The “First Hurdle” exercise didn’t get much traction with the group. And I shouldn’t be surprised, really. It was like asking for the second instalment of a story that hadn’t been written yet!
But... it is an actual thing. And maybe I should ask you to look out for it, rather than write about it.
Last night I watched the beginning of Robert Harris’ “Munich – The Edge of War”. Our young hero is a junior civil servant at Downing Street, while Chamberlain is negotiating with Hitler.
We know from the promotional clips that he will be sent to Munich. But before we even get to that point, his wife is pressuring him to decide between duty to his family and duty to his country. The first hurdle.
In children’s literature. The Darling children are called to Neverland – but they can’t fly. The first hurdle is learning how.
In James Bond Movies. Bond will be called on to save the world (again). But first, his license to kill will be revoked, or he will be forbidden to leave the country, or some such.
The First Hurdle seems to serve two purposes; it measures the worthiness of the hero, and it emphasises the urgency of the quest.
So... the setting will be set... then a problem, or a threat, or the promise of something better, arises (usually elsewhere, but perhaps approaching the home setting)... the hero is called to meet it... but, before they can do that there will be a smaller challenge (perhaps setting the scene they will come back to afterwards).
The setting is the writing group. The call is me asking you to look out for moments like this in books, TV, film... The first hurdle will be seeing something that is so ubiquitous we almost stop seeing it!
Over to you.
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