Long Distance Travelling

[catswr34]

I was just wondering how,in any of your work, you have dealt with the idea of travelling long distances quickly. IE. In the real world, there are vehicles... in something like Harry Potter, they can apparate... do you use things such as portals, or do you have your characters have to treck it out on horseback?

Your thoughts and ideas would be much appreciated

[Anjana]

In my story "Ere," the main characters mostly get around by stolen car. One of the characters can teleport, but he just won't. Something about remaining inconspicuous.

[wee_free_hobbits]

I use horseback, boat, whatever it takes to get where ever the character(s) is(are) going. Really depends on what's available.

[Donshyoku]

I have tried to deal with this in one (of many) stories that I had begun once. I too found it very daunting, but the advice I recieved was to have the character either be with other characters in which they can discuss to pass the time or have a solitary character reflecting upon personal concepts. With the character(s) minds running, you can eat up a few pages and make it look like his journey was longer than saying "He walked 500 miles uneventfully).

[dustinzgirl]

Originally Posted by catswr34

I was just wondering how,in any of your work, you have dealt with the idea of travelling long distances quickly. IE. In the real world, there are vehicles... in something like Harry Potter, they can apparate... do you use things such as portals, or do you have your characters have to treck it out on horseback?

Your thoughts and ideas would be much appreciated

Are we talking long-range? Of late I have been obsessed with the idea of string theory, and used that as a foundation for "resonance travelling" basically, in which roads betweein universes and planets exist on the waves that exist in sub-gravity. Anyways, that is what I have come up with. For on-world vehicles, I use several different types depending on the type of alien I am working with. My sub-terranian guys use rounded bullet shaped vehicles with large spinning things to chomp through the dirt and rock. I have a world of elementals who use living ice to travel. and a world of primitive who ride huge worms and caterpillars (i kinda stole that from an old wiess-hickman book).

I dont know, tell me more about your planet and mabye I could help you design something.

[Stormflame]

Have you ever played the xbox game of Elder Scrolls III. You are an upcoming 'hero' travelling this whole Land. The main key element to the whole entire game is- travel. Without travel, or merely two modes of travel, the game would have become bothersome and boring as you headed out across the great expanse over-and-over on either bug(horseback to say) or on foot. So, they added in many elements to keep the event of travel enteraining. You have the ships on the coasts. You have the wizards who can teleport you. You have the outlying portals in ancient shrines in four corners of the game. You have your own spells of enchantment and learning to aide in keeping it fresh. You have the siltstriders, or bugs, or in short taxi-horses that carry you from certain destinations to another.
All of these are a major part of what keeps the game fresh and new. The same goes with a book. If a character alllwaaayysss rides around on a flashy steed, that no one can harm and therefore is his safe zone, the suspense is killed, and he just continually rides....boring!
Add in having to hire a scout that guides them down river on a barge. Your character is NOT above humble means. Have them taken in the clutches of a great dragon and carried across the kingdom, by choice.
Keeping a story fresh with your new ideas is what keeps me in a book.