Thresholds as Crossings
Here we deliberately make a choice to step into new stages,
probably never to return: a passage of some moment. It can include walking away
from a place, or a relationship, or choosing to no longer be who we were a few
minutes earlier.
In the novel, The Hero
and the Crown, protagonist Aerin made that crossing when she arrived at her
first dragon slaying. “Talat halted, and they stood, Aerin gazing
into the black hole in the hill. A minute or two went by and she wondered,
suddenly, how one got the dragon to pay attention to one in the first place.
Did she have to wake it up? Yell? Throw water into the cave at it? Just as her
spearpoint sagged with doubt, the dragon hurtled out of its den and straight at
them:”
In Phantom of the Opera, this moment comes for
Raoul, when he stands before the Phantom, prepared to die if he must, in order
to rescue Christine. His love is proven true and his courage stands up
regardless of the consequence.
Exercise:
1.
Review the most recent fiction you have read.
From memory only, can you pick out one or two threshold crossings in the story?
2.
What impact on the overall story did they make?
Was it a quiet decision or a major plot point?
Share: Can you
adapt the emotional cost to a character in your novel? Why or why not?
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