Christopher Vogler's The Writer's Journey
Stage Six: Approach to the Innermost Cave
Remember how we’ve occasionally side-eyed Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey? Well, today we fully roast this bewildering mess, starting with his “Approaching the Innermost Cave” stage, which is the part of the story where the protagonist(s) prepare to face their greatest order (which is somehow not the story’s climax… we’re as confused as you are.)
Despite Vogler’s best efforts to perplex us all, we actually crack the code on how to prep your characters for their big adventure while keeping readers on the edge of their seats. Plus, we dissect John Scalzi’s Kaiju Preservation Society to see how his characters approach their ‘cave’—which isn’t actually a cave at all, because you can’t exactly land a helicopter in one of those.
Speaking of disappointments: remember Renee wanting more action in Kaiju? She got her wish, and somehow that made it worse.
Our Novel Approach to The Writer's Journey
We’ve chosen four novels to analyze while we read Vogler’s book, which will serve as examples to help you on your own journey to writing a novel based on the Hero’s Journey. Here’s what Kim & Renee are reading:
Get Thee Hero to the Innmermost (or inner-adjacent) Cave!
Oh, wait, did you actually think we were IN the cave? Oh no no no. This step is all about getting to the cave, not getting into it! Sorry to disappoint, but just think how we feel. We had actually read through this chapter. You’re welcome, by the way.
We're still in Act II, Folks
And Vogler means that (almost) literally. It’s worth noting that the “Cave” the Hero is approaching isn’t the true climax of the story. It’s a major step towards the main event, which happens in Act III. For example, in the study guide Renee never tires of promoting, she explains how Smaug’s lair is quite literally a cave, but it’s not the climax of The Hobbit, even if booting old Smaug from the Great Hall of Thráin was the primary objective from the beginning. What happens in the cave sets off a chain reaction of events in Act III where things really get good.
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No, Testing was the Previous Episode
Indeed. The point of the Approach is two fold. First: for your Hero, approaching includes making plans, learning about the enemy, re-organizing the group or team, fortifying and arming. Sometimes it’s kissing a sweetheart a “final” time (final in the sense the Hero doesn’t survive the Cave) or a last laugh with friends.
Second: for the Reader, the approach announces the transition from mere Testing to real life consequences. Depending on how you go about it, Dear Writer, be sure to remind your audience just how real the $#!t is going to be. For example, you could axe a member of your Hero’s band or have them betray the party right before it’s show time. The point is, you want to raise the stakes as much as you can so the pay out is that much greater in the end.
Ways to Approach the Cave
The Rounds On Me Approach
In our interview with Kristen Tate, Renee lamented the lack of tension in Scalzi’s Kaiju Preservation Society. This is not to say you need constant tension every second of every moment in your hero’s quest. Sometimes your Hero really does need to chill at the tavern and get their head around the quest before they enter the cave.
The 'I Love You. I Know.' Approach
If this iconic scene from cinema history has not been permanently seared onto your neo-cortex, there is no hope, new or otherwise, for you, Dear Reader. With that said, if you’re about to enter the cave of doom, there’s a good chance you won’t come back. At least there should be little chance or it wouldn’t be an interesting story, now would it? Let’s just say it’s a good time to kiss your sweetheart goodbye, especially if you’ve hinted at the romance throughout the plot so far.
The Leeeeeeroy Jenkinsssss Approach
Heroes need to know they are facing a great ordeal and are wise to make themselves as ready as they'll ever be.
Looking for a way to trip up your protagonist and rev up the tension for your readers? Why not include a Leroy Jenkins? (If you don’t know who/what that is, watch the video). If your Hero or a character in your group is of the Leroy Jenkins type, then charging headlong into the enemy’s nest without preparation can add a lot of chaos, drama, and dare we say, fun conflict for the troupe.
Vogler Really Likes The Wizard of Oz
All of this seems pretty straightforward. Your character needs to plan and remind the audience of what’s at stake. As a writer, you want to up the tension and make your reader worry your Hero might not succeed when they enter the cave. But that advice was not easy to come by, given how Vogler organized his chapters. Then again, Renee spent a decade grading papers in academia. Disorganized writing isn’t anything new (even published) and she gets all the practice writing the Snark Notes, after all.
The weirdest part of this chapter, more than any other, was Vogler’s “messages” relating to The Wizard of Oz. Vogler implies there’s a deeper meaning attached to this stage in both the ways the characters prepare and what happens to them as they approach, but he hasn’t done that for any other step in the Journey so far. His analysis of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz truly stumped us:
“Professor Marvel has become an animus figure for Dorothy: a focus for her projections about mature male energy. Her father is dead or absent and the male figures around the farm, Uncle Henry and the three farmhands, are weak. She is seeking an image of what a father can be, and projects Professor Marvel’s paternal energy on to every authority figure she sees.”
We don’t know about you, but we absolutely can’t stop won’t stop thinking about Dorothy’s father in The Wizard of Oz. Although he’s got no backstory, other than he’s dead, his absence is so substantial he might as well be a ghost possessing the body of Professor Marvel. And this whole “animus” business! Nothing screams ‘revealing the quiet part out loud’ like some literary analysis without evidence.
We’ve read a lot of writing craft books on this show (5 1/2 to be exactish), but this “analysis” is on par with John Gardner’s “Fanny the Stripper” bit from our first season.
Approaching the Kaiju Cage (AKA, Canada)
We’re near the end of John Scalzi’s Kaiju Preservation Society (arguably the end of ACT II)! On the podcast, we analyze how Jamie, Scalzi’s protagonist, approaches the “cave,” which is actually our world Canada. Before they skip dimensions, Jamie’s band of scientists come together to figure out 1) what happened, and 2) what to do about it.
1) What Happened
“Tell me what you see,” Satie said as we circled the site.
Here’s what I (Jamie) saw.
Chopper One, a wreck on the ground, still smoking and burning, near the shore of the lake. The ground near the kaiju site and the crash, crawling with jungle creatures. If anyone had made it out of the helicopter crash, those creatures had already taken them.
Our friends were dead.
In this scene, Jamie describes the new state of affairs after a deadly “kidnapping” of Bella, the kaiju. For the reader, this ups the stakes (or at least designs some – you can hear Renee talk about lack of stakes on the podcast) and pits the scientists tasked with preserving kaiju against armed, hired goons who killed Tom and teleported Bella to Canada. We know the plot of the Cave. Next, Scalzi makes the scientists re-commit to their duty to save the kaiju, even if it means dying in the process (of course).
2) What They’re Going to Do About It
“This is why you all had me come here,” I said. You all know what has to be done. It’s all there in your data. You just need me to come in here and say it out loud. So, this is me telling you. You’re right. You’re not off your crackers. Bella needs to come back to this side. It has to be done tonight. And since she can’t do it for herself, we have to help her. And it has to be us, since I don’t think any of you want to risk anyone else.”
Weird literary analysis aside, Vogler is right about one thing. Novels, not just movies, include an Approach to the Cave. Jamie’s monologue serves this function. The reader now knows who is going into the cave and why. It’s clear a paragraph or two later why: Bella might explode. The Preservation team of scientists all commit to the task and they all decide it’s worth risking their lives for.
Lost in the Ordeal: Navigating the Hero’s Darkest Hour
Think you know where your hero's journey is headed? Think again. We're diving into the Ordeal – that gut-punch moment some people still confuse with the Climax (spoiler alert:...