I love the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. I can’t help it – the music, the love story (and the hope of movie #4!), the rich characters. But what makes the movie come alive is the textures and sounds of the world they live in. I can almost taste the salt and smell the briny wash of the gooey Davy Jones. For nearly 3 hours, I become a pirate, and come out of the theaters saying, “Ahoy, Matey!”

It’s that same for a well-written book. A well –written story world swallows me into the story, and I’m lost, with no desire to be found. Storyworld is one of the key elements that makes a book rise from the mundane to stellar.

What is storyworld? It’s more than just setting, or costumes. Great storyworld contains what I call the DETAILS. It’s the rich combination of all the elements that go into the background of the scene.

Here’s how it breaks down:
1. Dress – It’s not what color gown she wears, but why. It’s not whether he wears a suit, but what kind of suit, or tux. The reader wants to see the character, but don’t thorw your character into any old outfit – pick their clothes carefully, to betray their goals, and persona, their attitudes and intentions for the scene. I recently read Karen Hancock’s “The Shadow Within” (and if you want to learn how to build story world, pick up her Light of Eidon series – it’s amazing). The returning King doesn’t dress himself in the poppycock fashions of the court, but picks his attire to reflect his somber attitude toward the throne, as well as his desire to be able to grab his rapier (note, I didn’t say sword – there’s a difference!) and his dagger should someone leap from the crowd to assassinate him. It’s a terrific portrayal of his character, and his goals for the scene. Be specific and thoughtful with your character’s dress.

2. Environment – This is more than the setting, it’s the season, and the place, and architecture. Stories set in New York should note the garbage laying on the streets in July, and the beauty of Central Park in September. They should include the smell of the subway, and the noise it makes as it rushes into station with a shudder that the character can feel to their bones. Stories set in Montana (my current favorite setting) should note the trailer houses, the rough-cut terrain covered with bramble, the undulating fence lines that ride over gully and knoll, and if it is in winter, the patches of gray snow, the brown-yellow grass, the trails of hay that beckon the cattle. Make it real, and use finite details to bring your reader into the world of the character.

3. Time Period – Even if it is a contemporary, you can build in the faces, music, and norms of the time. But if it is a historical novel, be rich with the nuances of the culture. Do your research to discover things unknown to most readers. It will make their reading even more rich. This also includes influences of movies, books, political figures – anything to help build the appropriate time period for your world.

4. Attitudes – insert the attitudes of the place, culture, setting, time period. What social circle does your character run in? What would be normal for him to say, do, allow, think? How about those around him? Dropping clues through dialogue, dress or action about the prevailing attitudes of the world of your story will help your reader understand the situation and motivations of your character.

5. Inferences – or Expectations. Think about the things in your life that you “expect.” Your internet to hook up. Your cell phone to ring. Your character will have things he/she expect to happen – and writing that expectation into the scene will help it flow, and keep the reader in story world. What do I mean? Let’s say you are writing a Biblical fiction story. Going to the well for daily water would be an expectation. You wouldn’t expound on it like you’ve never done it before. Another common way to say this is R.U.E. (Resist the urge to explain).

i.e “Rachael searched for the wooden bucket that she always used to fetch water, which she did every morning. It had a rough handle, and she hated how it dug into her hand when she lugged home the family’s water, although she was careful not to spill it. She had done that yesterday, and earned a beating.”

That’s a lot of information, and probably something your character wouldn’t think. Instead, infer the expectation that she goes to the well, simplify the details, focusing on the most vivid, and most profound.

“The rough handle of the water bucket gouged her hands as she trudged back from the well, but she bit back her pain and held it out from her body. Mamma would be furious if she spilled it, again. Her back still ached from yesterday’s beating.”

6. Language – every place, time period, social strata and even age group has their own language. Utilize it to illuminate the world they live in. A great example of this is, of course, Liza and Henry Higgins, from My Fair Lady. Is anyone else amazed at the transformation right before our eyes of Liza as she begins to speak proper English? Language is a powerful tool for StoryWorld (as well as characterization). Don’t let your Scottish warrior sound like a Englishman from Parliament. (Or your Bostonian sound like a Minnesotan!)

7. Senses – I know I’m constantly harping on people to use their five senses when writing a scene but USE YOUR FIVE SENSES! Don’t just tell us what it looks like! We want to smell and taste the scene, hear the creak of the pirate boat in the doldrums, the rattle of the chains of other prisoners. The five senses help the reader enter Storyworld with your hero. Don’t leave him staring as if through a glass.

Those seven points should spell the word…DETAILS. And that’s what Story World is. It’s specific nouns, and rich (yet sparing) adjectives, and vivid verbs. It’s taking the time to build your world around your hero.

Tomorrow, we’ll talk about how to build your storyworld around your hero’s actions. Meanwhile, if you want to find a particularly rich paragraph that shows YOUR storyworld (in chapter one), please send it to me at booktherapy@susanmaywarren.com. We’ll pick ONE to share on Friday (and that person will win their choices of a SMW or RH book. Rach has a new one out that you DON’T want to miss!) And, if you want to refine it a little before sending it in, hop over to Voices, and we’ll work on it together!