Writing Travel Scenes in Your Novel

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- This week's video is a viewer requested one all about writing travel scenes. Whether you're writing a novel set in 15th century Egypt or one set in a fantasy world, I have 8 tips to ensure your journey scenes are top notch!

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I HAVE A P.O. BOX NOW!
Vivien Reis
P.O. Box 352033
Jacksonville, FL 32235

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[vikillustrations]

I have quite a lot of travelling in my story, so I´ve gathered quite a lot of info about it.

few tips from me:
-change the way of travelling (cars, trains, ships, carriages, horses, dragons, teleporting, ...) With each one, the character has to worry about different things. And reading about somebody walking through the country alone for the 5th time is boring
-different company. We all know that who you are travelling with affects the experience and mood of travelling
-weather. Again, this can change the whole experience. Being caught in a heavy blizzard while you´re trying to fly over high mountains sounds like fun, right?

[awakened]

Travel also gives you the opportunity for the character to reflect or to think! Either alone or with a group, there's always a point where there's no dialogue, giving your characters (and readers) an opportunity to be with their thoughts

[kimberlyswartz]

You've got me. I love my Irish landscapes.

[thebordemz]

You pronounced my name perfectly! Thank you so much for doing this!!! <3 This is SO HELPFUL!

[jasleensihra]

How to write battles/ wars, please 😊 I find this really difficult and I'm scared of coming to it during my first draft

[jeremyboles]

One thing that I really loved in the show Game of Thrones (and in the books, of course) was how much character development happened during travel. I'm pretty sure Arya and Sandor's entire relationship developed while they travelled northward and I think the lack of travel narratives in the last two seasons are a big reason why they felt so rushed.

[casaroccafamilyking]

I'd have a video request:
A video about Deep POV / Submersive writing, showing how to avoid using telling words such as: see/seen, feel/felt, smell/smelled, touch/touched, think...wondered, thought, etc using showing verbs and nouns.
It would be really cool to have your 7-10 point suggestion format for each of the senses and expressions for "thought".
That would be an exciting video!

[felikinrobertson]

make a video on describing surroundings in a scene. luv your videos BTW

[saleenaali]

Please make a video on how to write a character’s breaking point, and when, and where to write their breaking point in your novel.

[stevstring]

This is kismet. I’m working on a travel chapter right now. For a while actually. Thanks for the tips. You’ve given me some tweeking ideas. I’m going to finish that sucker.

[vaguevigilante]

This was really helpful!
My story idea has the main character sneaking away to NYC every night for his own selfish purpose.
I’ve been wanting to add multiple scenes with the protagonist using the train station and with this I feel like I can use these small travel scenes more important to show the true nature or thoughts of the protagonist, it’s their safe space before they throw themselves into madness.
Showing the protagonist’s nervousness on their first night of sneaking out, showing that the character does indeed have empathy or kindness even if it’s in small amounts such as giving money to the homeless or even creating a joyful conversation with a fellow passenger. All of this to balance out the characters greed that moves the real plot.
To have these scenes not just represent travel but also to show the audience their kindness and growth as their acts become more heroic during the train ride to eventually leading them to become more heroic outside the train station, outside their own safe space.
You! Gave me the ideas to create my scenes more like this and I thank you for it 🙏
I’m trying to learn to organize my writing by giving space before a new sentence starts but I’m not sure if that’s how it’s done but I’ll learn, love these videos to make my ideas even more incredible!

[WriterMarkusRegius]

Thanks for the great tips! Travel scenes really are tricky, and I've both read and written a fair bit of bad travel scenes, this is a great tool to find out why they feel so bad :)

[MartinMartin-hozi]

Yay! Just what I needed, with camp nano coming up. Thanks so much Vivien! really appreaciate every video you do, they help my writing greatly :)

[saiyuriinuzuka]

Oooh! Great topic! I was going to re-read The Hobbit to see how Tolkien did it. Lol

[elizabethwoodson]

Thank you for making this channel. Writing can be very solitary work, which is usually fine for me at home with my laptop, but sometimes it's a lot when it goes on for so many hours every day for years. On breaks, sometimes I watch your channel. It feels like someone is writing with me.

Topic suggestion when you are looking for ideas: give a short list of favorite writers that you have studied for their different strengths and explain what they are. For example, me, I look at Patricia Highsmith for suspense, Atwood for dynamic vocabulary, Charlotte Bronte for passion, Poe for dark, poetic emotion, Woolf for complexity and strong voice, Dickens for Christmas scenes. I read through them when I feel stuck or in need of a certain kind of inspiration.

[abbeyrhapsody]

The fact this was the only video I could have found about writing travel scenes...
Thanks for this though, would be great if you could make another one!
I definitely need more tips on how to write travel scenes! Would appreciate any and every help/tip on this!

[Faith-Trust-Pixie-Dust]

A video about how to exposite world building and magic systems would be great! Not just how to build it but how to actually go about writing it

[julesg]

Brilliant! My novel is part 'roadtrip' (on foot) and it's a bit daunting. Thank you for all your videos, have found them really useful ❤

[cwfcwfcwf]

Video idea: They say you should never start a book where someone is waking up and other things not to do but we all could use ideas on just what really works for the first hundred words or so. :)

[victoriafarias]

I would love to see a video on how to write a story that takes place in a city/place you've never been in