Last month, our poll for favorite plots ended with a tie between “Overcoming the Monster” and “The Quest.” Upon reflection, these are two of the most likely candidates for adventure storylines, as they hold a lot of potential for excitement and tension. When our characters overcome the monster, their journey often includes an inner struggle with their own sense of confidence and self-worth; and when our character goes on a quest, they undoubtedly find their strength from those they love (i.e.: those they’re protecting back home / those who join them on their journey, etc.). Both are very solid plots, guaranteed to include a balance of inner conflict and love triumphing over hate.
My personal favorite of the seven basic plots, however, is “Voyage and Return.” Not to be confused with “The Quest” (read more on the differences here), the concept of Voyage and Return stands out to me because it is unplanned; it is not the call to adventure that the character has been asking for, but it’s ultimately one the character needs.
In the Voyage and Return plotline, our main character suddenly finds themselves—through fate, or a higher power of some sort—completely ripped away from their comfort zone and thrust into a world that is strange and fantastic, but oftentimes has sinister undertones. And like “The Quest,” and “Overcoming the Monster,” this voyage tends to have both mental and physical effects on our protagonist. But these effects, whether obviously or subtly, almost always directly confront and challenge who our character was at the beginning of their story.
Dorothy Gale spends her days dreaming of what lies over the rainbow; turns out everything she truly wanted was right in front of her all along. Richard Tyler starts his tale as an overcautious nervous-wreck; by the end of the journey he has overcome dangers he could never even begin to fathom, leaving him stronger and more confident in the process. The Pevensie children flee a war-torn world that is beyond their control, and enter a world in which they hold the power of an entire kingdom at their fingertips.
At the end of the day, the Voyage and Return plotline is just as much about our protagonist’s personal transformation as it is about their journey. Whatever faults or worries our character might suffer at the beginning of the story are overturned throughout the course of their adventure until they emerge from the other side—possibly scarred, but all the better for having been pulled away (momentarily) from the world they knew.
Whether it is indeed fate or a higher power that tugs our characters into the journey, we cannot deny that there is always an overhanging reason behind it: our characters have the potential to be better people than they currently are, and nothing less than being whisked away to a far-off place will make them learn that lesson / see the light / change their mind / do what needs to be done.
And that, dear readers, is why these stories stand out to me the most.
— C.M.
Night Owls, just what is it about your favorite plots that draws you to them?
