Running away from home is a major event and one that can be traumatic and dangerous. If you are writing about a character who has run away from home, you as the writer, have to place yourself in their life. In order for your character to feel authentic, you must become them and consider where you will sleep and where you will get your next meal. As a result, writing about runaway characters can be extremely challenging if you don't have firsthand experience with running away. So, if you have a character who has run away from home, continue reading for seven tips on how to write runaway characters!
Contemplate the Inciting Incident
Before you begin writing your novel, you must contemplate the inciting incident for your character. Your character should have a reason for running away; it is essential to identify this. Whether your character has run away from home to explore the world, or because they don't have a safe home life, it is crucial to consider the event that led your character to run away. Knowing why your character has run away will ensure their character is complex and realistic.
Don't Romanticize Their Experience
Running away from home or being houseless isn't something to romanticize.
Often characters who have run away from home endure severe hardships and their experiences shouldn't be idealized. It is likely that your character won't have access to the privileges and items they used to have. Characters who are homeless and/or have run away from home lead very difficult lives and must consider everything from showers to food. Romanticizing your character's experience will be disrespectful and offensive to readers, which is why it is vital to portray your character accurately. If you want your story to be realistic, ensure you depict all the parts of your character's experience, even if it isn't positive.
Think About the Environment
Understanding the environment and setting of your character will add originality and realism to your story. The setting of your story will largely impact the resources your character has access to. For example, a character who has run away to hide out in the forest will have a very different experience than a character who has run away to a big city. The character in the forest will have more privacy than the character in the city, but the character in the city will probably have more places that are willing to help them. While writing, think about where your character has run off to and what resources they will have available. Ask yourself these questions: Are there many people around them? Is there a shelter they can go to? Do they have access to food? What can they do in their spare time? How far are they from where they ran away? Knowing the answers to these questions will help ensure your story flows coherently and is realistic to readers.
Make Sure to Research
If you are writing about a character who has run away from home it is essential that you research. Research is important because it prevents misinformation and rumors from being spread and it engages readers who are familiar with this topic. Unless you have first-hand experience with running away from home, you should make sure to research so all the facts are right. After you have decided on the setting of your character, consider researching the resources/shelters available there and the cost of essential items. You may also want to discuss running away from home with someone who has firsthand experience. It may feel intimidating to ask someone, but most people are open to sharing. But of course, if someone is not ready to talk, you must respect their boundaries.
Consider the Character arc
Make sure you consider how your character's experience of running away has changed them. Your character shouldn't be static, there should be some change that occurs in them from the beginning to the end. You must question whether your character ever returns home or if they have run away forever. Including an arc for your character not only engages the reader but also guarantees your character is 3D and realistic. As you write your character have them react appropriately to the experiences they have endured. (Whether these experiences are traumatic or empowering.) Over the course of your novel, your character should change something about themselves, either mentally or physically. For example, some responses your character may have are a broader understanding of the world, a problem trusting people, or PTSD. For tips on writing characters with mental illnesses, click on the button below.
Describe Their Emotions
Running away from home is a very significant event, which is why it is important to describe your character's emotions. You want your readers to feel part of the story and a good way to achieve this is to describe emotions. Involve the readers by showing the emotions of your characters. Show the character's emotions in response to a dramatic scene or in response to another character. By realistically portraying running away from home, readers will form a connection with your characters. As an exercise, close your eyes and envision being in your character's shoes. Consider their emotions and the possible pain they are feeling.
Determine who They Meet
Running away from home doesn't have to be a solo event. Your character may be running away with someone, running away to be with someone, or may meet people along the journey. Running away from home will open up a whole new world for your characters and they will probably meet people along the way. Their journey grants you as a writer, many opportunities to introduce new characters. While writing about your character, determine their amount of social interaction. Some positives of running away by yourself are that you can keep resources for yourself and you can travel easier, but a major negative is that you don't have someone to talk to. A positive of running away in a group is that you have a community around you, but the negative part is that resources are easily depleted. Make sure to think about the people your character meets along their journey and how they influence them.
Characters who have run away from home often have rich and complex stories and make for very intriguing people. It is difficult to write about characters who have run away since you have to think about everything, like where they will sleep to how will they stay safe. Even though it is hard to write about characters who have run away from home it is possible if you follow the steps above!
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