MAY WRITING EXPERIENCE — WEEK TWO
Writing Into the Unknown: The Hero’s Journey
May Writing Experience, Introducing WEEK TWO (May 8-14)
Now that we have met our writing muse and know what to do with it, we have crossed through the threshold. We are at the point between realms. Nothing will ever be the same. Our writing experience is a heroic journey to be sure, and I will connect the literary archetypes with this week’s challenge.
This week is a seven-day quest to authentically grow your Medium audience.
But let me back up. This is week two of a month-long challenge, put together by ◦•●Christina M. Ward ●•◦ and I. To recap, last week we learned about our writer’s muse, explored ourselves as writers, and set off on our writing journey.
We also:
- set up our profile to meet our goals.
- worked on our bios.
- made some genre/niche specific goals for the Medium platform.
- launched a self-promotion campaign for our profiles.
If you missed the previous posts, it is never too late to start. See the bottom of this post for those links.
The Hero’s Journey
We have met our muse and heard the call to adventure. If you are unfamiliar with the mythic structure of the hero’s journey throughout literature (or if you just want a refresher), I will summarize it here. I liken our May Writing Experience to this structure.
The hero’s journey is well-known through the archetypes of the monomyth described in Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces.
Campbell describes the stages of the hero’s journey as follows:
Hero is in their ordinary world.
They receive a call to adventure.
They are reluctant or may refuse the call the first time.
They are encouraged by a mentor.
They enter the special world, or cross the threshold into the unknown.
They encounter many tests, allies, and enemies on the adventure.
They approach the darkest place, crossing another threshold
They go through a major ordeal.
They take the reward of the ordeal.
They attempt to find the road back to their ordinary world.
They cross a third threshold and are transformed by a big experience.
They return with the elixir, bringing something home to benefit their ordinary world.
(From Vogler, C. The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers*)
Doesn’t this quest feel a lot like what we are doing here on Medium?
“Possibly, then, writing has to do with darkness, and a desire or perhaps a compulsion to enter it, and with luck, to illuminate it, and to bring something back out to the light.” — Margaret Atwood
Week Two Challenge-
Now that we have heard the call to adventure (muse calling?), it is time to explore how we are feeling about this writing challenge. Then we will open the door and go for it! We will look to our mentors, remember our muse, write and submit, and meet our friends.
— You know this a big commitment, and you love to write — you are a talented writer. You feel a call to share your ideas and thoughts with the world. But…
- Spend some time at the beginning of the week exploring how you feel about really going for it. Are you reluctant? What fears are in your way? You may have explored this last week, but check in with yourself. You could journal about it, write a Medium post about it, comment on this post about it, or even draw about it. You don’t have to share anything. There is no judgement about your feelings. They are just feelings. This is about you growing into your potential.
- Find some mentors. Look for the publications where you like the vibe. Follow the editors and some of the writers there. Connect with their writing. Study what kind of writing is popular in that pub. Study the craft of your genre. Engage with the writers by commenting on their stories. Each day of the week, request to be a writer for a different publication.
- Be brave and jump in! Cross that threshold. Submit 7 stories to 7 different publications this week. Remember this is an experience. Have fun with it. You get to be creative in this special world. What could be better than that?
- You never know what friends you’ll meet on the way. One of the best things about writing on Medium is the writing community I have found. This is definitely NOT something I was expecting when I started two years ago. Yes, there will be some negativity. You will be tested by some things you read. You may even find writing on this platform that isn’t that great. You might be tested by your own attitude. Also, I cannot promise that you won’t talk to yourself or ignore your spouse, but they married a creative person. They knew what they were getting into, right? Anyway- the task is to meet some people who are doing this work too. It would be great to find an accountability partner. They are the best!
I am your ally! I will check in this week and ask how things are going for you. I am doing this work too. Embrace your beginner’s mind. Watch your followers grow.
Are you ready?
If you missed the beginning, not to worry, this is a never-ending story. But here are the posts you don’t want to miss:
That’s all for this introductory post for The Hero’s Journey. Stay tuned for a few follow up posts on this topic. We’d love to hear how you are doing throughout the week. You can leave comments here or do a write up on your experiences. Be sure to mention ◦•●Christina M. Ward ●•◦ and Samantha Lazar so we can see how your #May Writing Experience is going.
*I highly recommend this book for storytellers — The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher Vogler, third edition.
