Crafting a Quest Log
Every good adventurer needs a good quest screen.
*Disclaimer* - This is an import from my defunct blog, so some terminology will be in reference to that. Replace all references to that blog with references to this Substack, and you’ll see that nothing has really changed.
This week, we continue our exploration of Questing through Life! Every effective adventurer needs a means of tracking quests, and this usually comes in the form of a Quest Log. So what would that look like for us? Maybe something like this:
This is my first pass at creating something like this, but I’m pretty happy with it! I’ve divided everything into three categories of Main Quests, Sidequests, and Challenges. Let’s discuss!
Main Quests
These consist of long-term, multistep goals that will have a major impact on the storyline. I had a lot of ideas, but I ultimately decided to keep the Main Quests down to three at a time. No need to overwhelm your adventurer!
The three quests I chose are ones that are very important to me. That’s kinda the whole point. The three things I want most in my life right now are to serve God, become a published author, and get my health under control. Funny enough, you’ll be able to see those themes not just in my Main Quests but in the others as well.
These Main Quests are going to take dedicated Time and concerted Effort. These things won’t happen passively. I’m not going to accidentally finish writing my book, right? So that inspires me to take active steps toward these goals instead of my regular mindset, which is to procrastinate and hope things will take care of themselves.
Another special factor about these quests is that they do not necessarily have a firm ending. I have firm, actionable steps listed beneath each goal, but the goal itself? They are ongoing quests. That’s why I dubbed them Main Quests; they are the main goals I have in life, and completing them will be a lifelong endeavor. The steps will be updated as I go along, and of course, I may make new discoveries that alter or even complete the quests. That is a loooong way off, though.
Also, and this is an observation just now occurring to me while writing this, but the goals line up with the three different aspects of my being: spirit, soul, and body. Super cool how that worked out, and maybe it should be intentional moving forward! (More can be said on this, but that’ll be content for another day.)
If you notice, several of the steps listed under these quests are Sidequests and Challenges. That’s because all quests and challenges should earn you EXP! That’s “experience” for you non-gamer nerds out there. Earning EXP helps you level up, which helps you tackle tougher challenges, which nets you even more EXP, and so on and so forth. So it only makes sense that the smaller quests will build into the bigger ones, right? Speaking of which…
Sidequests
Here we have quests that aren’t quite so “life-altering,” though some of them certainly come with awesome new skills and can contribute majorly to the overall plot.
These are quests that I put together to help motivate me to get something important done or to take on in the background over time. Sidequests become a bit of a catchall in that respect, but that’s quite typical of how they’re handled in most games.
Sometimes a Sidequest is a simple little jaunt to slay the monster (of being an adult and going to your stupid doctor appointments). Other Sidequests take just as long as the main game and come with multiple parts (like learning another language).
These quests have definitive end-goals. They are meant to get completed and replaced with more Sidequests, because life comes with constant new content to tackle.
So for each quest, I attached a measurable list of tasks or number of things to accomplish. Once all objectives are checked off, the Sidequest is finished (or continues on to the next mission in the questline, depending).
Finally, some Sidequests can be repeated. The Bible Collectathon is one I’ve technically completed in the past, but I’ve decided I want to start anew and reread each book of the Bible. Once completed, I’ll likely replay it again!
Similar to these, but much more straightforward are…
Challenges
Challenges are meant to be simple feats that have a very specific scope. These can be one-and-done or could take a long amount of time to achieve! There’s a lot of flexibility here.
In fact, tackling a Challenge can feel a lot like doing a Sidequest, but should hopefully be more directly accomplished.
Also, completing a Challenge comes with a unique benefit: claiming the Challenge title! I’m still contemplating how exactly it will work, but I think I want to create stickers (or maybe even pins? who knows?) for each Challenge that I will order for myself upon completion.
But these Challenges can also add up to help complete Sidequests and gain experience toward the Main Quests! It’s all connected!
Y, Tho?
I spent a fair amount of time creating all of this (quite a bit more time than it took to throw this blogpost together, if I’m being honest), and I have to admit that I did this not directly for your benefit, dear reader. This is for me.
These quests and tasks are real things I’m working toward, and putting them all together in this nerdy format has me actually excited to work on them.
There is power in putting your goals in writing, in refining what you actually want out of those vague “ought to”s, and in making your goals sound fun or even silly. If that sounds like something that would be helpful to you, I’d love for you to join me on this journey.
Now, I want to make something very clear here:
I am not doing this to try to create a program for others to follow. This isn’t a sales pitch, there isn’t an app, and I’m by no means a guru in this area. I just want to share with you my personal attempts at making life a little more fun while also making progress.
I very specifically wanted to do this my way, without using other (usually paid) resources or expert advice. I used Excel to make this, but it could easily be done on Google Sheets, the notes on your phone, or even just by hand.
This is supposed to be an easy, fun help in reaching my goals, but if it becomes too product-heavy or too much like a job, it ceases to work for me. That’s why I want to make this simple.
If you like what you see and want to try it out for yourself, that’s awesome!
If you are inspired to take my Quest Log and make it better, or if you make one from scratch that’s entirely different from mine, I’d love to see it!
And if you’d like to use my version as a template to plug in your own quests, I’m rooting for you!
For all of these, please don’t hesitate to reach out here on Substack or through email. Because like I’ve said before, quests are lot cooler and more fun if you have a party working toward their goals together.
Where is he now?
This blog post was written for my blogsite some time ago, and you may be curious how much progress I’ve made on these goals.
The honest answer is, “Not much.” But hey, that answer isn’t “none,” so I’ll take that as a win.
The principles of the whole thing still stand, and I am still working towards these goals. That’s the thing: you won’t let go of the things that really matter to you.
Even when you falter, stumble, or fall flat on your face, you can still get back up. You know, just like good ol’ Cap.
