Going off of Susie’s great post on making a scene pop, let’s talk about setting.
Setting is multi-dimensional. Not just a location like a city, home or office, but the actual anchor of a scene. Many times we can’t get into our scenes or draw in readers because we haven’t set the stage.
How can setting deepen your characters, a scene, and ultimately the story?
While writing Lost In NashVegas, I tried to avoid diving into the personality of the city. I wanted to write about a songwriter without understanding the city in which songwriters are made.
How could I have my heroine, Robin, try to make it in Nashville without singing at the Bluebird Cafe, or stopping by the ASCAP offices for a Pro appointment? Not only did I have to do my research, I needed to know my setting.
In one scene for Lost In NashVegas, Robin sings karaoke. Scouring the internet, I found an actual Nashville place for her to sing. In my mind, I envisioned a local karaoke place I’d visited for research. It was a small dark sports bar.
I figured this kind of setting played nicely into Robin’s fear of singing in front of people. Yet, when I called the Nashville establishment, I found their place was bright, light with high, open beem ceilings.
Hum, now this would have a different effect on my heroine? Wide open spaces would make Robin feel less watched and closed in, and ease her fears.
So, instead of writing the scene with Robin feeling trapped and scared, I wrote the scene with Robin feeling courageous, able to over come her fright.
Understanding my setting enabled me to set the stage and work Robin’s character according to her surroundings. It also helped me write about a place readers could envision, even if they’d never been to karaoke.
Setting is the room you protagonist enters, the car he drives, the music playing on the radio, the breeze off the river, the sun in her eyes, the people joining him for dinner, the feeling he has when the hem of her dres brushes her knees as she walks.
What and where is your character? Who are they seeing or hearing and how does it impact them?
How’s the weather? Is the day bright and sunny? Cloudy and rainy? Give us a feel for time and space.
I’ve learned setting the stage for each scene has deepened my writing and the readers ability to escape into the story.
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