The Main Character(s) are well in the soup now, but so far, they’ve been able to handle the tests their enemies throw at them with the help of their friends. They’ve also been learning and developing the skills and knowledge they’ll need to face the story’s main challenge.

The Approach combines a few different elements and sets up the rest of story, foreshadowing the Ordeal. So, what do you need for a good Approach to the Ordeal?

• Fear – the MC grapples with their fear. Whether this is linked back to their original reason(s) for Refusing the Call or some other thing they’ve encountered along the way, the Ordeal is about facing one’s biggest fear.
• Pause – the MC needs a time to realize what’s at stake if they fail. This is one of the scenes where the MC’s Person verses Self (See Types of Conflict) or inner conflict will be most clearly on the page. Up to now, they might have waltzed around it, but the MC can’t avoid it anymore: They have to fully recognize the situation and choose to move forward anyway.
• Villain – Sometimes called “the Shadow” this enemy is the distorted mirror opposite of the MC, their evil twin, if you will. More on the Shadow below.
• The Ordeal Itself – What is it that the MC will encounter? The challenge must both externally and internally difficult. It must also be unidirectional (one way). After the Ordeal, the story world will be different no matter what happens.

The Shadow

The Shadow’s role is to both tempt and warn the MC. Often the Shadow seems like a better, more successful, more popular version of the MC. The Shadow offers the MC a chance to get what they WANT at the cost of what they NEED. They are the quick fix to a serious issue. Or the Shadow might be cautionary, even pitiable, if they weren’t so mustache-twirlingly evil.

While the Shadow shares many of the MC’s characteristics, they serve a warning: That is the MC’s destiny if they make the wrong choices. This villain doesn’t need to be THE villain of the story, especially in stories less focused on Person verses Person conflicts. They can appear only briefly or might not be a person at all, but some other form as long as they are a warning.

Let’s look at some literary shadows.

Below are only a few characteristics to consider when creating an effective Shadow. Generally, Shadows either resemble or counterpoint the MC. Mix and match as your story requires.

• Sex and/or Gender
• Age – similar or gap?
• Race
• Socioeconomic status
• Physical appearance

Writing Exercise

Pick an Ordeal from your own life – it can be something good such as a wedding, graduation, birth of a child or something you dread, such as a death, major move, or asking for a raise at work.

Consider how you approach your own ordeal. What is at stake? What do you hope to gain? What do you fear to lose? Who is your Shadow and why?

Write a short scene – less than 1,000 please – where you prepare for your Ordeal. Include your emotional state, your location, your Shadow, and what the Ordeal.

Not hard enough? Don’t worry, I got you.

Bonus rolls

Roll	Genre	Roll	Setting
1	Real Life	1	Actual Setting
2-3	Fantasy	2-3	A family gathering
4-5	Thriller	4-5	Aboard a ship
6-7	Romance	6-7	A concert or play
8-9	Mystery	8-9	A haunted place
10-11	Sci-Fi	10-11	In the wilderness
12-13	Adventure	12-13	At a meeting
14-15	Literary	14-15	During a war
16-17	Western	16-17	While shopping
18-19	Sports	18-19	Dream vacation
20	Your Choice	20	Your Choice

Got your rolls? Great.

Now write the scene of you approaching your ordeal using the setting and genre combo you rolled up. For example, you roll a 15 and an 11 – so you should write a literary story set in the wilderness.

I would LOVE to share your results. Please send them to me here.