An important part of any story, especially a fantasy, is the journey to a destination. There can be many destinations or just one, as long as there is movement. Characters that sit around waiting for something to happen, or trouble come to them is boring. There are so many different ways to travel, by walking, riding, spaceship, or you could make up something totally new.
Traveling opens up uncounted opportunities for the writer to show a little bit of the world, show how their characters react to obstacles, and show how they treat others if not alone on their journey. Which brings up another point. Characters rarely travel alone. Some may start out that way, but soon gather up companions to help them or secretly hinder them.
These companions may be human, animal, or maybe even an unseen spirit. But please don't give them someone who just functions as a place holder. Every companion should have a story of their own. They will have likes and dislikes, strong opinions about the world, and a personality that blends well with the MC. Most important of all, they should be able to aid the MC in some way, such as a protector or a teacher, someone to help them gain confidence.
The destination and the importance of it should be revealed early in the story. Readers will soon lose interest if the characters are just traveling, but no one knows where they're going. For a stand-alone, arriving at the destination should coincide with the climax of the story. If you're writing a series, have secondary destination that can be reached at the end of each book. Readers will probably be turned off if the story ends and the characters haven't made it to the final destination.
There are so many possibilities for destinations and they don't have to be physical. It could be a new plane of existence or spiritual level. Even death could be the final destination. Send your characters out into the wild unknown and have fun writing your story!
As always, this is my opinion. If you disagree, I'd love to hear your ideas.
Thanks for reading. Sorry I don't have any writing to share this week.
Often the obvious needs to be stated. I agree with your notion of the travel for the characters. What you wrote about the place holders is particularly interesting because I think I'm guilty of that. Thus I'm going back to put some meat on the bones of a few characters that I've introduced in my WIP. Thanks Roland
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting, Jerry! I was beginning to think no one bothered to read my blog. Yeah, I've noticed that happening occasionally where the writer just brings in a character to keep the MC company, but they don't add anything to the story.
ReplyDeleteBTW: Good luck in your new home! Hope it works out for you.