20 MP Lesson 8: Plot #2 Adventure

[ScienceGirl]

Who is original? Everything that we are doing, everything that we think, exists already, and we are only intermediaries, that's all, who make use of what's in the air.

~Henry Miller

In his second example, Tobias defines the adventure plot as a "plot of the body." He contrasts this with the quest plot, which is a "plot of the mind." In the quest plot, he says, the focus is on the character making the journey. In the adventure plot, the focus is the journey itself. 

As with the quest plot, the hero goes off in search of something, though it's more of a search for fortune or success. The motivation is different, then, and it will lead the character to the brink of danger until they triumph and run home. The adventure plot relies on a "sense of breathlessness." and we get swept up with the hero as they move through events that are larger than the character themselves. 

Thus Indiana Jones is an adventure seeker, and not a quest follower. He, like other adventure characters, are not defined by their mental prowess or quick-wittedness as much as their ability to prevail over the next event. 

Adventure stories offer a wide-open field of location. Any world will do, as long as its not "the mundane world we inhabit." He likens adventure tales to fairy tales for adults, just an extension of the stories we loved as a child.

Act One

Once Upon a Time

Tobias believes that people underestimate the value and technical skill of fairy tales. He calls them:

...exquisitely fashioned fictions that are precise, economical, and rich with meaning and symbolism.

Adventure plot is one of the most commonly used in Fairy Tales, such as it's found in "The Three Languages" by the Brothers Grimm. Tobias uses this story to explain all the facets of adventure.

At the beginning, we meet an elderly Swiss count who believes his son is stupid. The son is ordered to leave the castle to become educated. And once he has a reason for leaving, the hero departs on his journey. As with a lot of adventure plots, the protagonist has no choice but to leave.

Three Strikes, and You're Out

Continuing on with his example, Tobias explains that the boy leaves and spends a year with a master. When he returns home, the count asks what he's learned, and he replies, "I have learnt what the dogs say when they bark." That's not good enough, so the boy leaves for a second year and returns to say, "I have learnt what the birds say." 

The count sends him off for the third time with the warning that if he doesn't learn anything useful, he needn't bother coming home. So, when the boy returns after the third year and says, "I have learnt what the frogs croak," the count orders the boy into the woods to be killed.

Being unable to go home, the boy again has no choice--"he must go forth into the unknown and fend for himself." 

The events in the first act of the story are simple, and pure cause and effect. He purpose is "get an education," so he does. But then he's rejected, so he does it again. More rejection, so he does it yet another time. As Tobias points out, each scene stems from the one before it. 

Act Two

Now, for the "Your Out" part of this plot. Once the boy leaves the demands of his father, his motivation changes. Act Two of the story lets the boy make his own decisions about where to go. When your character reaches this point, it's up to you, the writer, to create a series of locations that are connected and purposeful.

In "The Three Languages," the boy visits a great castle and sleeps in the ruins of a tower to watch for wild dogs who might kill him. Then, he visits Rome, and passes a marsh and hears what the frogs are saying, that he will become the next pope. And finally, when he is the pope, doves prompt him so he knows how to lead mass. 

Along the way, there are several things that happen to him. He finds a new father, who adopts him. He becomes the pope. But none of these things change his character in any way. Even when he becomes the pope, he doesn't gain any kind of spiritual insight. He gets that from the birds. So the story is more about the completion of each movement in the journey than the growth of the son as a character. Even with his stupidity--we don't see him become less stupid. We just see him learn to understand the three languages.

Act Three

Unlike the quest plot, the resolution of the adventure plot is much less important to the character. There is still the question posed in act one, and the answer given in act three. The question becomes more "Will the son make his way in the world?" and we get a resounding "yes." 

Writers often have a hard time ending books with an adventure plot. The return home, obviously, can be the end of the journey. But what about this son who will never come home? So the ending can be less rigid. 

Also, Tobias mentions that adventures often include a romance. Not in "The Three Languages," because the pope isn't going to be romantically involved with anyone. But generally, there's a love interest in an adventure plot.

A Caution

If you plan to write an adventure plot, Tobias warns that the details are incredibly important. If you've never been to that location yourself, do your homework and research it thoroughly. Visit if you can, or talk to someone who's been there. How does the place sound and smell? What little details will make this place come alive. Take careful notes and write down your sources. Don't take shortcuts, because those details are inseparable to the journey. 

A Checklist

1) Does the story focus on the journey more than the person making the journey?
2) Does the story involve a foray into the world to new and strange places and events?
3) Does your hero go in search of some kind of fortune or fame? (It is never found at home).
4) Does someone other than the hero motivate them to begin the adventure?
5) Do the events throughout the story depend on the same chain of cause-and-effect relationships that motivate your character at the beginning? 
6) Does the hero stay mostly the same from beginning to end? They would not necessarily change in any meaningful way
7) Is there a romance.