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:

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!

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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.