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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/21075
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I'm attempting to write one or two chapters with one of my main characters in a jail cell. It's important to the character development that he is isolated for an extended period of time, antagonized by others and also made to feel powerless. Therefore a jail cell seemed to be the perfect location for this character development to happen.

However, after now planning the close of my story around what occurs in this section of the narrative, it has just occurred to me that in all of the books I have ever read, I can't think of a single time I have read a full chapter from the perspective of a character who has been captured/ imprisoned and it has actually been interesting and engaging.

I'm not sure why this is, because it happens in even exceptional books that are otherwise flawless. I'm not sure if this is a personal dislike or if it is something that others also consider to be an issue.

I've read plenty of part-chapters, or chapters from the POV of a captor/ jailer that I consider good, but when it is 1 or 2 full chapters written from the perspective of the prisoner it just feels like a chore to read these sections, even if they are broken up between chapters that progress the story with different characters elsewhere.

I would assume that it is because it feels like it halts the flow of the story (even when it doesn't, for example when there is character development or the plot moves forward somehow within the jail). Being trapped in a single location feels unnatural to any narrative, particularly when other chapters are seeing a constant progression of story/ settings etc.

**Are there any ways that I can keep a full chapter set in a jail cell interesting?**

_Sub-question:_ Are there any examples of similar chapters where the POV character has been captured/ imprisoned that you thought were good/ had interesting elements?

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Note: In the story it is a new prison, so the character is the first & only prisoner, therefore adding other characters who are prisoners is unfortunately not an option, as this was the only way that I could think of enhancing the story.

If it turns out that there is no way that I can make these chapters good using this set up then I am willing to change them, but as it would mean me changing how I get to the climax of my story it would be ideal if I didn't have to change the narrative too drastically.

Original score: 7