so I'm attempting to write my first book, I have written down character descriptions and some details of the plot and the land that their in. at the start of the book these friends get sucked through a portal/gateway to another world and one of the gets injured...so two of them decide to look for help(as they see a building/castle in the distance) and one stays with the injured person.. my question is nothing much happens on their way to the castle so is it worth writing the journey to it in or jumping straight to as they're arriving there?
I'd probably just cut to the castle - just make sure if it's quite a distance away that they've had a journey getting there. Make sure to show that they're tired or exhausted or their socks are covered with burrs or something
If nothing happens, I'd jump ahead. Or one could make things happen on the way there, which would seem logical to me with it being a whole 'nother world and all.
I understand what you mean but the only reason nothing happens is because its what happens after they reach the castle, the things they have to do and the journey after etc etc
Fiction is life with boring parts taken out (I think Hitchcock said that). If you read some good quality novels you'll see that they just move on to interesting bits, and any slowing down in pace is deliberate and serves a purpose, rather than writing 'filler' that nobody cares about, not the author and certainly not the reader. Personally, I think there's fine art to transitions, not easy to master at all.
Plus, if they are trying to get their friend help, the reader will sympathize that they're not standing around gawking at the new world - just yet. It's all the way you word it.
It's up to you. You can skip over it if truly nothing happens, but the conflicts and frustrations that can arise during an "uneventful" journey can be a boon to character definition and development. The fact that they are in a hurry to get there and the journey cannot be hurried can be maddening.
For now, cut to the castle. Do not force yourself to write filler. It is way too early in the writing process to worry about pacing. Just focus on story elements that actually matter. After you write more of the story, you might find a use for a scene on the way to the castle. Maybe, later in the story, the characters rise to some kind of challenge, and it would be cool to sneak a subtle foreshadow of that challenge into their journey to the castle. Maybe a character uses an unexpected skill or tool to solve a problem, and you could sneak a Checkhov gun into a scene on the way to the castle. You can always go back and add that in.
