Crafting Adventure: The Art of Zazz

Before I start out here, I have to be up front. I am not an expert. I am not a massively successful writer of New York Times Best Sellers. I have a single short novel published by an Indie Press, and half a dozen short stories that have been accepted and are floating around out there. What I can claim, is to be a connoisseur of what I call "Adventure Fiction". This post is really meant to benefit not just you, the readers, but also me since it is little more than a brainstorming exercise.  Now that my confession is out of the way, let us begin. 

Trying to curate and publish a collection of short stories is a new undertaking for me, and while we are only beginning this process, I have already learned a ton. 

We have received a decent amount of submissions so far. Quite a few of them good stories, to boot. The issue though, is that they aren't what I would call adventure, they don't scratch the itch, or have that "zazz" as my partner is crime would put it. 

So how does one achieve said "zazz"?

Good question. 

To be perfectly honest it requires a fairly precise mix of just the right ingredients in order to create the ideal concoction. 

But, before I get ahead of myself, I have to clarify something. I totally understand that Adventure means different things to different people. I acknowledge that there is adventure to be found within the realm of full on fantasy, and unabashed sci fi. That's not the kind of adventure I'm talking about. I would say the difference is that those examples are "fantasy and sci fi first", with adventure being secondary. I'm speaking specifically on a role-reversal that put adventure first and foremost. For my following discussion, I am going to rely on a formula that every adventure writer (and nerd) should be familiar with: Indiana Jones. 

Okay. 

Let's forge some zazz!

1. Setting

I know that a lot of people are going to be surprised by this, but I really think setting is the first and foremost ingredient for a good adventure. Let's think about the most iconic and memorable "adventure" media from the last century or so. Indiana Jones (of course), Tomb Raider, Uncharted, Doc Savage, Tarzan, Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt. What do they all have in common? They use a real world setting, anchored in time and place, where mystery, maybe even the supernatural, lurks just below the surface. In the case of Indy, he exists in a world very much like our own. In every way, except a few key details, his world is wrapped up in all the trappings of what we would see had we too been living during the 1940's and 50's. The "zazz" we are talking about shines because of these familiar and relatable trappings. When the Ark is opened, revealing it's true nature, that is a moment of awe and wonder. We are forced to question and reconcile our reality and how this new information fits into it. Which is the same thing Indy is doing in that exact moment. In a fantasy world, or a high tech universe, this sense of awe and wonder is diminished because the very world is filled with wonder when compared to ours. It is the juxtaposition with the mundane that sets the wonder apart. 

2. Characters

I am unabashedly not a character guy. That's not to say I don't understand what makes characters good and bad, or that I don't try and write good characters. I do try. But that is not the reason I read or write. I read specifically to go on that eponymous adventure. That being said, of course the character/s play a role in that, but maybe not in a way that you would expect. When one goes on an adventure, whether it is real world hiking or travel, or the fictional quest for the holy grail, there is an element of danger. That danger needs to be conveyed through the characters we are following on the journey. When we watch Indy scramble across the top of tanks, or react to spreading flames, we understand that he is human. These hurt and are a danger to him. The reader needs to see (and ideally feel) every punch, kick, fall, and bullet graze. Feel that adrenaline pumping? That's the zazz talking. Now that our hero or heroine has fallen from the pan into the fire, do they give up? No! That would be lame! No matter the situation that they are faced with, our characters rise to the challenge, if only to find what new danger dwells on the horizon.

3. Action

So we already talked about our characters reacting to, and overcoming danger. What left is there to talk about in regards to action? THAT IT NEEDS TO EXIST! Is the plot slowing to a crawl? GUNFIGHT! Is there no way out of your vital historical information dump? CHASE SCENE! How do you solve your problems when all intellect, reason, and logic fail? PUNCH SOMETHING! I am aware that there exists the literary idea of the "cozy" adventure, where problems are not solved with violence and no real danger is present. I reject that idea and push it into a pit of spikes! In my mind there are essentially four kinds of action: running, jumping, climbing and fighting. A good adventure should have at least two of them, because fighting is always necessary. The best thing about these categories is that they are extremely versatile. Swimming? That's running in water. Car chase? That's running on wheels! See? Easy peasey. On the topic of fighting, that is not to say your character has to be a mass-murdering psychopath. MacGuyver and Doc Savage are known for non-life threatening resolution. Indy himself has a fairly low body count, often resorting to fists, and whip. Creative resolutions to violence are always welcome, and a character that doesn't kill everyone he meets makes them easier to relate to. 

ProTip: To ensure maximum zazz, use all four categories. 

4. Balance

This, I think, is the hardest but most key thing to achieve in a good adventure. This ties a lot into the setting and what I said there, but you need need need to strike the right mixture of wonder, weird, and mundane. Indiana Jones is always faced with something out of this world, whether supernaturally so, or literally. The caveat is that it comes in small doses and doesn't hit full force till the climax of the episode. We may get small hints of weirdness throughout the journey, but the true nature of the universe isn't revealed till we reach our peak's zenith. This weirdness can come in all sorts of forms, from strange creatures like Sasquatch, Nessie, and El Chupacabra, it can come in the form of strange weird created by man with just the right application of pressure to bend fact, or the straight up supernatural and divine. This is not a 100% necessary ingredient, I admit, but there is something about these kinds of additions that push an adventure into a more elevated category. Maybe it is the human desire to discover, to explain? Our craving for answers to the unknown? Why am I asking these questions? Of course that's it. Much of our drive, our call to adventure, so to speak, is because humans have an innate curiosity and desire to see what lies beyond the next horizon. There lies the zazz at the heart of all of this. 

Of course there are many more things that go into a really good adventure, and a good adventure doesn't necessarily need some of these items either. Conspiracies, both modern and historical, are common. Exotic locales and interesting people are almost always a must. I would argue that a treasure, like those Indy searches for, are not a necessity. Or maybe your treasure takes on another aspect. A war journalist on the heels of a war criminal, looking for just the perfect shot to expose the bastard. That's an adventure. Finding your way down from an isolated mountain top after an avalanche while being pursued by a clouded leopard. That's an adventure too. It is not necessary to have a treasure at the proverbial X, or a J.J. Abrams style McGuffin at the center of your plot. The best example of Adventure sans treasure that I can think of, would be the El Borak stories by none other than Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Cimmerian. Set in the days before WWII, a Texas Gunfighter lives and fights his way across untamed Afghanistan, helping friends and toppling foes. Good, rollicking stuff. Check it out; there is an amazing collection published by Del Rey. 

Phew, that was a lot of brain power put into this. And you know what? If you didn't learn anything, I sure did. Do you think I missed anything? Am I wrong? Let's discuss! We love to hear from you!

-L. D. Whitney

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark