Not the Chosen One

When you are not the chosen one…

We have all heard of the Chosen One. Christ is the ultimate Chosen One, whose coming had been foretold, but there are many others, even in the Bible, Moses, for instance, and hundreds or thousands in speculative fiction.

But does every hero or heroine need to be a Chosen One?

I think the answer depends on whether or not you are following The Hero’s Journey.

One of the primary principles of Joseph Campbell’s study of the stages of adventure myths, The Hero’s Journey, is The Reluctant Hero. The idea is that the hero gets a Call To Adventure, and then he Refuses the Call.

The reason for this is quickly clear if you spend any time thinking about it. It is easy to get sympathy for your hero if he has to do something he doesn’t want to do. Or if he resists doing something he might want to do because he has to clean the moisturizer droids, or whatever the reason was Luke Skywalker gave at first for why he couldn’t just leave and go on the adventure he so wanted to go on.

The problem is…if your character is reluctant to go, you have to have a reason that he does get sucked into the adventure, and one of the easiest is: He’s the Chosen One. He has to go solve the problem because no one else can.

If he’s the Chosen One, he can be as reluctant as you like, and the author still has a reason to push him forward.

But is that the only way to write a story?

It is not.

Years ago, boys’ stories were much more often about the other kind of hero, The One Who Chooses.

The Chosen One’s fate is chosen for him, by God, by the Universe, by a pagan god, by three wicked witches, by whomever. He may have the freedom to turn down the position, or he may not. But for the most part, fate conspires to force him forward into the breech.

The One Who Chooses has free will. He can stay home. He can play pickle ball. He can play the guitar while riding a unicycle in the dark. (Honest to God, I saw someone do that once.) Or, he can choose to go on the adventure.

If, when the trouble starts, one character runs full tilt at the problem, he (or she) is The One Who Chooses.

I personally love The One Who Chooses. I love when the character actually wants to solve the problem, when he is happy to be there, when he wants to be the one to do the thing.

Fundamentally, The Chosen One is Christ….the one chosen by God on High to solve the problem—saving humanity.

All other Chosen Ones are a bit like echoes or ripples of this One True Story.

The One Who Chooses? That’s us. That’s our story.

We are the ones who get to choose.

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Rachel Griffin is not the Chosen One. She’s not one of the Keybearers meant to carry out some mysterious task, the details of which are still unknown.

She was meant to have a supporting role, to be the Librarian of All Worlds who looked up information needed by her friends, the Keybearers.

But when trouble calls, she chooses to answer.

"Supernatural meets Narnia at Hogwarts."

Rachel Griffin has one goal. She wants to know everything.

When someone tries to kill a fellow student, Rachel investigates. She soon discovers that, in the same way her World of the Wise hides from mundane folk, there is another more secret world hiding from the Wise.

Meanwhile, she’s busy learning magic, making friends and, most importantly, finding romance!

Rushing forward where others fear to tread, Rachel bravely faces wraiths, embarrassing magical pranks, mysterious older boys, a Raven that brings the doom of worlds, and at least one fire-breathing teacher.

The Unexpected Enlightenment of Rachel Griffin is a tale of wonder and danger, romance and heartbreak, and, most of all, of magic and of a girl who refuses to be daunted.

Curiosity may kill a cat, but nothing stops Rachel Griffin!

"Lamplighter introduces many imaginative elements in her world that will delight..." VOYA
Discretion advised for younger readers.