The Heroine's Writing Contest

the heroine's journey Sep 25, 2024

Introducing the Official 2nd Heroine’s Writing Contest!

“Today the stakes are high. It is time for many voices to be heard. This is not the moment of singular heroes so much as it is a time for many to take single heroic actions. By telling a better story – a transformational story that awakens others to new possibilities – you plant seeds of change.” ~ Gail Larsen, Transformational Speaking, If You Want to Change the World, Tell a Better Story

“My life has taught me that if you start with the small, the particular, the individual, the tiniest of gestures can make the biggest difference. May you choose to risk your significance.” ~ Dawna Markova, Ph.D., Wide Open, On Living with Passion and Purpose

You know you’ve got a story to tell! People have been saying you need to start writing or speaking. Here’s your chance!

Fourteen years ago I launched the first Heroine’s Journey Writing Contest. It’s way past time for Number 2! More and more women are recognizing that they are Heroines and they know they have a story to tell – and they want to tell it! One reason for this is that more women are learning about this ancient archetype. Most importantly, they are learning how it differs from the Hero’s Journey. They know that Heroines don’t have to slay external dragons or conquer kingdoms or take a sword out of a stone. They learn that women become Heroines by speaking up, setting boundaries, and exploring what they want instead of accepting what others want for them. Many are on a journey away from interdependence towards independence. Many are in transition as a result.

And they are celebrating this great shift. Now they are more authentic after many years of doing for others and people pleasing. Dutifully in the past they took whatever came their way and made lemonade. Now they state what they want and they have the courage and belief in themselves to make it happen. I’ve spoken to so many women in my coaching practice, in my podcast, my retreats, and workshops, and know that everyone has a Heroine’s Journey story to tell.

Women just need to know the overall Journey framework in which to place their story.

Why enter this contest?

The ripple effect!! Why encourage people to see and write about their own lives using this archetypal story pattern? Because once you see it, you can’t unsee it. You’ll start seeing how your best friend, your mom, your grandmother, your partner – are living the Heroine’s Journey. We are surrounded by Heroines. And, best of all, you’ll see it in you. Remember that time you stood up to your boss and told her you had to cut your hours at work because you needed more home and family time? You were worried what would happen, but you gathered your courage and did it. That’s a Heroine’s Journey moment. You answered a call to do something that deeply affected who you are and those you love and you didn’t settle.

These elements are found in literature and movies but they’re also the signposts of how we live out our lives, how we learn and grow into our full selves as a result. We can live the pattern unconsciously or consciously. Famous author and mythologist, Joseph Campbell, taught that it helps us if we know the pattern, as he spoke in his interview with Bill Moyers in The Power of Myth.

“When the story [the heroine’s journey] is in your mind, then you see its relevance to something happening in your own life. It gives you perspective on what’s happening to you…These bits of information from ancient times, which have to do with the themes that have supported human life, built civilizations, and informed religions over the millennia, have to do with deep inner problems, inner mysteries, inner thresholds of passage, and if you don’t know what the guide-signs are along the way, you have to work it out yourself.”

Contest Guidelines

The Heroine’s Writing Contest is open to everyone whether published or not, regardless of experience. Previously published stories in other contests, books, magazines, etc. are accepted and welcome as long as they are original to the contest entrant and meet these guidelines.

Contestants will email their stories with double line spacing, within a maximum of (3) pages (750 words). All entries must be original works. Multiple entries are accepted.

You must be registered to submit your story. Click here to register.

https://www.weheroines.com/challenges-&-contests

By signing up for the contest, we will send you help along the way through weekly emails with helpful tips, important information, and inspiration to keep your creative juices flowing. Finally, submit your entries to [email protected] by midnight on November 1, 2024.

Format:

Heroine’s Writing Contest entries must be written using the common structural elements of the heroine’s/ hero’s journey which are found universally in myths, fairy tales, stories, and movies. Joseph Campbell brought the term “hero’s journey” into popular use. He used it to represent either men or women. This is a writing contest for women so the term used is “heroine’s journey”.
Contest entries will be your personal stories written within the general structure of this framework.

The structural elements or journey milestones and the corresponding map that I developed

My Ordinary Life

Here the Heroine is going about her usual business. This is her background: where she lives, her home base, where she hangs out, what she does, what she looks like, what she likes or doesn’t like. It’s her current comfort zone (which is often another phrase that I use for Ordinary Life).

The Call!

But then something happens. The Heroine receives a Call. It takes her out of her ordinary situation. It may be that she’s fired from her job, or laid off, or she gets a promotion, or she breaks up with her partner. It could come as an internal urge to do something different or to go somewhere. Many internal and external incidents push her out of her old patterns, ruts, and routines. But she can always refuse the call. That’s the beauty of it! She can say, “No, I’m not ready. I am going to stay in my Ordinary Life.”

Threshold Guardians

The Threshold Guardians sense that she is going to be making a change. They warn her to stay put because they want to keep her safe. These could be people she knows or her internal thoughts. They say things to her like: “You’re not smart enough.” “You’re too old.” “You’re too young.” “You don’t have enough credentials.” “They are going to laugh at you.” “You’re being selfish. You’re just thinking of yourself.” “You’re going to fail.” “You’ll never make enough money.” Interestingly, almost all Heroines hear the same kind of warnings from Threshold Guardians. But a Real-Life Heroine stays true to her Call, despite the Threshold Guardian voices.

The Leap

Sometimes the answer to a Call requires a BIG LEAP. The Heroine is asked to do something differently, to make a big change by going into the Unknown. Or it could be small sequential steps. It could be some steps and then going back to Ordinary Life. Eventually, the Heroine puts one foot in front of the other, leaves her Ordinary Life, and Crosses the Threshold.

Mentors at Work

People come forward to help the Heroine. It can be a chance encounter with someone who says just the right thing to keep her on her path. There are visible and invisible mentors that aid the Heroine.

Adventure Road (Into the Unknown)

Once on Adventure Road, the Heroine is on her Journey. It is also called “Into the Unknown.”. All kinds of things happen on her Journey. Good things. Bad things. But the Threshold Guardians continue to follow her. Their critical voices keep talking to her. But there are also people along the road who help her (both visible and invisible mentors).

Belly of the Whale

At some point, she’ll arrive in the Belly of the Whale. It can seem like a maze getting there. There are dead ends. The Heroine experiences lots of turmoil at this point. She’s being shaken up and tossed around, up-ended, and turned upside down. It’s like being in a Whale’s Belly. And it’s a good thing because this is where she can be born anew. She now sees things and herself from a different perspective. Often being in the Belly is about shaking off old limiting beliefs and unfolding into a more expansive (more evolved) version of herself.

Adventure Road (continued)

The Heroine will continue on Adventure Road. Uh oh, look at those Threshold Guardians, they are still with her. Fear, too, will be a constant companion on her journeyJourney. But again, the Heroine puts one foot in front of the other and keeps going. She’s persistent!

I Find a Dragon

Dragons are older than the Threshold Guardians. They’ve been with the Heroine since her childhood. They are limiting beliefs about herself or what she might be ashamed of. Often she doesn't even know she had them. Sometimes they don’t come up on a journey. It’s not every journey that surfaces an old and difficult belief. Dragons are helpful, however, because they represent parts of us that are asking to be healed. Those misconstrued thoughts and beliefs emerge so the Heroine can confront them. She thinks they are a part of her, but they are not. They need to be healed and released. And here’s a difference with a Heroine going on a journey from a Hero. Often Heroes feel that they have to slay their dragon and move on. Heroines, I’ve found, embrace their dragon. They want to understand it. They transform their relationship with the dragon.

I Receive Gifts

Eventually, as the Heroine reaches the end of this particular journey, she'll realize that she has received gifts. Often the Heroine doesn't even realize what the gifts are until she has crossed the Return Threshold of that particular journey. But when she does get a chance to look back, she sees them. Gifts could be a new level of awareness, a new skill, more confidence, spiritual growth, or financial achievement. Whatever SHE needed to learn this time around the journey cycle she will be given.

Return Threshold

This is the marker that this particular Journey is done. The Heroine returns to her community, and she has evolved. She is different from the person who left her comfort zone because of a Call. Then, her duty is to share what she has learned with the people around her -- with her community.

Free to Live!

Eventually, a part of her or all of her gets to be free to live as her authentic self. She will see that what she has learned gives her the freedom to be herself. She has overcome some of her inner dragons and is no longer hostage to false beliefs. The Heroine has released, healed, and integrated some aspects of herself that kept her from being fully who she is.

In the contest, you’ll take your story through these milestones. In real life they don’t usually happen sequentially, so you don’t have to stick to this order. Also, some milestones might not occur on a journey. Not every journey has a dragon. Use the journey elements and be creative. Take the story of your journey and use the milestones in your own unique way.

Overall, the journey has to create a transformation. The main character is different at the end from who she was at the beginning.

You will write about one of your personal heroine’s journeys (we go on many in our lifetime…every time we hear and respond to a call and leave our comfort zone it’s a journey over the threshold into a new world).

Here's An Example

Perhaps you were laid off from your job - that was your call. You find yourself in the “new world” of unemployment. You’ve crossed the first threshold. Someone comes along and helps and encourages you. The Mentor. Things are tough as you try to find your way, but you persevere and it makes you stronger and more determined to find an even better position, something more suited to who you really are. You’re in the Belly of the Whale. You find the perfect job for you and you want to apply but you’re scared that you’re really not qualified, don’t know enough, will fail (all Dragon messages). The Supreme Ordeal. But, you meet your fear and apply anyway, get an interview, and get the position. Your gifts? More confidence, self-esteem, better knowledge of who you are and what suits you and you get a good job. You meet others facing the same ordeal and share your story to help them. Crossing the Return Threshold and sharing your gifts. You have the freedom to live a happier, less fearful life as you know you can meet the challenges that come your way.