The Place For My Writers Notes

It must be time for chapter five! You are here: Using setting! A stage, a place, a location? Sure… where are the events of your scene taking place? Raymond tells us that writers sometimes don’t take advantage of setting because they are focused on the dynamics of plot, character, and dialogue. But… the right setting can enhance the impact a lot. It can add thematic dimension or suspense. A different setting can make a scene more exciting, more intense, or more comical. I mean, think about the Wizard of Oz set in… Times Square? Nope… How important is setting? Well, think about some of your favorite story, novel, or film scenes, and imagine setting them some place else.

So, how much setting description do you need? Enough to achieve your goal, but not so much that it detracts from the rest of the scene. Think about the dominating purpose of your scene, then decide how much setting description works. Beware of overdescribing, because you love those purple plains strewn with lots of metaphors. Imply and suggest instead. Also, watch out for clumping, which is infodumping your setting description, all in one huge lump! Figure out what’s essential, then scatter those bits in between actions. A good trick is to ask a question, then give us some description, and then answer the question. The reader will pay attention, and the little delay boosts suspense, too.

Setting also can help with pacing! Both within a scene, and the scenes can help control the overall pacing. For example, suspense novels often have sedentary scenes with plenty of setting description in between the action-packed chases. Detective novels often use settings to help keep the reader interested. 

Setting can even tie into theme. Oh, it might just be interesting, exciting, or suspenseful. But it can be a key part of the story, too. Consider “fish out of water” stories. That clash of cultures and backgrounds makes the story.  Also, sea stories, westerns, jungle tales… the setting helps make the story.

Raymond suggests that there isn’t any best technique here. Try out an interesting setting to pick up the pace, or pick one that fits the theme. Try out longer passages of description, or short punchy ones. Basically, write the scene the way you feel like the writing it. You’re discovering your story, and setting can be part of the discovery.

His workshop focuses on three keys. 1, describe the characteristics of the setting. 2, the setting affects the character(s) in the following ways? 3, the setting affects the plot in the following ways? He suggests tackling this at two levels, one being the grand scene of the general setting, and one being the specific scene you are working on.

Go ahead. Where is your scene? What’s in the background? Is there an elephant in the living room?

So, here's a little bit of fun. Pick a place. It can be somewhere you have been, long ago or recently, or a place you have read about or seen on tv, or whatever. Just make it a place that you would like to explore. Think about the setting, the sights, sounds, smells, what you might feel, all of that. Yes, if you like, walk the little Google maps figure along the road and take a look at it!

Now, take a character or three. Perhaps from a work in progress, perhaps someone you would like to get to know, perhaps from a piece of fiction that you enjoyed? Anyway, one, or two, or maybe three. Probably not too many more, because you don't really want a mob scene.

Then, put them in that place. Why are they there? What are they looking for? Go ahead, let them walk around and explore, perhaps have a bite to eat (or did something bite them?), or whatever. Show us that place, seen through the eyes, memories, toes, and whatever of your characters.

Write that up. This may not be a scene you want to put in your work, but it is both a good way to practice describing places (aka settings, or even milieu) and a way to get into the heads of those characters and see what they notice about those places...

Okay? Pick a setting, put some characters in it, and write up what happens when your characters take a stroll through that place.

Let's see. Over on Writing Excuses, they are walking through the elements of the M. I. C. E. Quotient. Next week, they'll hit the E (Event!) but... right now, they have milieu, inquiry, and character pieces. So, a quick roundup so far?

Milieu is place, or setting. Typically, it starts with the character crossing a threshold of some kind, entering the milieu, and ends when the character exits the milieu. Conflicts in the middle (or should that be muddle?) are mostly things blocking the character from leaving. Heist stories and survival stories. https://writingexcuses.com/2021/09/05/16-36-deep-dive-into-milieu/

Inquiry stories start with a question, and end when the character finds the answer. The conflicts in the middle are things blocking finding the answer. Mysteries, and many science fiction stories. https://writingexcuses.com/2021/09/12/16-37-deep-dive-into-inquiry/

Character stories start with the question "Who am I?" and end with the declaration "This is who I am!" Heavy on internal conflicts, an exploration of self-discovery. Wanting to change, to be somebody different. Coming of age stories. https://writingexcuses.com/2021/09/19/16-38-deep-dive-into-character/

There's a running attempt to talk about obstacles versus complications in these different types of stories. I think if you start with the old try-fail cycle, and the paired no-and, yes-but endings which often go with that, you might be able to figure it out. Basically, obstacles result in failure, the standard no, we didn't succeed, AND now we've got some new problems. Complications arise when yes, we succeed, BUT now we've got new problems. 

So in a milieu story, the obstacles keep the character from exiting, and add new issues. The complications look as if we're succeeding in getting closer to exiting, but... now we've got different issues.

In an inquiry story, the obstacles keep the character from finding the answer, and add new questions. The complications... well, we've gotten a little farther, but there's these other issues now...

And, of course, in character stories, the obstacles make the character want to turn back, to hold onto that old self-identity, and add more burdens, too. The complications mean the character may have moved a bit forward, but... now there are these other little problems, too!

Y'a know, I don't think I helped that discussion of obstacles and complications at all. Well, maybe the original podcasts will clear it up for you...

Anyway, probably the key to get from all this is these three (soon to be four!) elements of stories. They tend to be nested, so the character may very well step through a door, start looking for the way out, find a dead body on the floor, start trying to figure out who did it, find the killer, and now... get out of the house! Okay? 

How can you use this? Well, two possibilities. First, as you are writing, especially for those who prefer discovery writing, thinking about these elements provides at least a little guidance. Second, when you are editing, looking for the elements can help uncover problems, especially when threads are either not finished, or simply out of order.

Okay? So... there's three of the MICE elements. I'll try to remember to fill in the last one, event, next week. Events are mostly about changes in the status quo, something happens, and we gotta react to it. But we'll talk about that next week!

In the meantime, keep writing!

Over at https://writingexcuses.com/2021/05/30/16-22-scenes-and-set-pieces/ this week, they are talking about writing scenes (and set pieces?) for role-playing games and interactive fiction. This week, they recommended thinking about several key elements for a scene. The elements they suggested are setting, challenge, adversaries, rewards, and story development. Basically, where are we, what is the problem or task, who is opposing us, what are the stakes (or maybe consequences?), and how does this scene fit into the overall story.

Now, an interesting question is just how well do these elements play in writing scenes for ... what should I call it? Regular fiction? Short stories, novels, and so forth? And did they miss some things? I have to admit, they seem to be focusing more on providing a background, a stage set, where the players can then act out their version of the scene. They didn't really talk much about the steps in the action, what I guess you could call the fine structure of the scene. That may be a difference between writing for RPGs and writing fiction, of course.

Anyway, something to think about. What are the pieces you put together to make a scene? We talk about them as the building blocks of stories, but what are they? How do you build one?

Writer's Digest, October 1990, pages 10-12, had an article by Nancy Kress talking about "your story lives and dies on the strength of your opening. Here's how to live."

Nancy starts out by putting us in the head of an editor looking at the slush pile, with all the other work that the editor also has, and asks, "How far do you get before you decide to either finish the story or put it in its SASE?" (aka, reject it!)

Ideally, the writer hopes that the editor is going to give that story the same kind of attention they did, reading it all the way through without any distractions… However, the truth is, "you have about three paragraphs to capture that editor's attention enough for her to finish her story."

Nancy suggests that there are four elements that help an editor (and a reader!) get interested: character, conflict, specificity, and credibility.

Right off the top, the character, "who goes there?" gives a reader someone to focus on. So, introduce them right away, make sure they are integral to the main action of the story, and make sure they are an individual.

"Most successful openings give the reader a genuine character because most stories are about individual human beings."

Second, conflict! "Coming to a scene near you." You don't have to start with the body crashing through a window or something else like that. "Some stories feature overt, dramatic conflict; in others the conflict is subtle perhaps contained completely within the skull of one character." No matter what kind of conflict your story has, the first few paragraphs need to hint at it, give us a clue about the nature of the conflict ahead.

Third, specificity, "a new one on me." Specific details. Speech, setting, thoughts, something that is fresh and original for the readers. This also convinces the reader that you know what you're talking about.

Fourth, credibility, "can this prose be trusted?" Part of this is trust, built by those details, good handling of the language, and so forth. A tight portrayal? The right words, not the almost right word. Language that brings us into the story, not eloquence and erudition that makes us pay attention to the language.

Finally, Nancy suggests that writing "an opening that immediately introduces an interesting individual, hints at the conflict to come, uses fresh and telling details, and convinces a harried editor that you are a master of English prose" is not something that most of us can do immediately. Instead, you get to rewrite. Polish it until it shines!

So, four things to look for in your beginning. That character that makes us want to keep reading, at least a good hint about the kind of conflict that's coming, some really good details, and the right use of language. An obvious exercise is to take something you've written or a work in progress and look at the first three paragraphs, or whatever you think your beginning is (books have a slightly longer beginning than short stories, but you still need a good beginning!). Try writing a variation (or two or three!), emphasizing Nancy's four elements.

Write?