Ciao, SEers. I’m back again today with one of the Seven Basic Plots as defined by Christopher Booker. If you’ve missed the others, you can find them here: Rebirth, Tragedy, and Comedy.

Today’s post covers the basic plot type Voyage and Return.

This plot sees the protagonist go to a strange land and face adversity on his way home. His travels are fraught with peril, but eventually he returns and is changed by the experiences he’s had and what he’s learned from them. One notable feature of his return is the emotional reaction. This plot type DOES NOT guarantee a happy ending; only a change in the character.

You may notice similarities to the Quest plot type. That’s because the two closely mirror each other. The main difference is that the Quest storyline ends when the object of the quest is attained (there is no…