Authors Annie Hartnett and Kevin Wilson on writing road trip novels

Writing road trip novels presents unique narrative and structural challenges. Annie Hartnett and Kevin Wilson discuss how the genre’s demands around setting, character, conflict, and even market realities shape these stories in ways different from stationary fiction.

Narrative Challenges of the Road Trip Format

Road Trip Novels Rely On Distinctive, Memorable Characters, Unlike Stationary Narratives

Annie Hartnett notes that road trip novels cannot utilize minor characters in the same way as novels set in a single location. Since the core cast is moving constantly, each new character they encounter must be highly distinctive and make a strong impression immediately. There isn’t time for slow reveals or background development, so every character’s introduction needs to be sharply defined.

In Road Trip Novels, Each Location Must Create a Significant Impression

Because the action continually shifts from place to place, Hartnett explains that each setting must stand out. Every stop needs to offer something memorable and vivid to the narrative; merely being a backdrop isn’t enough. The sense of place is crucial, and writers must ensure that settings are as purposeful and engaging as the characters themselves.

Managing Conflict and Momentum Keeps the Narrative Focused and Orderly

Kevin Wilson acknowledges that, unlike in stationary novels, maintaining reader engagement in a road trip story requires frequent conflict or complications. While he personally prefers narratives where little actually happens, he learned through editorial feedback that constant forward movement across different locales brings a need for plot events to sustain momentum. These moments—whether arguments, mishaps, or external challenges—are needed to give shape and energy to the journey.

Time Disruptions Like Vehicle Breakdowns So Characters Reflect While Progressing To Their Destination

Hartnett describes the delicate balance required in pacing. The journey can’t be all turmoil, or the trip will never progress, nor can it be uneventful, or it risks stagnation. She recommends strategically timed disruptions—like a car breakdown or a mishap at a hotel—to pause the forward action and give characters a chance to reflect. Then, momentum resumes as the story continues toward its destination. This keeps the journey both purposeful and introspective.

From Stationary Fiction to Road Trip Narratives: Shifting Plot Structure and Pacing

Kevin Wilson Found That Stories Set Across Locations Need More Frequent Inciting Incidents and Complications Than Single-Location Stories

Wilson shares that in stories where characters remain in one place, a lack of incident can be less noticeable. In road trip fiction, though, the continual physical progression demands regular inciting incidents or complications to maintain narrative drive and coherence.

Reframe a Road Trip As a Quest, Not a Journey

Wilson remarks that while his characters may not think of their travel as a conventional “road trip,” reframing the movement as a quest adds narrative purpose and aligns with rea ...

Classic and Contemporary Road Trip Novels: Essential References For Journey Narratives

Annie Hartnett cites Miriam Toews’s The Flying Troutmans as a significant influence on her own novel, Tender Hearts. In The Flying Troutmans, a woman in her 30s takes her niece and nephew on a cross-country journey, searching for their father after her sister is admitted to a mental hospital. Hartnett notes this novel is a favorite road trip book and directly shaped her portrayal of a woman reconnecting with family while driving across the country and coping with difficult circumstances.

Another influential road trip novel for Hartnett is Janice Galloway's Car Crash Walls. She highlights its memorable approach to character development through tragedy: the story involves hitchhiking and does not shy away from the loss of animals, a narrative element she usually avoids. Despite this, Hartnett praises how the book handles the aftermath and growth of its characters through challenging experiences.

Kevin Wilson brings up Charles Portis's True Grit, noting that it’s not a traditional road trip novel but was foundational for his own writing about journeys. He emphasizes the movement in True Grit, where Maddy Ross hires Rooster Cogburn to travel together into the western territories to avenge her father's murder. He points to the dynamics among mismatched strangers navigating both physical and emotional territory as a model for journey narratives.

Wilson also discusses Imogen Binnie’s Nevada. He admires how Binnie innovates the road trip genre by focusing not on the physical act of driving, but on what motivates a character to travel and the consequences that follow. In Nevada, a trans woman, after upending her life, steals her girlfriend’s car and heads west. Wilson appreciates that the novel erases mechanical details of travel, instead underscoring emotional cata ...

Road trips carry emotional weight and foster relational bonds far beyond just reaching a destination. Both Annie Hartnett and Kevin Wilson reflect on how traveling enlivens connections, unlocks vulnerability, and enables both escape and affirmation.

Traveling Time in Enclosed Spaces Fosters Passenger Connection and Vulnerability

Shared Car Rides Offer the Only Context for Young People to Feel Safe Engaging in Meaningful Conversations With Parents

Annie Hartnett observes that spending time with children in the car is uniquely conducive to deep conversation. She explains that with her seven-year-old daughter, the most meaningful talks happen when they are driving to and from school. The car ride creates a sense of safety for kids, likely because of how familiar and frequent these trips are in their lives.

Driving's Predictability Creates Claustrophobia That Opens Emotional Channels For Passengers

Hartnett attributes the value of these car conversations to the environment itself. The predictability and boredom of sitting in a car produce a gentle claustrophobia that, rather than trapping people, creates space for opening up emotionally. The forced proximity and lack of outside distractions allow people to engage with each other in a way that's rare elsewhere.

Road Trips Provide an Escape From Identity, Reaffirming the World's Vastness and One's Place in It

Traveling Reveals a World Beyond Small Towns

Kevin Wilson reflects on coming from a small town and describes how road trips reveal the vastness of the world. When immersed in one's usual environment, it is easy to feel confined or out of place. Traveling makes it possible to appreciate how wide the world is, and illustrates that it is possible to move freely within it.

Temporary Travel Enables Risk-Free Exploration of New Places

Wilson finds comfort in the temporary nature of road trips. While traveling offers exposure to new spaces and the opportunity to fit into different places, these journeys are predicated on the understanding that he will eventually return home. This temporary escape grants the freedom to explore without the pressure or risk of permanent change.

Road Trips: Companionship Over Destinations

Kevin Wi ...