Young Writers Society

I've got a problem.

I am rewriting a novel of mine, and I'm having the hardest time getting my characters from point A to point B in an interesting way. They're traveling from one country to another, and I want to give the illusion of time passing, and of getting to know the characters, but it is dreadfully dull to have them simply sit in a moving cart and talk about themselves. The action sequences don't come until later, and I need to pass the time believably.

How do I establish characters, without action, and pass time at once?

I would really appreciate suggestions. Thanks!

Goldie

That's a difficult one. Do they have to be travelling in a cart? If not, then you could maybe have them horse-ride to wherever they're going, but with one of them not knowing how to ride, or something like that. A bit cliched, but that's all I can think of.

-Kaz

I think flash backs are great for getting background info on characters.

As for the time thing, try describing the change in colour of the sky, or something like that...but that is harder

I hope that helps...
Alainna
xxxx

If one of the characters is an experienced traveler/has traveled through these parts before, have them talk about the geography and local legends. Or find a weird tree with tasty fruit hanging from it or something.

If one of the characters has a passion for art, have them paint/charcoal/ink/sketch any of the landscapes and have them rave about it.

Have a band of gypsies travel alongside them for a while.

Describe the different 'scapes in great detail, and have the characters notice some peculiar aspect. I.E., in the mountains, some of the stone appeared to be a glowing blue or something or other like that.

Well, that's all I have to offer. With Bubble Picture, I have a LOT of traveling scene to cover, so I'll probably be asking for ideas from you

You could always do a time lapse by pretty much cutting out the travel scene and find another way to establish characterization.

If you wanted to go the travelling route, something could happen to them while they are travelling. Being chased comes to mind. Or they have to travel through extremely difficult conditions. Or there is some enormous conflict between two characters that you could play off of.

Brainstorm. You'll come up with something.

Have them tell stories about things they did as a child, or, heck, things they did as an adult. It'll help establish them. You could even write these stories from first person, and use them as a chapter.

It doesn't work for every story, though, so you have to make sure it fitrs your style.

Goldenheart wrote:How do I establish characters, without action, and pass time at once?

There should always be some type of action. Just having them talking isn't enough. Maybe they're fidgitting with something, or daydreaming. Maybe they're watching the scenery- perhaps something is happening on the road.

If you describe their expressions as they exchange stories or reactions- maybe they react a certain way for some unknown reason which is foreshadowing a future event...Maybe they get lost. Maybe they get kicked off the cart..or someone falls off even. These actions could then prompt stories that your characters tell which passes the time.

Ending a chapter is also an efficient way to pass time. If you have reached all your goals for the chapter, end it. Start the new chapter wherever you want. Just don't skip an unbelievable amount and the reader will just assume that not much happened on the rest of the ride.

Have them talk or tell jokes to one another. Or some action happening along the way and they talk about it after it is done.

The "without action" is your problem. It doens't need to be anything dramtic, but something interesting needs to be happening. I've seen it in numerous places, and I can't remember who said it, but it is said that a book is life with the boring parts cut out, or something to that extent. Traveling long distance without a hitch is dull, as well as a bit unrealistic.

As to how to show time passing, keep cutting in and out of the traveling, putting an extra space between indented paragraphs (as is the mandate for posting here which some people still don't get, naming no names). That break should instantly tell readers that time has passed. How much? That's up to you, but be discrete. Have a little interesting/important snippet of conversation, with some movement of some kind to make it more interesting, put another space, another scene and so on. Vary the snippets from reletively minor moments (though still important) that may be a few sentances exchanged privately, to scenes that take longer, say around a campfire where everyone's involved. Keep switching up the precise local, the time of day, and the general things that are happening.

Also, put in little moments. Maybe a character steps in horse manure after saying something important. Maybe a scene gets tense and a horse passes wind. Have a miserable day in the rain. Get the wagon unstuck. Take a nude (or clothed) swim in a random lake (That could be a great moment to characterize, who goes is, who doesn't, who strips, how others react, etc.). Mind you, I'm just throwing this stuff out there (though the horse passing wind out of nowhere did make me chuckle a bit). Just keep having reletively short, meaningful scenes until you reach your destination. Since it seems nothing ground breaking is going to happen on the trip, this trip shouldn't last too long page wise. If it does take time to read through, as if it is a very long trip, make the characterizing very interesting and do whatever you can to keep it from becoming monotonous.

Well, that's all I got. Hope you understood all that and good luck with that work. Maybe someday you'll achive the nearly impossible: actually finishing it. Good luck and enjoy yourself.