The Adventure Plot: How to Create an Adventure Plot for Your Story

Before we talk about what an adventure is, let's talk about what it isn't. Many people confuse The Quest with The Adventure. The main difference between a quest and an adventure is our focus. A quest is a character driven story, while an adventure is an action plot. A plot of the body, where the quest was a plot of the mind.

What it comes down to is that in a quest, we watch a person make a journey. In an adventure our focus is on the journey itself.

Motivation is just as important in adventure plots as it was in the quest plot. In the adventure plot, though, the journey itself has to be of the utmost importance. The focus is on the scenery and the events occurring within the adventure. We are much less focused on multidimensional characters as we are multidimensional - and believable -landscapes, events, and supporting characters.

Our main characters have to remain believable, but we aren't as worried about them or their growth.

Structure of The Adventure Plot

Stories based on an adventure plot can be broken down into the same three acts as the quest plot: The Motivating Act, The Journey Act, and The Goal Act. These three acts will serve as a skeleton that we can flesh out into a full story. This is the foundation upon which the story will be told, creating a tale that is tightly plot-driven and keeps action flowing (and readers frantically reading).

The Motivating Act -- An adventure needs to get started right away and be exciting from the beginning. What ever motivates your adventurer must happen immediately, and it must be compelling enough to drive an entire adventure.

Will your adventurer be willing, ready and eager for the adventure? Or will he be hesitant or even unwilling to embark on the adventure? Often in the adventure plot, the adventurer starts out unwilling for one reason or another and as the stakes are raised, or the adventure becomes so exciting, he is more than eager to continue and see the adventure out

The Journey Act -- With the first step your adventurer takes, the journey begins. Your reader should be familiar with the object of the adventure or the reason why the adventure must be undertaken. What they won't be sure about is what difficulties and hardships the adventurer will face on the journey. They should be wondering if the reason the adventure must be undertaken can even be fulfilled. It is important that this reason be compelling enough to drag not only your main character through the danger and delays he will experience, but to drag your reader right alongside him.

The journey is the main portion of your story. During the journey, the scenery will unfold. New characters will be met. Each step of the adventure must be worthy of being an adventure. Not only are you dragging your hero and your reader through the adventure, but you should be dragging them willingly -- not kicking and screaming. Subplots will develop and conclude during the journey. Always remember that everything which happens during the journey must drive your characters toward the conclusion of your story: the conclusion of the adventure and the success or failure of that adventure's goal.

The Goal Act --The last little bit of your story. What ever characters have survived the perilous adventure have arrived. Somewhere. At the end of the adventure is some sort of reward. Maybe our hero has fought the dragon and won the Princess. Perhaps our characters have battled evils galore, and their reward is the safety of all mankind. The point is that at the end of the adventure our main characters get something out of going on the adventure in the first place. There are often romantic involvements or heroic acclaim.

What happens if the adventure has failed? That adventurer still receives an award. That award might be an internal dawning realization of self or an epiphany about life. But they get something.

Create an Adventure Plot Checklist

Adventure and role-playing gamers will happily tell you the importance of an outline. When writing an adventure plot, before setting pen to paper or fingers keyboard it is crucial to know basic guidelines of what your adventurers will face, where they will go, who they will see, how they will get to the end of the adventure -- and why they take the adventure at all

Adventures are as in-depth as the quest. All the people, places and things that you will see along the way of the adventure make it very easy to stray from the theme and overriding plot of your story.

Use this checklist to keep your goals constantly in mind. Answer the questions before you start writing the story. Your story is already written? Don't worry. You can use this checklist when revising a draft of your story. As long as you keep what's important in mind, unimportant but highly appealing pieces of story will fall to the side.

1. What is the purpose of the journey?
2. What kind of world is the story set in? What inhabits this world? Are there any natural aspects of this world that set it apart from our own?
3. How is the adventure presented to the adventurer? Is the adventurer willing or unwilling? Why or why not?
4. What motivates the adventurer to take the first step of the journey? Remember that the motivation must be strong enough to carry them through danger and excitement and one of the most detailed storylines in the writing world.
5. Go back to your previous answer. This is a cause, the effect being the start of the journey. Jot down three things that could happen during the adventure. Then write down what effects these things will have on the adventurer and the adventure itself.
6. What is one way in which the terrain being journey through can affect the adventure?
7. What is one way in which nature can affect the adventure?
8. What will season the adventure to make it more interesting? -- Romance, treachery, revenge are all examples of seasoning.

It is very easy to stray from the adventure plot into a quest plot and vice a versa. First and foremost, keep in your mind that the quest is about the person and the adventure is about the journey. Secondly, reference your checklist often as you write. You'll find that the combination of both things at the forefront of your mind help you to distill the story into an essence that is simply irresistible.