#adventurestories

Writing Adventure Stories With Kids.

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of presenting a writing workshop to a group of kids. It was for the very first kids book club organised by the amazing and supportive Book Cow-Kingston.

Running a writing workshop for kids at the Book Cow Kingston for their Kids Book Club.

There’s always so much fun to be had when talking about adventure stories, dinosaurs and volcanoes.

We decided that instead of asking kids to read a certain book or chapters before attending the event, all they had to do was to think about an adventure story they had read.

The question was then posed - What makes a great adventure story?

We spent the next hour or so, discussing the key elements that go into writing the story structure to develop their own fantastic adventure.

To do this yesterday, as we went through each item, I used examples and read extracts from my Adamson Adventure series. This lead to much discussion about dinosaurs and volcanoes. (more on that later).

Let’s examine seven key features we need to be able to write a thrilling adventure story for kids.

A Hero

All great stories need an equally great hero or protagonist. The hero needs to be likeable and relatable so that the reader will be invested in the story and want to see the hero succeed. A hero, also however, needs flaws or weaknesses. Things that they fear or worry about that they must attempt to overcome throughout the story.

My main character in the Adamson Adventures is Zac. Each story is told from his point of view. Zac is a bit of a know it all. He loves reading, science and learning about everything, but this can be a little annoying to his siblings. Zac’s knowledge about dinosaurs does come in handy to help keep them out of danger in Fossil Frenzy.

Supporting Characters

A hero often doesn’t go on his journey alone, (although he can) he usually needs supporting characters or sidekicks. These provide comic relief when the tension gets too much, or push the hero to keep moving forward when the obstacles get too difficult.

Zac’s sidekicks are his sister, Clare and his brother, Luke. They too, need to have good and bad traits. Clare started out quite shy and frightened in Secrets Hidden Below, book 1, she didn’t like to take risks or do anything that might get herself and her brothers in trouble. By Fossil Frenzy, book 3, her character has grown, become much more confident and self assured, in fact you might even say that she becomes the unwilling hero. Luke on the other hand, is the spontaneous sibling, who likes to rush into things without thinking. This could be seen as either good or bad. On one hand, he is never afraid to try new things, or not paralysed by self doubt, but it can lead him into inevitable danger where Zac and Clare must follow to protect him.

A Quest

All adventure stories have a quest or journey in one form or another. Whether that is in solving a mystery, searching for a treasure or resolving some sort of major problem. Within the quest, their must be an inciting incident that drives our characters forward to a point of no return. They have no other choice but to head deep into the chasm of difficulty and danger. It is always good to drive them into an unfamiliar or perilous environment.

In Fossil Frenzy, the kids are on a quest to find fossils to help save their Uncle’s drought-stricken farm. The inciting incident occurs when the massive storms converge and they are forced to take shelter in a cave, only to discover when they emerge that they are no longer in their own time.

Villains

This brings us to the baddies in our story or the antagonist. This can come in many forms. It could be another person, it could be a crippling fear that prevents the hero from achieving his goals, or it could be a threatening animals. In this case it is a dinosaur, a theropod to be exact that is not only chasing them, but preventing them from finding a way safely back home.

Risks

As the quest continues, we must up the tension with more and bigger risks. Their must be perils to face that become harder to avert or resolve.

We talked about different types of dinosaurs, which ones may be herbivores or carnivores and what dangers these may lead our characters into. I read an extract from Fossil Frenzy and we decided whether the Demon Duck of Doom was most likely a friend or foe.

Time Limit

A great adventure also needs a time limit. It also increases the suspense, pace, drama and pressure as our heroes race against the clock to succeed. In Fossil frenzy, not only are they in imminent danger from carnivorous dinosaurs, they are running out of food and Luke becomes critically ill making the trio desperate to return home to get him to hospital.


Transformation

By the end of the journey the hero must have changed in some way by the time he has achieved his goal. Zac is more grateful to have his siblings by his side and has come to realise the importance of family. Clare is more courageous, although at times still somewhat reluctantly, while Luke, is now starting to consider his actions before diving in headfirst.



Other than dinosaurs, I also used as an example a volcano. It could be seen as a setting or a villain, depending on how and where in the story it is used. I read an extract from Secrets Hidden Below where the volcano appears in the climax of the story. It is antagonistic and prevents our heroes from seemingly achieving their final goal. It is not until the resolution that we find out whether or not they have found the sought after pirate treasure. To demonstrate the use of the volcano as part of a setting, and the initial action, I read from my early reader ‘Alien Shenanigans’ where the volcano is a classroom experiment that goes inevitably and drastically wrong. To the delight of the book club, I did the experiment and erupted the volcano. It was a fantastic way to finish the session and one I am sure the kids will remember.

The volcano began to fizz and slowly ooze over the sides.

An erupting volcano is always a big hit with kids.

Do you like reading adventure stories?

What is one of your favourites that you read as a child?

All my books mentioned above are available here from my website.

Book Fairs and Market Stalls, Are they worthwhile?

The short answer : Absolutely.

The long answer : That depends on your goals and what you hope to achieve.

Let’s look at the Pros and Cons.

Pros.

  1. You sell books.

  2. More people are able to read your books.

  3. You gain exposure as an author.

  4. More photos to post on your socials.

  5. You get to catch up in person with other author friends.

  6. You make new author friends.

  7. You make connections within the industry.

  8. You can learn from how other authors promote themselves.

  9. It’s great to meet and chat with book lovers about your books.

  10. Lots of books for you to purchase too.

Sharing a stall with a friend helps reduce costs and gives you fabulous company to share the experience with. I shared my stall with the amazing Jacqueline De Rose-Ahern .

Dinner catch-up with author friends

The Book Fair meant a great opportunity to have dinner and catch-up with wonderful author friends.

Cons.

  1. The cost of your stall can vary for the type of event, from next to nothing to quite expensive.

  2. You have to weigh up in your mind whether the cost is worth it.

  3. You may not sell enough books to cover your costs.

  4. If the event is not in your home town, you have added costs of travel and accommodation.

  5. It’s hard to know how many books to take. Not enough and you may sell out before the end of the event. Too many and you may bring most of them back home.

  6. Books are heavy to transport.

This weekend I attended the inaugural Book Fair Australia in Sydney at Sydney Olympic Park. I don’t live in Sydney, so this meant travel and two nights accommodation. Did I find it worthwhile? Yes. While I sold enough books to cover the price of my stall, I certainly didn’t cover the cost of accommodation. Did that matter? No. It was a great weekend away and a wonderful experience. I enjoyed a great girls weekend away catching up with friends I hadn’t seen in years because of Covid. Spending time with your tribe is so important to your mental health. I enjoyed talking to people as they wandered passed our stall and selling books was an added bonus. Meeting other authors and publishers was a fantastic networking opportunity and seeing the quality of printed books first hand is always helpful for future reference.

I had the opportunity to read a segment of Fossil Frenzy to kids in the children’s corner. It was a small group, but that meant I was able to engage with them personally. Connecting with kids is what being a children’s author is all about.

On Sunday afternoon I even joined the panel discussion on Engaging Curious Minds in Kidlit. I was both surprised and delighted when I read I had been selected to join the panel. I admit I was also somewhat nervous about the idea. But that didn’t last long once the discussion began, I relaxed into it and actually can say I enjoyed it. It was another marvellous opportunity to engage with my reading audience and their gatekeepers, their parents and carers.

Will I return next year? I haven’t decided yet. I would like to, but I need to consider my options. Perhaps market stalls closer to home where I don’t have travel and accommodation costs are better. However, as James Bond once said, ‘never say never.’

Panel discussion Engaging Curious Minds IN Kidlit.

Our Panel Presenter was most excited to learn that I had written a middle grade adventure set in Indonesia that incorporated some Bahasa Indonesia for kids to learn.

Panel Discussion on Engaging Curious Minds in Kidlit.

Our Panel Presenter asked some thought-provoking questions on Engaging Curious Minds in Kidlit.

Have you ever appeared at a Book Fair or done market stalls?

Did you find it worthwhile?

Would you do it again?

Please let me know in the comment section below, I would love to hear your opinion.