A story where the protagonist journeys to an unfamiliar world, faces its challenges, and returns home transformed by the experience.
Voyage and return is one of Christopher Booker's seven basic plots. The protagonist gets dropped into (or stumbles into) a strange, unfamiliar world that operates by different rules. At first it might seem exciting or terrifying, but eventually the strangeness turns threatening, and the character has to find their way back home. The key distinction from a quest narrative is that there is no specific object or goal driving the journey. The story is about the encounter with the unknown itself and what the character brings back from it, even if that is just a new perspective.
This structure is a goldmine for exploring fish-out-of-water tension and personal growth. Because the protagonist is surrounded by the unfamiliar, every scene becomes an opportunity to reveal character through reaction and adaptation. It is also one of the best frameworks for writing stories about culture shock, identity, and the way leaving home forces you to see it with fresh eyes when you return.
Write a scene where your character wakes up in a place that looks almost like their bedroom but where three specific details are wrong. Let them explore and react to each wrong detail. Focus on how their emotional state shifts from curiosity to unease to determination to get back to the real version.