Ryan crafts Riding Freedom by dividing the novel into three parts: "In the Beginning," "In the Middle," and "In the End."

Each section contains chronological scenes featuring crucial events when Charlotte is a toddler, child, and young adult. This arrangement guides readers to follow Charlotte's adventures as she matures from a girl in New England to a woman in California and emphasizes the separate, although related, phases of her life. The book is Charlotte's fictional biography told by an omniscient narrator. Ryan based her protagonist on a historical figure who lived in the nineteenth century. Because she likes to present information unfamiliar to readers to intrigue them, Ryan emphasized Parkhurst's childhood and early adulthood to create an appealing heroine participating in exciting adventures.

Facts are important to the novel's plot development. Ryan carefully researched the life of Charlotte Darkey Parkhurst and studied the era and places...