Introducing Side Quests
I may not know where I'm going, but I know I'm going to dilly dally.
As a child, I devoured stories where woodland critters went on epic quests, compelled by lore and heroes of days past, to fight unsurmountable odds. For children's literature, the Redwall series by Brian Jacques has a level of Tolkien sophistication that captivated my attention and elevated my vocabulary as a preteen.
As a former reading development teacher, I know that my commitment to reading every book in this beloved series is largely responsible for why my reading comprehension soared at that age. Those books spoke to my longing for adventure and my desire to explore. Not only landscapes, but possibilities. I’ve always been responsive to stories with threads of Myth and Quest. Destiny and Divinity.
Some of my favorite scenes in those books were the Side Quests.
The off-handed paths.
The digressions. The diversions.
Side Quests can be the most meaningful moments in a story. When the gaze is soft, solutions present their hands. A winning round, a treasure found. The unexpected spirals are journeys within themselves. Microcosmic, but still relevant to the main plot.
The winding road is made up of minuscule sovereignty. The divine is present in even the silliest of side quests. The creative flow of fucking around and finding out is the most expansive, at least for me as a neurodivergent artist.
I used to think that I was pulling on too many threads, dispersing myself amongst multitudes that I couldn't sustain. And then my passed grandmother spoke through a psychic and said, what if you're meant to do all the things? And find a way to weave them together?
That’s what I strive for now: integration. I am no longer neglecting the interconnectedness of all forms of creation, joy, pleasure and play. I am no longer shaming the part of me that wants to run away from the path when it feels too big.
The small winding paths that veer away from the main one add nuance to our journeys. Aren't all quests mosaic in nature? They’re just a bunch of sub-plots and emotional stakes that culminate into crescendo.
Side Quests have their own kind of satisfaction. The sigh of a moment that won't last forever between arcs and thresholds. The small interactions that make you see things Differently. That something someone says that rings in your head.
Side Quests are the details, the allure, the break, the wonder.
Side Quests are the edge of figuring out a problem, the verge of an idea birthed anew, the margin etched with visions and questions.
Side Quests are when the main characters get a break from carrying their burdens by going to the beach and frolicking in the sand. Those kinds of episodes and chapters contain world-building and character-deepening moments of introspection.
Without Side Quests, stories lack nuance and depth.
Side Quests are fruitful for the creative and intuitive person because their meandering curiosity diverges from capitalist expectations of productivity and progress. Sometimes, progress can't be measured in a tangible way. Sometimes, progress isn’t even the point.
I think it’s worth following the fixations that lead us down rabbit holes and into wardrobes with secret doors.
If you agree, then you’re right where you’re supposed to be.
In a society obsessed with the linear Hero’s journey, Side Quests offers an alternative path for the unconventional traveler. In the world of Side Quests, digressions and diversions are sacred again. In this space, we allow our curiosity and penchant for novelty take the wheel.
Side Quests is a newsletter that provides refuge for:
The neurodivergent artist who aspires to be the jack of all trades
The explorer who love a juicy distraction
The dilly-dallier who deviates from the path
The hero who loves to fuck around and find out
This is a newsletter that diverges from the main plot, rejects the uniformity of consistency and maps the spiral of curiosity.
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Reading this has been such a pleasure!! I felt like I was reading a story and building up the anticipation of knowing what the theme of Side Quests was about, and I was in full agreeance. I'm also someone who's secretly(??? not much of a secret if I'm saying it) writing a novel and am definitely of the mind about how to integrate side quests because those are the ones that build the softer, more realistic bonds that exist between characters and with themselves. Kind of like peacetime!
Also, in my line of work as a therapist, whenever clients show up saying they "don't have anything to talk about," my brain immediately thinks we're about to go on a side quest to delve deeper on their patterns, unfettered by the daily "crises" (big or small) that tend to pull my clients' focus away from themselves.
And from one ND to another, I'm happy to see another ND person growing into acceptance of their urges and lifestyle! We can be met with so much criticism, and even worse criticism is the one we do to ourselves.
Also I'm laughing at myself as I was getting to the end of this, but you literally wrote everything I was thinking earlier--that side quests add depth, meaning, and world building. I love that we're on the same page. Looking forward to seeing more from you!
I love this! Side quests lead us down the most surprising and fulfilling paths, I love embodying my inner woodland creature. This was beautifully written!