When I first crossed over to the Dark Side of the writing road and started writing fiction, I flunked Storyworld.

My conversation with Susie May Warren went something like this:

Me: Four walls, a ceiling and a floor. Let the readers take it from there.

SMW (shaking her head in dismay): No. No. No. That’s not how it works.

Since then, I’ve come to love developing a novel’s Storyworld – and Susie no longer looks like she wants to cry when she reads any of my scenes.

What: Storyworld

In one word: Details. Storyworld is more than a scene’s setting or your characters’ clothes. Compelling, draw-the-reader-in Storyworld contains a rich combination of elements creating the background of a scene.

Why: Do you want your reader planning their grocery list while reading a chapter of your book? I don’t think so! You want to pull them into your story – and writing more than four walls, a ceiling and a floor is the way you do it.

Here are the key elements that help you craft Storyworld:

• News – just the facts, ma’am. (Stick with the basics. The 5 Ws: Who, What, Where, When, Why. The reader needs to know who is in the scene, what is going on around the character, where it is, why the character is there, when it’s taking place.)
• Observation –What’s in your world? (5 Senses: sight, smell, sound, touch, taste.)
• Voices – Think: How do you like your yellers? Engage your character with the Storyworld – don’t let it be static. Use dialogue.
• Emotions – It’s all in the details. Think: What one detail could you highlight that captures the world in a nutshell? What are you trying to convey? How is that metaphor already in the scene?
• Language – Use specific nouns and details to evoke emotions and create place.

Suggestion: Take the time to sketch out at least three of these elements before beginning to write a scene or a chapter:

1. News (the 5 Ws)

2. Observation (the 5 Senses)

3. Emotion (the main emotion in the scene and one detail that could capture it)

Then, as you rewrite, incorporate dialogue and toss out vague details and weak verbs, replacing them with specific, strong words that create a vivid sense of place.

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MBT’s Skills Coach, Beth K. Vogt provides her readers with a happily ever after woven through with humor, reality, and God’s lavish grace. Her inspirational contemporary romance novel, Wish You Were Here, debuted May 2012 (Howard Books.) Her second novel, Catch a Falling Star, releases May 2013. Beth is an established magazine writer and former editor of Connections, the leadership magazine for MOPS International. Visit with Beth at her website bethvogt.com.