Adventure
Purpose: To entertain.
To allow reader to escape from reality
Structure: Opening that includes a setting (of place and time) and introduces characters
A series of events that build up resulting events.
Resolution and ending
Features:
● First or third person
● Past tense (occasional use of present)
● Chronological, possible use of time shifts, e.g. reflecting on past events
● Main participants are human or animal contrasting good and bad.
● Use of stereotypical characters, setting and events, e.g. nightmares, night-time events, being lost or chased.
● Connectives that signal time, e.g. early that morning, later on, once, etc.
● Connectives used to shift attention, e.g. meanwhile, at that very moment.
● Connectives used to inject suspense, e.g. suddenly, without warning
● Dialogue (speech) in differing tenses.
● Verbs used to describe actions, thoughts and feelings.
● Language effects used to create impact on reader, e.g. adverbs, adjectives, expressive verbs, precise nouns,
metaphors, similes, etc.
Writer’s Knowledge:
● Avoid telling the reader what to feel, e.g. it was scary, but make the reader feel it through concrete
description.
● Avoid telling the reader what a character feels, e.g. she was sad, but show how characters feel through
what they say or do, e.g. her lip trembled. (Show not tell)
● Know your ending so that events can be planned and written that come together at the end- otherwise
some irrelevant details will creep in or the story may ramble.
● Do not plan too many characters or you may lose control of them.
● Give your main characters some sort of flaw, e.g. Harry Potter’s scar and make him or her interesting.
● Give your character a feeling at the start of the story, as this will influence events.
● Keep thinking as you write what would this person do or say?
● Plan just a few details about the character that tells the reader something about their personality.
● Include the weather, season and time of day as part of creating the setting.
● To create suspense, lull the reader into a false sense of security – get characters doing something pleasant
and then introduce a dilemma.
● Use exclamations for impact, e.g. Help!
● Use questions to draw the reader into events, e.g. Where should they look now?
● At the end, show how the main character has changed as a result of the story.
● At the end, have the narrator or a character make comments on what has happened.
