Luke’s lightsaber knocks Vader back, then cleanly lops off his enemy’s helmeted head. All of his training has been focused on this moment – the chance to kill his father’s murderer and get revenge (his greatest desire!).
Someone emerges from the cave’s shadows and suddenly Luke is exchanging lightsaber blows with his hated enemy, Darth Vader. Senses heightened, he searches until he finds (duh, duh, Dum!) a cave under the roots of a massive tree. In Star Wars ( Empire Strikes Back), Luke senses something out in the jungles of Degobah.
Consider these “dark”, “initimate” settings: In fact, it’s striking how often a story’s setting will become “cave-like” for this critical moment. The suspense in this moment would be high. You get the picture. I imagine I’d step carefully, mindful of every noise, with hands raised to protect myself from unexpected dangers or obstacles. I think I’ll take the more cautious, thoughtful approach. Which of us would honestly run willy-nilly into its shadowy unknown? You would? Oh… alright, then. Imagine yourself standing at the gaping mouth of a deep, dark cave. This is what the “Approach the Inmost Cave” was designed for – to provide an appropriate setting for our character to encounter their greatest desire(or fear) in a new light. When he closes his eyes, he can already see his posh new accommodations overlooking a city with a gleaming, spotlit trophy case to house his hopeful, record-making achievement.īut what each of these characters doesn’t know is that they really need to… To top if off, if he can do it in his rookie year, he’ll be the fastest car to ever reach that echelon. His pursuit is for the fame (and wealth, and adoring fans) he can secure if he can just win the coveted Piston Cup. That’s exactly what a brash rookie race car named Lightning McQueen (Pixar’s Cars) believes. And they each believe that if they can just attain that one item, achievement, or status, that all will be made whole again. They each have a hole that they need to fill. Thor seeks to restore himself to his rightful place as heir to his father’s throne in Aasgard.Įach of these heroes carries a deeply held desire for something more than what they have. Luke Skywalker longs to take down the villain who killed his father, Darth Vader. And that’s especially true for story characters.įrodo labors to preserve his peaceful way of life in the Shire by destroying evil itself. We’re all explorers on quests for some yet to be attained artifact. Just like my unquenchable desire to temporarily join a bat colony, everyone is after a “treasure” of some sort. Well, switch on your headlamp, lace up your boots, and join me as we mine the invaluable depths of this mysterious and powerful story element. One of those twelve story beats is (yep, you guessed it) “Approach the Inmost Cave”. His book “The Hero’s Journey” took Campbell’s themes and distilled it into twelve story beats that every great story should hit. He referred to this concept as the “monomyth” (literally, “one story”.) Screenwriter Christopher Vogler used Campbell’s writing as a guide map for his own exploration into the story structure of modern movies. In it, he sought to expose what he believed was a single, common story being retold throughout every culture’s unique collection of myths and literature. His book entitled “The Hero of a Thousand Faces” was first printed 1949. It was in that class that we were first introduced to the work of Joseph Campbell, an American mythologist. I suppose I should back up and provide some context.īack in college, Chris and I had the opportunity to take a course on screenwriting. “What in the blazes does spelunking have to do with storytelling?”, you might well ask. Each student will have 30-45 minutes to get feedback from the entire class on a portion of work created during the course).Perhaps that explains why, as a writer, I love watching for the point at which a story’s “hero” approaches his “inmost cave.” (with the exception of the last few weeks of class, which are dedicated to workshop. Each class period will look as outlined below. The course will be 16 weeks long, and will include a mixture of lecture/instruction, writing prompts, and workshop.
Approach the inmost cave how to#
Memoir as Quest is about how to effectively outline & better write your memoir, using the three-act narrative structure in conjunction with Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey. A class for those struggling with the “where to begin” and the “which parts to tell,” those hoping for a better understanding of story structure, or those wondering which will suit their story best – an experimental or a traditional form. We’ll study the difference between situation and story, working unwieldy experiences into narrative arcs. Students will outline their memoirs and write critical scenes as we explore the intersection of the hero’s journey and the three-act narrative.
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