TECH: Outlining Your Novel (Part 8)

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Original Posting Sept. 10, 2016

Hah! Bet you thought I'd lost track of this. Well, yes, it had slipped my mind for a while, but... Time for the next exciting chapter! Chapter 8, Discovering Your Setting.

K. M. Weiland starts out by reminding us that all too often, we focus on characters and plot, and kind of leave setting as an exercise for the reader. But a fabulous setting helps set everything! And take a look at fantasy and other speculative fiction, where often a lot of work goes into the setting. World building! Even if you are using "the real world" you can still use techniques from the fantasy writers to make that world stand out.

Start with making the setting intrinsic to the story. You don't want your story to be in anytown, anywhere. You want them to be in a specific place and time, with buildings, streets, forests... All that stuff that feels so real that people think they can walk there.

Consider how the character views the setting. Also, what mood does the setting convey?

Be cautious. Don't overdo the settings. You want the story to be about the people, not just a slideshow travelogue. Pick your primary settings carefully, and explore them (exploit them!). Think about combining settings, and reusing them. Then consider foreshadowing your settings, let the characters talk about where they are going beforehand!

Now, especially if you are doing a speculative fiction story, consider world building. See the book for a list of points to consider, but you probably want to know at least landscape, societies, technology, natural laws, people, and history.

Second, look for unique and pertinent points. Don't drown the reader in details, but don't be too abstract, either. Try for the Goldilocks details, just right!

As usual, I don't think this is exactly an outlining chapter. More like a think through this major part of your writing project chapter. I agree with K that this is something we need to think about as we tackle a writing project. But I don't know that the result is going to be an outline, per se.

Anyway, another great chapter! Watch for chapter 9, where K gets into the process of an extended outline! Yes, we are going to put together an outline!

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