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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/21324
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/21324
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I'm not going to tell you how to solve your problem. Quite frankly, I don't know how to solve your problem, despite having faced it countless times myself in the past. Instead, I'm going to show you why you have this problem in the first place. I'm going to show you how to treat the cause instead of the symptoms.

Not knowing what to include in your novel is a sign that you don't know what your novel is about. It sounds strange, I know, so allow me to explain.

Your novel needs to be _about_ something. Contrary to seemingly-popular belief, you cannot just write a cool plot and leave it at that. There will be gaps, such as boring journeys, that are not covered by the 'cool plot' (amongst other things).

Think of it this way: what are you trying to accomplish with your novel? I'm not talking about publishing here, I'm talking about your own goals. Are you writing just to get a story out on paper? Are you maybe writing just to see if you can? Or are you actually trying to say something through your writing?

If you are trying to say something, then take that message (called a theme by some), and craft your story around it. Theme will tell you what kind of story you want to write, if you look at it closely enough. It will tell you what kind of characters will get the theme across to the reader. It will tell you what kind of plot will vault the theme from beginning to end, to that very moment in the climax where the reader suddenly realizes what you're trying to tell him.

If you know this, you will _never_ be faced with what I like to term the 'awkward journey' or anything similar. You will _always_ know where you are going, why you are going there, and how to get there.

If you find yourself facing an 'awkward journey,' think about why. Is this truly part of what the theme told you to do? Or are you simply including it because it is 'cool' or a chance to show off your medieval world? Write your story from the theme alone, and every single scene will have a purpose.

P.S. More directly related to your dilemma: I find myself often faced by awkward journeys, despite the story coming straight from the theme. When this happens, it is usually because I had a vague idea of what I wanted the story to be like before I considered the theme, and then that idea found its way into the plot. You can fix this by asking yourself if those two people really need to be apart. Does that city really have to be that far away? Is an entire journey necessary, or will the same thing be accomplished by the protagonist going two houses to the right and knocking on the front door? Watch your plot. It may seem like letting it take its own route is a good idea, but it's not. At least not until you know where it should go from beginning to end. Trust me; I've been there too many times.

Original score: 16