Story shapes
The quest
A hero sets out for a distant goal, meets trials and setbacks on the way, and finally reaches it after one last ordeal.
- Time20 to 30 minutes
- People1 to 6 people
- Steps5
What it's for
A quest is driven by a goal everyone can picture. That makes it a natural shape for a multi-year programme, a migration, a funding round or a long research effort: the goal stays fixed and the story is in the trials.
Name the goal at the start so the audience can measure progress against it.
How to run it
The call4 min
What's the goal, and why set out now?
The journey6 min
The trials and the allies on the way.
Near the goal5 min
The setback when it seemed close.
The final ordeal5 min
The last test before the goal.
The goal4 min
Reaching it, and what it was worth.
Tips
- Pick the two or three trials that changed the hero. Skip the rest.
- Allies make quests believable. Name who helped.
Where it comes from
One of the seven basic plots in Christopher Booker's The Seven Basic Plots (2004). The stages here are a simplified version of his.
Pairs well with
Hero's journey
The pattern behind many myths and films: a hero leaves the ordinary world, is tested, and returns changed, with something to share.
Overcoming the monster
A hero faces a threat that seems too big to beat, struggles, nearly loses, and wins against the odds.
Voyage and return
Someone goes into a strange world, is fascinated, then threatened, and escapes home changed by what they saw.