Hey, Wit!

How’s your week been? I’d love to know what questions you have about your writing, the industry, or motivation. Just shoot me an email if you’d like to know something, and I’ll do my best to give you a helpful answer. 😊

Have you ever stood at the precipice of a great life change?

> What did you do?

>> Did you back away?

>>>Or did you take the leap?

My favorite example of this beat is the moment Harry Potter watches his new acquaintances disappear into a load-bearing brick column.

→ AND CHOOSES TO FOLLOW THEM.

What might have happened to Harry if he was wrong and crashed into the brick wall?

Probably not a lot—maybe a bit of embarrassment and disappointment.

But the choice to TRY is far more interesting.

And it’s that choice that takes the reader into the real story you’ve shown up to tell.

When your hero's made their choice, they feel clear. Motivated. Maybe even a little proud.

“I’ve got this,” they probably think.

But here’s the kicker…

>>> They’re usually wrong.

Welcome to Into the Fire. 🔥 Beat 6 of the Fire Cycle* and the end of Act 1.

I think this beat is often undervalued. It gets treated like it’s just a line in the sand—the moment we begin Act 2.

But it’s far more powerful and meaningful than that.

If you’ve done your job, your MC has had a good long debate in the Embers beat. They’ve figured things out—or think they have—and made the decision to step onto the story path.

And it feels right. But the truth is they’re still operating from their old mindset. Their old wounds. Their old coping strategies.

They haven’t learned anything yet, but they’ve started moving. Which, to be fair, is still better than sitting on the couch under a cozy blanket, no matter how lovely that is. If the hero doesn't take action here, the rest of the story will fall completely flat.

But movement ≠ alignment.

And this is where a lot of stories—and a lot of writers—get stuck.

Because action feels like progress.

But not all progress is actually…progress.

Sometimes it’s just a really confident step in the wrong direction. 🤪

And we need that. We need that fake or misplaced confidence.

Because a hero who gets it right the first time is a boring hero. If your reader can’t relate to them, they won’t care what happens.

So we give them a hero who’s the victim of their own hubris.

Once, I left my family in Canada and got on a plane bound for Pocatello, Idaho—my wedding dress as my carry-on.

I knew it was the right thing to do, but no one in my life agreed. My sister begged me to promise that if I got there and things were weird, I’d have the guts to come back home.

And not, yano, get married just because that’s what everyone there in Idaho expected me to do.

It was my own personal "Into the Fire," and a whole slew of things could have gone wrong. But it wasn't my first Into the Fire, so I'd earned the happily ever after I got. Our heros at Beat 6 however, have not. They haven't earned anything, so their still out there thinking they know everything when they haven't even started learning yet.

I want you to see that this was a real “Break into Two” or “Into the Fire” moment: the moment the hero steps from one world into another, believing they’re completely prepared for what’s to come. 😳

Imagine what you can do with imagination.

Like life, but so much cooler.

Try This: THE HERO'S BELIEF Look at the next big decision your hero makes. Then ask: What do they believe this choice will solve? What are they actually avoiding by making it? The second answer is where your story get interesting. 😉

Look to your own life for Into the Fire experiences to help you understand the power of this beat. Once you've nailed it, you'll capture your reader like never before.

Happy writing!

If you want to hear the whole story about my mail-order-bride (not really, but also...kinda?) experience, shoot me an email. 👰🏻‍♀️💏🤵🏻‍♂️