Adventures as children are fun. As adults, they can be deadly. The adventures our characters embark on are often dangerous, filled with friends and foes alike and life-changing. Here are a few things to keep in mind when writing your character adventures:
Things to consider when writing character adventures
Character Development
What usually sparks character adventure is a character’s motivations and goals.
Whether it’s a quest to find a hidden object, saving a loved one, or discovering their true purpose, these driving factors will keep your readers invested in the character’s journey.
They will have them cheering them on, gripping the edge of their set or crying at 2 AM.
Motivation and Goals
Your character’s transformation is central to their adventure.
Consider how the challenges they face will impact their personality, beliefs, and skills and how it could change them.
Show their progression from their starting point to a better state by the end of the adventure. Alternatively, writing a negative character arc can be interesting as well.
Conflict and Obstacles
Adventures thrive on conflict and challenges.
If your character achieved their goal within the first act of the book, it would leave your readers feeling a sense of loss as they were prepared to read much further in. Introduce a variety of obstacles that your character must overcome, including physical, emotional, and moral challenges.
My faith-based characters, usually engage in spiritual battles too. This keeps the plot engaging while also testing the character’s strengths and weaknesses.
World-building
My favourite part of writing character adventures is how worldbuilding affects their adventure.
If they live in an academic society in isolation from the rest of the world, then when they embark on their journey to unexplored ruins they are forced to leave their books at home and pick up a mining pickaxe instead.
By creating a logical and amazing world for your characters to explore. Remember to consider the climate, history and culture and how even if it’s fantasy it still has to make sense. If it doesn’t make sense to you as a writer, it won’t make sense to your reader.
The more detailed and believable your world is, the more readers will be drawn into the adventure.
Pacing
Balancing the pacing of your adventure is crucial.
Most readers don’t want to read 365 pages about how your character went shopping on a cloudy Tuesday. Try to alternate between moments of action, internal conflict, and reflection to keep the story moving while allowing the reader to catch their breath and connect with the characters along the way.
You want to write characters your readers will love and remember long after they read the last line of your book.
Themes and Messages
Don’t write a story unless you have something important to tell.
When plotting, think about the themes and messages you want to convey through your characters’ adventure and how they could impact your readers and apply to them.
Whether it’s themes of redemption, friendship or courage, include them in the plot and character arcs for a lasting impact.
Emotional Resonance
Your readers have to care about your character and the stakes. If they don’t they won’t read your book. As a writer, you can help do that by making your characters relatable by giving them vices and virtues as well as fears and goals that readers can empathize with, root for or abhor.
Foreshadowing
A favourite of mine, especially because it is so often used in the Good Book to speak about the coming Messiah, Jesus.
Use foreshadowing to hint at future events or outcomes, building anticipation and intrigue. You can have your readers following right alongside and they will keep guessing and hoping if they are right all along.
If you introduce an element or detail, make sure it plays a role in the story later to avoid loose ends and making your reader feel “plot-betrayed”.
Voice and Style
As a writer, you need a style that is uniquely yours.
If you are just starting out, don’t worry about this too much as this is only something you develop with time and practice. Many writers like to read books by authors whose writing style they admire, which is a great starting point.
Try coming up with a writing style and narrative voice that suits the tone of your adventure and your genre.
Engaging your readers
It is crucial to keep your readers interested in your characters’ adventures.
Some writers do so by ending chapters on cliffhangers, using descriptive language, and maintaining a sense of curiosity and wonder throughout the adventure.
You want readers to keep turning page after page, chapter after chapter to find out more of your story.
Make it relevant to the character
For an introverted stay-at-home person even going to the bookstore on the opposite side of town can be an adventure. Size your character adventures to fit your characters, not everyone is meant to save the world.
However, giving your characters more than they can initially handle, forces them to push outside their comfort zone to succeed. And maybe they don’t succeed at first.
For Superman, stopping a villain and preventing evil from taking over is an everyday life but Lois Lane is set on finding and spreading true stories to Metropolis and its citizens.
Thank you for reading another part of the character crafting chronicles. I hope it helps you write a better character journey. Have a mega wonder-filled day💛.
