Young Writers Society

How can I write a scene of my character walking through plain or repetive places (like a hallway, a field or a desert) for long amounts of time?

She's on her own for most of the book and a lot happens but there are some very plain periods of time that she's just walking from one place to another that I can't figure out how to write!

Some of them I can fill with daydreams, but others I need to show or are too short for daydreams. Most of them are about 30 minutes to two hours long and there really isn't anything in the scenery to look at. Saying "she walked for such-and-such amount of time until she reached such-and-such place" seems a little to boring.

So anyone have any advice?

I personally like using line breaks here. Like this:

-----

It shows that you're either switching POV or changing the time. As long as you show that time has elapsed (having her walk in the door, showing that the sun has now set, etc,) then that works fine for those boring spaces.

Also, you can use stars. (*) Whichever you use, you're supposed to use an odd number of them - usually three or five. I personally use five dashes or three stars.

~JFW1415

I typically think it's a bad idea to write something simply for the sake of writing something. If a describing a journey from one location to another does nothing to further the plot or add to your story, you're probably better off skipping it in the fashion the above poster suggested.

However, if you are dead set on including the journey and want to include a progressive passage of time, a simple way to do it is to get inside your character's head. She could start up an internal conversation that relates to whatever's happening, will happen, or has happened. Or it doesn't need to be an internal conversation, and could just be her thoughts, random or otherwise, concerning a relevant subjects.

The human mind is a vast resource for writers.

I agree with Phindin. Sometimes, if something doesn't really add to the plot, then it's all right to simply move forward instead of lingering on every small detail. If nothing really happens during the time that she's moving from place to place, then you could treat the parting from one place like the end of a section or chapter of the story and start the next section when she arrives at her next destination. It doesn't even necessarily have to be accounted for if you dive straight into the scene and describe her arrival, such as her immediate experiences and thoughts on the new place, or if you describe the setting and then simply go on to talk about her walking in.

Also, you could indeed use the time that she's traveling to allow her some self-reflection. If there's a goal she has that she always thinks about, if there's a lesson she's learned, something she's experienced, etc.

I don't completely agree with them. I think, yes, you shouldn't bore the reader, but you must convey your character's boredom. Be sure to express that.

If she stops for anything, be sure to mention it. Just say "she continued walking" or something like that between these events. I usually make a schedule of the time they're walking to accurately plan this out.

If you're talking about specific mechanics to convey the passage of time, you can always describe a clock, a watch, a sundial, shadows changing, the sun setting, et cetera. Your character is probably just as curious (if not more curious) than your reader when it comes to what time of day it is. However, I would only suggest throwing something like this in there if it's relevant to the plot that time has passed.