Plotting epic journeys---how much should I throw at my heroes?

[Jabrosky]

I've written 2,350 words and three scenes for my Bride of Perseus story as of now. Before I begin to describe my problem, I need to summarize each scene:

Scene One: Adhiambo, an African princess who is the story's heroine, is about to be sacrificed to the sea god Poseidon's pet monster Cetus when Perseus, the Greek demigod, intervenes. Displaying supernatural strength and agility, he slays the monster and frees Adhiambo. This pisses off Poseidon, who takes away Perseus's divine abilities and reduces him to a complete mortal.

Scene Two: Adhiambo carries a weakened Perseus back to her village to nurse him back to health. While Perseus is explaining what Poseidon did to him, the hunting goddess Neith appears, gives Adhiambo a bow and quiver, and tells the two how to get to the Underworld where Perseus's divinity is hidden. Perseus, who comes from a patriarchal Greek culture, doubts that Adhiambo can fight alongside him, and Adhiambo is determined to prove his doubts wrong.

Scene Three: The heroes tell Adhiambo's family where they are going. Adhiambo's mother is concerned for her daughter's safety but lets her go after her daughter tells her that Neith has ordained it. Poseidon finds out about this quest just before the heroes exit the village and begin their epic journey.

Now comes my problem, the problem that has always come up whenever I try to write a story about characters traveling great geographic distances...exactly how many obstacles and stops should I place in between Point A and Point B? I want to convey that they're crossing a lot of terrain fraught with danger, but if I place too many obstacles, I worry that the story will end up a repetitive and formulaic series of action scenes. How much would too much be?

 

[Ankari]

Work it backwards. Create as many unique and interesting obstacles first then write the journey.

 

[Jabrosky]

Work it backwards. Create as many unique and interesting obstacles first then write the journey.

That doesn't really answer my question. The problem isn't coming up with individual obstacles so much as the quantity.

 

[ThinkerX]

A couple of glaringly obvious points to ponder:

First, how much contact is there between the two regions in 'ordinary' times? Is a trader or emisary or rootless wanderer making the trip something that happens say...several times a year? Or is it a once or twice in a lifetime type deal? Because the frequency of the visits would go a long ways towards telling you how fraught with danger the trip is for ordinary sorts.

Second, a point which complicates the first: is Poseidon satisfied with the punishment he's inflicted? Or is he out to make things even worse for the hero? I could almost see Poseidon taking a quick note of what the hero is up to this time, and dispatching a fifth or sixth rate flunky just to increase Perseus's misery, without really caring if said flunky kills the hero or not.
Or does the god simply not care about the mortal anymore? (From what I remember of Greek mythology, the Greek Gods were a very fickle lot).

The other thing to watch out for is repetition. One dramatic scene where Perseus beats off a horde of pirates is one thing. Having multiple scenes involving him defeating pirates...no. Nor do all the hazards need to be violent (aka a reworked 'iale of the lotus eaters'.)

 

[Jabrosky]

Second, a point which complicates the first: is Poseidon satisfied with the punishment he's inflicted? Or is he out to make things even worse for the hero? I could almost see Poseidon taking a quick note of what the hero is up to this time, and dispatching a fifth or sixth rate flunky just to increase Perseus's misery, without really caring if said flunky kills the hero or not.

Poseidon took away Perseus's divinity as punishment for killing one of his pets. His motivation afterwards is to prevent Perseus from regaining that divinity...wait a moment, I haven't figured out exactly why Poseidon would want Perseus's punishment to last forever.

Back to the drawing board again, I guess.

The other thing to watch out for is repetition. One dramatic scene where Perseus beats off a horde of pirates is one thing. Having multiple scenes involving him defeating pirates...no. Nor do all the hazards need to be violent (aka a reworked 'iale of the lotus eaters'.)

That was precisely what I was worried about.

 

[Devor]

Two, three or four. Or just a chapter, or just a page. It depends.

At some point very quickly a journey starts to feel stretched - why can't we get there already? - so it depends on how much your characters and stories and arcs can develop through your obstacles. It also depends on how many of these obstacles "disappear" before the end. For instance Bilbo, in the Hobbit, developed a lot before they reached the dragon Smaug, and several of the obstacles en route came up again in the battle at the end. The journey was also pretty varied - meeting the elves wasn't the same experience at all as the orcs or the men or the trolls or so on. All of that comes together to justify the long journey.

But if all you do is go from obstacle to obstacle without much time to develop your characters' personalities, then you might as well skip it down to a chapter or a page and move on.

 

[Feo Takahari]

Another way to look at it would be "what purpose do these obstacles serve?" For instance, an obstacle can demonstrate to a character that he needs to improve in a certain skill, or it can reveal a facet of his personality that not even he recognized. Include as many scenes as you need to demonstrate or change everything you need to demonstrate or change by the time they've reached their destination (and don't include scenes that don't demonstrate or change anything--if you haven't got enough obstacles, you can skip those scenes and mention them offhandedly later.)

 

[Jabrosky]

Two, three or four. Or just a chapter, or just a page. It depends.

At some point very quickly a journey starts to feel stretched - why can't we get there already? - so it depends on how much your characters and stories and arcs can develop through your obstacles. It also depends on how many of these obstacles "disappear" before the end. For instance Bilbo, in the Hobbit, developed a lot before they reached the dragon Smaug, and several of the obstacles en route came up again in the battle at the end. The journey was also pretty varied - meeting the elves wasn't the same experience at all as the orcs or the men or the trolls or so on. All of that comes together to justify the long journey.

But if all you do is go from obstacle to obstacle without much time to develop your characters' personalities, then you might as well skip it down to a chapter or a page and move on.

So character development is key...thanks a lot, Devor!

@ Feo
Your post was helpful too, but for some reason the "Thank You" button doesn't appear on the bottom.

EDIT: OK, now it does.

 

[Jabrosky]

Poseidon took away Perseus's divinity as punishment for killing one of his pets. His motivation afterwards is to prevent Perseus from regaining that divinity...wait a moment, I haven't figured out exactly why Poseidon would want Perseus's punishment to last forever.

Back to the drawing board again, I guess.

Actually, this could work. If you punish a demigod by taking away his divinity, you'd want him to suffer it all his life. That could be reason enough for Poseidon to block the heroes' efforts to restore Perseus's divinity.

 

[coolstoneman]

It looks like you are getting some of the structure of your story ironed out pretty well. I had a thought, however, that might add an interesting take to your story. What if, during their journeys, they run into a terrifying, evil (or so they think) creature of some sort that almost defeats them. And after the battle, they get to know it, and find out that Poseidon had also punished him for some reason, many years ago, which was the reason he fought perseus, maybe Poseidon made him a guardian or attack watchdog. Now, Poseidon offers him a truce to join him on his journey and ultimately, fight back at Poseidon.

 

[Jabrosky]

It looks like you are getting some of the structure of your story ironed out pretty well. I had a thought, however, that might add an interesting take to your story. What if, during their journeys, they run into a terrifying, evil (or so they think) creature of some sort that almost defeats them. And after the battle, they get to know it, and find out that Poseidon had also punished him for some reason, many years ago, which was the reason he fought perseus, maybe Poseidon made him a guardian or attack watchdog. Now, Poseidon offers him a truce to join him on his journey and ultimately, fight back at Poseidon.

Obviously the Underworld's gateway has to have some kind of guardian, so as reluctant as I am to steal other people's ideas, I have to thank you for that.

 

[coolstoneman]

Obviously the Underworld's gateway has to have some kind of guardian, so as reluctant as I am to steal other people's ideas, I have to thank you for that.

Don't feel bad in the least.. It's not original, I know I've seen it in some movies before and no doubt it's been in books. You might even come up with a different variation. At the very least, it can jog your creative process and give you new ideas. Good luck!