Hello again Christian writers!
I’ve been thinking about going on journeys, as we’ve just come back from our summer holiday! This year our holiday destination took about about five hours to reach by car (from the Kent/London border to Dartmoor in Devon, UK), but no doubt some of you will have much longer journeys!
I’ve made a video with some tips to help you write about your characters going on journeys . . . to watch the video, please click on the image. (P.S. on the video above I say ‘more stronger’ – please forgive me for this appalling bit of grammar, it’s scary doing videos and I do get a bit tense!)
One of my Christian novels for teens, London’s Gone, charts a journey three teenagers have to make (to the south coast after London is bombed by terrorists).
I had to ask myself the following three questions when planning the novel, which I hope will help you:
- How many crises will your characters have to face on the way? Strangely, if they have to go through too many obstacles, readers can start to get bored and even roll their eyes and think “not another crisis”! Perhaps you could cut the number down, pick the very best/worst? Which leads us to . . .
- How severe will your obstacles be? Perhaps you could make them more dreadful, frightening and dangerous than you had been considering? For example, instead of a robber stealing your characters’ money, perhaps he could steal all their money and all their clothes and leave them in their underpants? Instead of being delayed by bad weather, could they instead be shipwrecked on a island inhabited only by dragons? Use your imagination! Make your readers gasp as the dreadful situations unfold. Which leads us to . . .
- Are your obstacles increasing in severity? If the crises are too major at the beginning of the story, the end could be an anticlimax, but if the difficulties worsen until it looks impossible for your characters to reach their goal you will keep your readers on the edge of their seats!
And if you fancy a project for the summer and would like to join the Write for a Reason seven week online course, please let me know – we start THIS WEEK and it would be great to have you join us – it’s really good fun and you will learn a lot too! Don’t hesitate to email me if you have any queries.
Together in His Service,
Janet
P.S. The Write for a Reason course is only for unpublished Christian writers who write novels for children and teens. Click here for more details: https://write-for-a-reason.com/course-details