Thisis a plot I've used many times and sometiems I think I'm writing a quest story but it's really an adventure story. What is the difference? In an Adventure plot, the character or characters leave home. That's the same as the Quest story. So what are the differences.
In a Quest story while the character is searching for a person, place or thing, he may or may not find it. What he finds is a change within himself. During an Adventure plot, the central character goes looking for an object and he finds that object. There is no change in his nature. He's the same person going into the story as he is when coming out.
In an Adventure plot, the hourney is more important than the person. The character or characters leave their place of comfort for new and different places. They spend time moving through new and perhaps exotic climes. The fortune is found in these distant places rather than at the place where they began the journey. Someone or something sends the character or characters off on their journey. This is no search for self as the Quest story might be. The motivation of the character doesn't change as the story progresses and each new adventure is faced. There can be a romance between pairs of the characters.
Some authors will combine the two types. But they are writers who either know the rules by studying or by instinct. So as you sit down to write, if you're trying to decide on a plot, look at the two similar plots and decide which you're going to write. Know the differences as well as the similarities.
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