How to Write an Adventure
The primary thing to remember when developing an adventure story is that the events are extraordinary—completely different from the protagonist’s ordinary life. For example, in Tolkien’s The Hobbit, an ordinary hobbit finds himself on an exciting and dangerous quest that he never imagined could happen. Similar to The Hobbit, here are a few other elements that make up an adventure story:
- A protagonist who is traveling with a helping team—a ship crew, fellow explorers, knights, soldiers, etc.
- Events that are a result of chance, fate, and destiny
- A protagonist who is inexperienced but grows through the adventure
- Daunting and threatening villains and/or creatures
- Settings that are far away from the protagonist’s home and therefore new and curious
- Dangerous obstacles that delay the protagonist and his team
- Obstacles that force the team into changing their course of action or route
- A legendary treasure or other special element that calls to be discovered
- A great need that requires the protagonist to undertake the adventure in order to save someone or his entire world from disaster
Overall, adventure fiction should have the audience wide eyed and on the edge of their seats with awe and anticipation; the audience must get excited and worried about what is happening to the adventurers.
When to Use Adventure
Use adventure to take your audience away from ordinary reality into a world of mystery, exhilaration, and discovery. It has always been used to fire up children’s imaginations and to teach people lessons about life. Adventures bring out the best in people—qualities such as intelligence, compassion, and bravery. So these stories are good ways to teach people the value of these qualities. It is also valuable simply to activate the imagination; as Albert Einstein said, “imagination is more important than knowledge.”