Fifteen Keys
My novel, Fifteen Keys, begins with three boys setting out on a journey, a rite of passage, to find keys that will open doors, allowing them to return home to become respected leaders in their community. The plot line follows the structure of “a hero goes on a journey.” According to James Hynes, MFA, author, educator, and writing instructor, in his Great Courses lecture series, “Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques,” “a hero goes on a journey” and “a stranger comes to town” are the two plot devices that make up all of literature.
Too simple, I thought, but as I considered it further, I couldn’t find any stories that I couldn’t distill down to these two structures. My personal preference is for the hero to go on a journey. Some of my all-time favorite books from childhood to adult are structured that way, including Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Hunger Games, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings. When I decided to write Fifteen Keys, I thought making it into a hero goes on a journey suited me best.
Fifteen Keys didn’t start off as a novel. At first, I wrote short stories, each independent of the other. The stories were meant to illustrate specific virtues that I subtly infused into the narrative. At the time, I was participating in a Mussar study group, which inspired the idea to write about virtues. Mussar literally means “moral conduct instruction” or “discipline.” It is a study of ethics that can be traced back to Babylonia, tenth century CE. The study focuses on a person’s ethical and spiritual development. Mussar evolved from traditional Orthodox Jewish practice. In the past, it involved individual study. In its modern form, it encompasses four steps: individual study, group discussion, practice, and reflection. Its practice is all about mindfulness, bringing a specific virtue into consciousness as one deals with a specific situation. As an example, the virtue of patience can be recalled to “lengthen the fuse” as you sit in traffic, rather than acting rashly by laying on your horn; practicing patience is the more appropriate behavior. I liked the universality of the principles we studied and wanted to share what I was learning with my grandchildren. I hoped to generate discussion between listeners and readers.
As my study group explored each virtue, instead of keeping a journal, I practiced reflection by writing stories that included a little bit of adventure, a little bit of fantasy, and a moral lesson, hoping to make the tales appeal to children. I originally used my grandkids’ names for the protagonists. Each adventure introduced them to a situation in which I often included an interesting character, such as Messyman, who lives in the clouds in complete disorder. As a result, he misplaces everything, lives in total chaos, and can get nothing done. When I read Messyman to my grandchildren, one turned pale.
“PopPop,” he said, interrupting the reading when I got to the part where Messyman’s room had become so cluttered with toys and clothes and trash that he had to sleep in the hall.
“Am I going to have to sleep in the hall?” he asked softly. I looked at him.
“Maybe you ought to clean your room,” I said and smiled.
In another story, Happiness explains to the boys that he is never sad for long because he always knows where his happiness can be found. It comes from within him. The boys eventually encounter Enough, who understands the difference between wants and needs in contrast to two of his neighbors, Have-Little and Too-Much. After reading these stories to my grandchildren, they dubbed them life lessons.
I published several of the stories before I decided to string them together to create a novel, one based on the hero goes on a journey to find fifteen “keys.” I made it a coming-of-age story for middle grade and young teens. I decided to change the names of the protagonists to fictional ones, with each adventure in the story associated with a life lesson. That’s how Fifteen Keys came to be.
When the boys start out on their journey, they are uncertain what the keys look like or how they open doors. Mother passes a note to Hank, the eldest, on the day they depart on the journey. The poem contains hints to the nature of each key. Will our heroes find the fifteen keys and be able to return home, having gained wisdom and maturity from the experience?
Mother’s poem:
They (the keys) are in plain sight, so always be looking. Balance is a helpful clue.
Fifteen keys in all and nothing new.
Have patience, be humble, grateful, and, most importantly, true,
Have faith, honor all, and be generous too.
Show enthusiasm, establish order, and simplicity. I have trust in you.
Silence, be happy, practice compassion, and always maintain your equanimity, through and through.
~Peter J Barbour
