I know I didn’t blog yesterday. It wasn’t because I didn’t WANT to, or didn’t THINK about it. In fact, the reason sorta…tiptoed up to me, and grabbed me and pulled me in before I realized what was happening…

Sort of like an…INCITING INCIDENT!

I was just standing there in the parking lot, watching my son ride his bike, and my girlfriend said, “Hey, I’m going to tap class, wanna join me?”

Yes, I said TAP class. Like Ginger Rogers and the clippity clop shoes. And, just like that, something grabbed me. I thought…cool! Fun! (forgetting completely that I have the knees of a 97 year old, thanks to years of aggressive skiing!)

So, I went. Tapped my little heart out.

Today I’m sitting on the sofa, icing my knees, wondering what possessed me. Where did my common sense run off to?

This is exactly where we find our hero today on the journey. At that place right after the inciting incident when he looks ahead (to 8 more weeks of tap classes!) and says…why? How did I get myself into this mess?

This week we’re going to be taking the NEXT step in our heroes journey: The Refusal of the Call. To sum up, we’ve had: Home Culture, then the Call to Adventure, and now we’re, just briefly, stopping at the Refusal of the Call.

What? I thought a hero wasn’t supposed to refuse his calling! Nope, he’s not (or he wouldn’t be heroic), but he does need to take stock in his options, figure out if he should really go down that path, brandishing a sword into the cave of the dragon.

To put a finer definition on it, the refusal of the call is where the hero, however briefly, decides not to move forward on the journey, knowing that it will cost him his reputation, or power, or ideals, or goals….basically life as he knows it. It’s often based on the fear of what is out there, versus what is known that he is leaving behind. Often, this refusal is also supported by some sort of secondary character.

A secondary character like my son, who occasionally walks by me and shakes his head in pity. (not the kind of pity that will bring me a cup of tea, however!)

What makes a character pull back from the journey and take this little self-reflective pause? The answer: STAKES.

If it had been, say, bagel and coffee class, methinks I wouldn’t be having this “should I continue with the journey” issue. But because there are stakes involved – ie, the continuing working condition of my knees and my desire to walk – it makes our hero pause, consider whether the fight is worth it.

Tomorrow and the next day we’ll be talking about the STAKES of a story. Specifically Public Stakes and Private Stakes. You may have already heard me talking about this, but if not, stop back, and we’ll go through it tomorrow and see how it affects your hero on this leg of his journey! And, stop over at Voices where your fellow voices will help you find your stakes!

Meanwhile, I’m just going to go change this ice pack….