The Enid Blyton Society

An Enid Blyton guide to writing an adventure story:

Rob's great post in another thread gave me the idea for a thread were we could all add our own 'essential' ingredients!

Rob Houghton wrote: ..an 'Enid Blyton guide to writing an adventure story' - it has all the familiar ingredients - the old house, family legend, lost jewels, secret passage, night time adventure, etc..

Can you add anything to Rob's ingredients?
What are your own personal essential ingredients?

I'll start us off:

great location/setting -

A good plot.

The first page is most important, it has to grab your attention and keep you reading.

I would even say, the first sentence!

There's got to be some kind of intriguing mystery in there, whether it's the specifically "detective" sort like the Find-Outers would solve, or something else mysterious/hidden/secret that just cries out to be investigated or explored. Other than secret passages as already mentioned, there could be an empty (?) house, flashing lights at night, a place like the Isle of Gloom that's supposedly deserted but perhaps it isn't... anything else that could point to Strange Goings-On, in short!

Use some dreadful accident / misfortune to remove all responsible adults by the start of chapter three at the very latest.

Some great 'essentials' coming in!

What about a love/hate protagonist to spark off/irritate our heroes like Eunice,Lucian,Edgar etc..

For a location - a Haunted Mine, and nearby an old Inn, with a secret passage, leading from the Inn to the Mine.

A legend attached to the old Mine, and also the old Inn, and characters, whose ancestors, worked down the Haunted Mine.

Also an unpleasant character, who had an ancestor, who worked in the old Inn.

An ample supply of tinned sardines, tinned pineapple, etc., however remote the location.

And ginger beer.

A cold spring rushing out of a hole, with a hollow area behind to be used as a fridge.

A dog!

     I think a decent, exciting climax, where the protagonists are in real danger, or captivity, or similar is very desirable, if not essential - and preferably at least a few chapters long with a few twists and unexpected developments, instead of simply being tied up/locked up/(or similar), then breaking free or being rescued by someone in a fairly simple and straightforward manner - or sometimes not even remotely that kind of element.
     This is not just an adult thought intruding years later: even as a child, I used to enjoy those tense, dangerous, climactic episodes, and felt at least a bit disappointed if a story lacked this, or it was very simple, brief, or low-key. Yes, of course the story was still good because it had many other good points, without fail; but it would still have been a bit better yet again if this element of danger and tension were introduced toward the end.
     Just to illustrate the sort of thing I'm trying to say (if it's not fully clear), I will name a few books from a few series that, from this point of view, could be considered to fall short. I just want it to be clear that I am evaluating this purely from this point of view, and not necessarily saying they fall short overall as a book.

  Famous Five:
     Five Go Down to the Sea; Five Go to Billycock Hill; Five on Finniston Farm.

  Secret Seven:
     Shock for the Secret Seven.

  Five Find-Outers:
     I could name many of them, actually, because they are more about detection and deduction than danger and adventure - so it would be unfair to single out particular books here; but I loved the intricate climax of "The Mystery of the Secret Room", spanning quite a few chapters with many twists and turns; and it was the first book I read in that series, so it did perhaps set expectations for later books that were often not met - in that particular feature I am talking about.

     There may be a few other books I could have named in this connection, but I don't remember the details of their plots quite well enough to feel confident in doing so. But I think the above illustrate what I mean, and I think it's obvious that their climaxes are rather on the tame side, and the protagonists are, on the whole, in less danger than usual - sometimes never even coming into direct contact with the enemy, or only fleetingly.

Regards, Michael.

The obligatory rope around one's waist -

Used often,but for example from the cave:

Enid Blyton's Treasury:

The final story is over seventeen pages long and is all about Harry, Cathy, and Dick who are staying at their seaside cottage not far from Kelty Cliffs with their mother's old governess, Miss Truman, who is looking after them. On an exploratory walk with their dog, Kim, near an old empty house they discover a little tumbledown cottage inside of which is a flagstone with a metal ring embedded in the floor so, naturally, the children have to lift it and they do so with the help of a rope that Dick has tied around his waist. They then do what countless other kids have done in past and future Enid Blyton tales – they climb down some stone steps and end up in a Secret Passage. A cellar is involved and a little more exploring brings them to the kitchen of the old house that has footprints showing clearly in the dust on the floor. At night when the children are in bed Cathy hears a car purring down the lane on it's way to the tree-shrouded old house that signifies someone is about to take up occupation. The plot revolves around the house and it has similar tones to Spiggy Holes and one or two other books where the "face at the window" appears. There are a couple of detailed colour pictures as well that enhance the atmosphere.

And a torch. At least one character needs a torch. Preferably a new one. With extra batteries just in case.