: Re: Vignette-esque story structure? I'm writing a novel which essentially has the main character go from place to place and retrieve a single object from each person they encounter. My problem is

@Goswami879

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This is "serial" or "episodic" adventure, like many TV shows. Traditionally, such adventures are tied together by some overarching goal or frame story. There must be some reason the character is collecting the items. In The Odyssey, Odysseus endured obstacles along the way to getting home. In The Labors of Hercules, Hercules served his cousin's bizarre whims in return for immortality to atone for an act of madness.

But in modern television, the characters just face adventure after adventure, often right up until they get canceled. A novel should have a more meaningful plot; once the character has all the items, presumably something will happen. But just having the main character grow, learn, and change could be enough. It wouldn't be too different from some Medieval stories that tied episodes together with a final one in which things the character learned in previous adventures allowed him to complete the final challenge (I'm thinking of things like "The Brave Little Tailor"). Even the labors of Hercules actually ended when Hercules managed to drag Cerberus from Hades, and his terrified cousin promised to release him from his labors if he returned Cerberus to Hades--the final episode simply broke the frame story.

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