat of losing a job
Of course, that last challenge might generate headlines if everyone in the city is facing the same threat. (Which could make things easier OR more difficult.) But either way, this character’s stuck in a bad situation...and while she might dream of a more satisfying life than what she’s living, she’s not really in any position to do much about it.
Or is she?
Following the Heroine’s Journey template, she WILL come across an Opportunity to Shine. But, naturally, that’ll create other problems. She’ll begin to sense another, more fulfilling world just beyond her reach...
...only then her everyday world (not just the people around her, but also the beliefs that have sustained her through previous disasters) will threaten to make things even worse.
This quest won’t likely involve dragon raids or gun battles or horrendous tornadoes, although it’s possible such challenges might come into play. But what she’s facing is more of an internal journey, seeing her world in a new light and working out a new way of life for herself AND those she cares about.
Which leads to our
Prize-drawing quest:
Who’s someone (either a book character or a real-life person) you’ve seen work through a tough situation that — while not headline material — created a genuine challenge?
Someone who answers will win free registration to “The Hero’s Journey, for Heroines,” my Sept. 7-Oct. 2 email class on that very thing. On Thursday I’ll have random-dot-org draw a name and post it at the end of the comments — hurray, something to look forward to in the middle of the week!
* * * * * *
About Laurie:
After winning Romantic Times’ “Best Special Edition of the Year” over Nora Roberts, Laurie Schnebly Campbell discovered she loved teaching every bit as much as writing...if not more. Since then she’s taught in-person and online workshops including the upcoming Hero's Journey for Heroines, and keeps a special section of her bookshelves for people who’ve developed that particular novel in her classes. With 60+ titles there so far, she’s always hoping for more.
Featured image from Pixabay.
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I just finished reading Son of Neptune in the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan because my kids loved it so much, they wanted me to read it too. Percy Jackson faces many challenges—giants! Amazons! Cyclopes!—and works through them. He’s on a hero’s journey for sure but also on an internal journey across the books as he grows in maturity and relationships and helps broker peace across multiple groups.
Brenda, that's a great example of a character facing internal and external journeys both at the same time -- neither one would be QUITE so exciting if he didn't also have the other one going on!
Glad you mentioned that this isn't necessarily all about women, because I want to talk about my dad. He had Type 1 diabetes and a combination of when he was diagnosed (age 13) and the era in which it happened (early 60s) meant that his diabetes care wasn't the best and by the time I came on the scene in the seventies, the diabetes was starting to take its toll. Over the course of two and a half decades, he lost his sight, both kidneys, both legs below the knee and about half of his fingertips.
That's what happened that he couldn't control. It's his journey with it, how he chose to deal with the problems as they happened, is what's remarkable.
He didn't let his disability define him. He co-led camps for disabled people, held down jobs, showed me how to re-roof a house, change a tire, garden and put siding on our new garage. And yes, all of this while totally blind. Was it all smooth sailing? Of course it wasn't. Did he have periods of depression? Yes. But overall, I look back on what he went through and all he accomplished despite the challenges and am amazed.
Heather, wow, what an inspiration! (Especially to me since I was diagnosed T1 around the same time as your dad.) Now I'm gonna keep HIM in mind next time any other such challenges arise...thank you. <3
King Charles faces a dilemma. His angry, bitter, younger son has created enormous ill will by betraying both his family and the king’s subjects while refusing to accept responsibility for his own actions. If Charles prioritizes his desire as a father and grandfather to welcome his son’s family back into the fold, he will be derelict in his duties as king. If he ignores his personal desires by responding as a sovereign, he will fail as a father and the head of his family. A misstep could inflict further damage to the wounded royal family and it could undermine the crown. The king must act while recognizing that the son he loves cannot be trusted.
Paula, how cool seeing a historic person in a situation that actually happened...and the way you're describing his challenge makes a far better narrative than anything I learned in English History 101!
A few years ago I read a thin volume titled "Amar Jiban" (My Life) - the first book written by an Indian woman in the 1870s. The name of the author: Rassundari Devi. Back in those days, women were not sent to school or given any education - they were married off at the age of 9 or 10 years and were expected to look after the whole family, bear children and basically treated like slaves. This lady taught herself to read and write and get her autobiography published. The book highlights the difficulties faced by her and other women in colonial India. What an amazing lady she must have been.
Adite, I love that you mentioned it was her -first- book...the idea that she not only educated herself to get published but continued achieving that goal, especially in a world like hers, is IMPRESSIVE.
I love this blog, because there are so many different people who pop into mind when I think of this question (someone who was fired and had to pick up their life, a friend facing infertility, people going through a divorce). I think that's what makes it so necessary for book characters to go through this journey, because it makes them more relatable when we all are touched by some struggle in our lives. The great thing is that feeling when you are able to change and come out on the other side of the challenge stronger. It feels so satisfying as a friend (or a reader!).
Amanda, you totally NAILED what makes the heroine's journey style of storytelling so valuable...you're absolutely right that just about all of us in real life need inspiration for the times we face big challenges!
Elizabeth Bennet.'Nuf said, yes? 🙂 Her pride and prejudice are built into her character due to nature and nurture, but I think her inner journey takes her from P&P to self-awareness in a most satisfying and enjoyable way.
Debora, good thought on identifying what lifestyle / viewpoint she moves From, To... while it often takes readers a long time to label such a progression for themselves, it's one of the best parts of a journey story. 🙂
I am almost through the Brittany Mystery series by Jean-Luc Bannalec. The hero, Inspector Dubin, is addicted to coffee. But not in the usual way! His "grey cells" don't begin working until he's had at least 2-3 petite cafes. His doctor warned him that he was damaging his stomach, but he just couldn't solve crimes without the caffeine. Finally, he discovered the healing power of raw oysters, nature's perfect food but one that he hated the thought of, and his stomach issues abated. Thus, a compromise: overcome that which you dislike in order to have more of what you like/need.
Carol, that's a lovely summary of a book where the protagonist's main purpose is to accomplish an external goal of solving the crime, but meanwhile he's still facing this persistent internal challenge!
Brenda, that's a great example of a character facing internal and external journeys both at the same time -- neither one would be QUITE so exciting if he didn't also have the other one going on!
What a great question, and as I thought of it over coffee this morning, I went from what can I think of, to finding examples everywhere (even in my own life). Anything that is a challenge to overcome, a barrier to moving ahead, or the missing link to happiness can fall into the external and/or internal struggle category. I ended up choosing to share an example from Buckeye,a book I recently read. While not the MC, it's Felix I want to mention as throughout his life he had both internal -- a gay man coming to terms with what that means in the 1940s and finally learning how to live as his authentic self-- and external - his traumatic experience on a support ship in the Navy in World War 2.
Sherilyn, way to go on putting Felix to work as a journey model...while he did face the trauma of wartime, his main story is about the challenges he faces in everyday life, and those are why we root for him. 🙂
I don't think any human has no internal conflict. In fact, all the classic heroes we use as exemplars for the journey had to learn something about themselves along the way. Perhaps this is why I believe Aragorn more the protagonist than Frodo in The Lord of the Rings. It is Frodo's burden, but Aragorn's journey into himself. The best books, to me, are ones where the internal and external conflict both matter.
If you reframe your example about being the shy one, you can see what I mean:
My voice is blocked by my own fears, how do I develop the courage of Sara to go around myself? The external conflict is the reason for the need to find the voice in the first place. (Of course, not having a voice is reason in itself, but generally some external impetus---need or want---will also be at play.)
Thank you for the opportunity to think this through.
Debbie, good job of thinking this through! You're exactly right about characters needing some kind of impetus to learn and grow and change...and in real life, it almost always gets triggered by SOME external event.
Lauri, this has really made me think. I have several people in my life who have met this challenge. My grandmother raised 4 children after her husband left and met all challenges with quiet dignity. My daughter is the strongest person I know and she continues on, helping everyone she meets.
Steph, it's lovely having family members who set such great examples -- you not only get to see the character arc of each one's journey, but also the little details that take it from a generic to a specific story.
Great post, Laurie! Lots to think about. And to apply to my own life! Thanks!
Sally, it'll be fun seeing what pops up for you today or this week or next month that sparks a "wow, heroine's journey" recognition of some opportunity to shine...and then discover what happens!
One of the main characters in my last book had been dumped by her boyfriend of five years because his real love was another man. She had to work through not only the feeling she had been betrayed for years but doubting she'd ever be able to trust another man again. So she embarks on an online dating adventure which leads to several disastrous situations, pulling her further from her goal of falling in love again.
Patti, I'm sorry I missed this earlier -- talk about a vivid challenge, recovering not only her confidence in herself but also in others. I like your disastrous-situation roadblocks for even more conflict along the way. 🙂
Norma Rae comes to mind. She stood up for others against powerful foes. Risked everything; including losing her life, but she persevered, and made remarkable changes, not only for herself but others. She changed the rules and won.
M, what a great real-person example! You're right, she faced all kinds of challenges on not only a physical / emotional / mental level, but also in a way that affected society far beyond her immediate circle.
Hi Laurie,
This weekend, we watched the movie 'Desert Warrior' based on the true story of Princess Hind. About 1500 years ago on the Saudi peninsula, she and her father were lesser tribal royalty subject to Emperor Kisra of the Sassanid dynasty (last ruler pre-Islamic Middle East). Kisra ordered all tribal kings to give their daughters to him to serve as concubines. It was his way to crush people. Princess Hind and her father fled, seeking help from other tribes with mixed results. There was betrayal. Her father died to save her, and at one point, Princess Hind got rid of her rags and put on royal clothes. When I saw that, I jumped off the sofa and said to Brian, "The heroine's journey! She's "dressing the part!" Princess Hind defeated a much larger and far superior army through cunning at the Battle of Ze Qar. It's also said that one of Kisra's unwilling concubines poisoned him. Though slow moving, we enjoyed the movie. Princess Hind was someone to root for. 🙂
Gina, wow, it's cool seeing heroine's-journey characters starring in movies...this one, plus Norma Rae & Elizabeth Bennett above, show how "regular" women facing challenges absolutely GRAB our attention!
Shoot, it's the morning when I go sing at hospice facilities with Threshold Choir...which is something I love to do, but which puts a crimp in reading wonderful comments like those that have come in so far. I'll look forward to getting home in about five hours and seeing what other great stories have come in!
In my novels so far, the protagonists don't change at all. Things happen *to* them because of what other main characters do, but he is, at the end, left basically unchanged. The result is like an amusement park ride or a challenging board game. Lots of excitement in the middle, but in terms of character development, everyone comes out much as they went in... Hopefully the ride is enjoyable.
Matthew, that format has worked beautifully over the years for characters like Sherlock Holmes and James Bond, who get all kinds of excitement during each story but don't really develop along the way, and readers love 'em.
Courage personified - a young woman in Ukraine, relocated a few times because of the war with Russia, forced out of her high-pressure job by misogynist bosses, struggling with her mental health, moving in with her family so her income can help support the family unit.
Meg, this character sounds like a MAJOR giver / helper...and while she's got plenty of external challenge, she may or may not decide to struggle with the internal challenge as well. Good suspense either way!
Hi Laurie,
To answer your question, in the stories I write, both my heroine and hero have external quests, but those quests are driven by deeper internal ones.
For instance, in my current WIP, my heroine’s external quest is to adopt her foster child. And since she’s a newspaper reporter, that quest may just become headline material. 😉
But underneath that is a much more personal internal quest: she needs to create, on her own, the family she’s always dreamed of—and the one she feels was stolen from her.
I think that internal quest is what makes the external goal matter. It’s not simply about whether she gets to adopt the child. It’s about whether she can heal from her past and believe she’s capable of building the future she’s longed for.
Thank you for this thoughtful post and the opportunity to look at my work through the lens of my characters’ internal journeys.
~ Chris
Chris, good distinction between your heroine's quests -- both will be gripping, and both will be satisfying to see her achieve, but you're absolutely right that the internal one is the real heart of the story. <3
Great post, Laurie!! Since I write romance most of my conflict is internal. The story I have coming out at the end of this year has a hero and heroine who have both been betrayed in previous relationships. My heroine ends up helping the hero cope. She takes him to a batting cage, telling him it's good for getting the aggression out. LOL!
Carrie, that batting-cage scene is gonna be a winner...I can envision it as a cover, even, although there are probably plenty of other good options in the story! And both their struggles with betrayal will be an enormous challenge.
Another provocative blog, Laurie. Thank you! I'm working on a story right now where betrayal by another is the challenge, but in the end, the betrayal is what brings the heroine to a better place -- not only in her career, but in her personal life as well. P.S. Huge fan of Joseph Campbell -- he's an inspiration for the actor part of my life, as well as the writer part.
Nan, what a kick to find another Joseph Campbell facet -- I'd never thought of him as inspiration for actors as well as writers, but it sure makes sense. And it'll be cool seeing your heroine evolve both professionally AND personally!
All the commenters already have such good examples. I definitely favor the external in my writing and my reading, but of course the best fiction has both on some level.
I just finished watching season 2 of the show School Spirits. The main character becomes a ghost in a school that already has a bunch of ghosts from different eras. She's not dead, though, and the external quest is to get her body back. The bigger one is to find a way for the other ghosts to cross over. But a very subtle change that happens in every character is becoming less self-centered and more focused on helping each other, in all different ways.
Natalie, wow, that sounds like a show worth watching -- and you're SO right about external quests being even more appealing when there's some internal change going on at the same time. Great example!
The novel I wrote based on my life in Pakistan in the 1990s was structured according to the Heroine's Journey. I found that journey by searching through library books, because the only journey I had been taught was the Hero's Journey. My protagonist's journey simply didn't fit that. The Heroine's Journey fitted it very well.
Julia, how cool that the heroine's journey template was a good fit for your autobiography! The fact that it WORKS for a true-to-life story shows what a natural, credible process it is...even for fiction. 🙂
As a teenager I was diagnosed with lupus, a chronic auto immune disorder. This turned my life upside down and propelled me into adulthood immediately. Approx 20 years later, I found that I'd managed to complete my schooling, get a job, have a driver's licence and have the lupus under control. All good right? Yes but now I needed to go back and experience the important parts of my teenage years which had been skipped over while functioning as an adult. Then evolve into a new adult. Stay tuned for the story to come soonish.
Tracey, what a wonderful heroine's journey in real life! I like how you "found" all you'd managed to do 20 years later; it's a dramatic climax that ends Part One and kicks off Part Two...rediscovering the missing pieces. Best with that!
What a great post! Love the idea of a Heroine's Journey. I think because I've been working on my next launch, the heroine of that book (Sanctuary and Sabotage) is who comes to mind. Kinsley is desperate to help her brother overcome his gambling addiction, but the people he owes have now set their sites on her and the prime piece of real estate her large-animal veterinary practice sits on. She's determined to save both her land and her brother, but doesn't even know who she's up against. Eventually, she finds herself backed into a corner where she has to either trust someone she isn't sure she can, or lose her brother.
Lori, that ultimate challenge -- whether to risk her brother or her trust -- will be a powerful one. And having her faith journey AND her action-adventure journey blended in will make it all the more compelling.
I mean, we're kind of working on that now. We just got Firstborn moved into his dorm room over the weekend, and we're trying to get Secondborn through online school -- which means we prioritize making sure she's in class when she needs to be, getting the assignments done properly, and generally working her way towards graduating high school. It's... a lot.
Michael, there'a a good blend of external and internal challenges for both the kids AND parents...partial independence, partial empty-nesting, partial new lifestyle, and definitive goals at journey's end. Good luck to all of you!
See, I like the best of both worlds...where the heroine DOES get the thing she was aiming for (EXTERNAL), but by the time it happens, a change in her has occurred and she realizes...that's not what she actually wanted (INTERNAL).
I think in the book THE OTHER BENNET SISTER--the heroine fits the question you pose. It doesn't feel like "high stakes" to a modern audience because nowadays we'd just tell our demanding, overly wrought mother to stuff it, then we'd get a job and rent a room with someone, and call it a day...but in the TOBS, Mary is expected to live with her mother and/or on/with the goodness of her sisters because she hasn't married. And Mary would love to marry--and is thwarted at several turns. By the end, she comes to realize (fortunately BEFORE she's married) that marrying just anybody isn't what she wants and she chooses herself before Societal Expectations, which is huge. And honestly the guy she turns down--while not the Hero--probably would have have been a perfectly fine marriage, at least on paper and with her ability to get along with just about anyone (I mean, she LIKED Mr. Collins!)...but she realizes she might not be Happy and her happiness matters. HER wants matter. I loved it. It was...a quiet book in many ways, but also very subversive.
Fran, what a great take on Mary Bennet -- "quiet but subversive" sums up her Heroine's Journey perfectly! Now you've got me wanting to go back and re-read that; I bet it'll shine even brighter than before. 🙂
I do love a great quest. Nora Roberts does great ones, and JK Rowling, and aaaallll the sci-fi's. But I never feel like *I* do the quest well in my stories. I have goals, I have "life-ing," I have things to overcome...but I don't know that I am great at getting all the way to "quest."
Jenny, that all depends on what a quest means to you...and therefore your readers, who very likely think the way you do because that's why they want your books. Anything from exploding the enemy starbase to declining an offer can be a HUGE statement for your character, so don't worry if it doesn't register as a 10.0 on the Richter scale!
Thanks to EVERYONE who commented on great challenges that real people & characters have faced.
And congratulations to random-dot-orgs picks of #21 (Julia Archer) and #4 (Adite Banerjie) for winning free registration to "The Hero's Journey, for Heroines" -- just let me know at Book Laurie at yahoo com where to email your Groups.io invite.
Or if your Sept. 7-Oct. 2 schedule is too crazy for weekday-morning email lectures (with optional homework that gets individual feedback) and you'd rather switch your prize, let me know that instead...thanks!
Thanks so much, Laurie. I'm absolutely thrilled to win this prize. Looking forward to the class.
Three people immediately come to mind: Christy Brown of MY LEFT FOOT (a documentary) , who had such severe cerebral palsy that he could only control his left foot and taught himself to write, pait, etc. He became a celebrated writer, painter and poet, Helen Keller, whose story is well known and a third person, whose name I can’t recall, but who was conscious but unable to move or make a sound such that everyone but his mother had given up hope for his life, but he fought his way to prove he was “awake” inside his inert body. I notice these are all physical difficulties I’ve picked out, I guess because there are dramatic ways to show progress and they stand out vividly in my mind.
Daphne, those physical-challenge examples are all especially vivid because the people were SO limited in what they could do...it puts other characters' "oh, I can't possibly do xyz" statements into stark relief!
Hi, Laurie!!
I can use myself as I've been through journeys.ill use the most recent one. But which overlays all of them. I started an orchestra, did all the jobs for several years and realized I wasn't living my life fully for myself or with my family. I'm working towards managing my way out if that so I can spend my time painting.
Charlotte, there's a great Heroine's Journey in progress -- way to go on recognizing it midway through, rather than when it's all finished, because that way you can celebrate more of the steps!