Finding Adventure In Fantasy

It feels a very long blog ago to August 2014, but awa’ back then I penned a short essay on Finding Adventure in Fantasy, that appeared as part of a feature on Awkward Paper Cut.

I stumbled over the draft on the weekend and thought, given the “long blog ago” element, it might be fun to share it again here today.

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Finding Adventure In Fantasy

~ by Helen Lowe

My writing style is primarily intuitive, with stories springing from an initial ‘flash’ of an idea, before evolving. So in terms of ‘finding’ adventure (or any other element) in Fantasy, I agree with Ursula Le Guin that: “The world’s full of stories, you just reach out” (Steering The Craft). But I believe we also reach out for the kind of stories that ‘speak’ to us most profoundly. In my case this will probably always include adventurous stories, because I love them.

As a craftsperson, however, I know that an adventurous story will work best if there are peaks and subsequent levelings-off in the telling. The number of these ‘peaks’ and ‘plains’ will depend on the book’s length. In Thornspell, which is a relatively short (ca. 70,000-word) retelling of Sleeping Beauty from the perspective of the prince who breaks the spell, the structure comprises: an opening set up (aka a ‘small hill’); the transition (a ‘plain’) of the prince from childhood to early manhood; a hunt sequence where he first crosses swords with the tale’s antagonists (the central ‘peak’ of the book.) This is followed by a regrouping and gaining of necessary knowledge (another ‘plain’), with a subsequent build-up of adventurous incidents resulting in the final resolution (peak) of the story.

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A longer story, like The Heir Of Night (ca. 145,000 words) or The Gathering Of The Lost (ca. 207,000 words), will require more ‘peaks’ and ‘plains’ to sustain story tension and reader interest. This is particularly important where a story, as frequently occurs in fantasy, is based around adventure, whether quest, contest or combat. The ‘plains’ are as important as the ‘peaks’, because, as in real life, adventurers in stories cannot be constantly journeying through the wilderness or fighting off enemies without becoming exhausted – while reader interest may be correspondingly blunted. From time to time, both must come to the wayside inn or castle where the weary can eat and rest, regrouping for the next round of adventure, which will consequently press more sharply on both characters and reader.

The importance of balancing ‘peaks’ with ‘plains’ does not mean that both must be given equal treatment within the narrative. Transitions, such as Sigismund’s passage from childhood to manhood, geographic periphery to centre, in Thornspell, may (and almost certainly should) be dealt with swiftly, before the rising ground that heralds the next peak – however blue with distance still – begins its climb… This reflects the principle that the story should always dwell longest on its most crucial elements. In an adventurous story, these will always be the high points of the adventure.

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If you want to read the original series, which includes four other short essays, you can find them here: