My character is traveling through the desert with with this man who was tasked to get her from Point A to Point B. As they are traveling, he begins training her how to control her abilities and how to essentially clear her mind of fear (my MC has a lot of mommy and daddy issues and is in constant fear of failure- she wants to prove that she is capable and worthy, and makes risky decisions as well). I'm at a loss. i don't want it to be info dump, but this is also an introduction to this specific ability and people like her. I mentioned this on here before in regard to info dumping.... but the only training montage in a series that was memorable was in the Avatar The Last Airbender series. However, through Aang's training, there were also subplots.... like when Aang meet Jong Jong and attempts fire bending, Katara also learns that she can heal. When Aang trains with Guru Patik, it cuts back and forth between what his friends are up to. I thought about cutting back and forth to her friends.... but how I have the story outlined thus far, the POVs change at each Part. Part One has like 8 chapters of one character's POV. Part 2 is from the POV of my MC. Part 3 is from the POV from a side character. and in the last Part, all of the events in those other parts are put together and all the characters meet up for the final conflict. So I don't want to jump characters so soon..... Any thoughts on how to make traveling/training less boring (especially traveling in a desert!)?
Just because it's a desert, does it have to be featureless? Could there be rocky outcrops, passing nomads, a seeping well of sand, SAND WORMS!!!! (okay, maybe not the last one hehe) You didn't mention what the ability was, so its hard to think up something that could align with the theme of it and not just give out random ideas. Oh, and since the last montage thread wasn't that long ago, I'll refrain from posting the video from Team America : World Police
My MC hears voices. Its something that she could do all her life, so she just thought it was normal.... until she meets a mystic that basically tells her that she is from a clan of desert people who can speak to and summon the dead. That the voice that shes spoken to her whole life is a spirit. So fast forward to the subject of this post: she has met with her clan. clan rejects her and refuses to teach her. So as she is being escorted back to civilization, one clan member decides to teach her about her abilities and just what all they can do (banish spirits, summon spirits, control spirits, losing yourself to a spirit, etc.)
Avatar the Last Airbender is a different medium and while I think rapid POV change in animation is fine, I think rapid POV change in writing is harder to pull off -- unless you're doing a POV change every chapter but even that depends. A few suggestions: Throw in some humor. Maybe their powers act up and wacky shenanigans ensue. Maybe they drink the equivalent of cactus juice and begin to hallucinate. Maybe they've never been in a desert and are way too excited for the bland landscape to warrant. Throw in some conflict. The desert is hot and sand gets in their eyes and their food and water is running out and they're a little lost. Have them be angry at each other. Have them be irritable. Maybe they get stuck in a sandstorm. Maybe they're in a tough spot and only the protag's powers can save them but because of her fear of failure she can't clear her mind enough to use her powers. If all else fails, just write the bare minimum and come back to it later.
One idea that instantly springs to my mind then is - have the remains of a dead clan in the middle of the desert? Possibly the remains of them nomadically moving from location to another themselves, and didnt make it? I'll keep my thinking cap on.
