Setting: A Sense of Place and Time

Here is a challenge to every writer. How do you draw your readers into your fictional world that you created?

As I'm writing away, I'm approaching the creation of my fictional piece as though making biriyani. The art of preparing biriyani requires a fine balance. I always liked its scent; the distinctive scent lays in the fine balance of all the spices mingled together with lamb or chicken. It's a pleasure to experience all these scents dancing together to please those olfactory nerves.

If one of the spices is missing, it seems to throw everything off balance.

Likewise, when it comes to writing there needs to be a balance of characterization, plot structure, and exposition. There are also sub-categories that address specific concerns.

Most writers spend a lot of their time, energy and effort into plot and character. Setting tends to take a back seat. The spice of any memorable fiction is establishing a deep sense of place. Some places have a special meaning. Or maybe setting helps advance the story. Please don't neglect this piece. A mediocre setting does not work.

So far, I think the worst offender was William P. Young's The Shack. When it comes to creating a sense of place, I felt that his exposition was forced and bombarded with many unnecessary details. You do not need to describe each and everything. Sometimes overt descriptions without a purpose make me impatient and distract. I think he should carefully choose details. I heard him speak at a writer's conference and read his book. The first two chapters failed to catch my interest for lacking a true sense of place.

I'm now reading Loretta Stinson's Little Green, and the beginning chapters are set in the seventies. In the beginning, I didn't really feel that I was placed in that time period and place. I got a little taste. When I pick up a book, I want to be completely immerse the world right away. Only in the middle of Little Green, I felt that I was placed in their world and truly felt placed.

I remember reading Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart as a high school junior. I remember really getting into his world. I could imagine the scorching African sun, the huts, the drums, the characters, the clothing women wore and what happens when two cultures meet. The setting made the novel memorable and fascinating to me.

Then there was Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things, where I felt completely transported to Kerala and into the character's worlds.

Then I remember one of my favorite childhood books -- Enid Blyton's The Magic Faraway Tree. I felt taken away into her magical world of goblins, brownies, fairies, magical places and London in the 1940s or 1950s.

I'm sure there are other literary art pieces with memorable settings but on top of my head I remember these books. It's been a while since I read these books. There is a reason why I remember these books after several years. I pay attention to characters and places. I want to be transported to a memorable place or time when I'm buried in a book. If I don't feel that I'm in the same place as the character I identity with, I gradually lose interest.

As a writer, how do you create a sense of time and place? I'm going to share my thoughts that are actually a distillation of reading good examples over the years, lectures from my professors, and my own successes and failures in writing many unpublished stories.

Diction - Word Choice makes a big difference. I try to be careful with words and how I place them together. Diction evokes the mood, setting and reveals a lot of the unspoken. For example, if the story was set in Colonial India in the early 20th century diction would reflect that versus a setting in modern day Portland's Hawthorne district. When a disconnect exists between diction and setting, there is a disruption in bringing the reader into the place.

Words should be logical and carefully chosen and flows intuitively.

In the beginning paragraph of The Shack, the weather is described as abnormal. Abnormal? My intuition tells me that the words "abnormal" and "weather" don't seem right together. I don't associate abnormal with weather. I think "unusual" sounds better.

Icons and References - What was popular culture like? This includes songs, entertainment, celebrities, politicians and historic events. Suppose if two people from that time era got together what would their daily conversations be about? This requires research on your part. Readers love references especially if it's something they identify with. With that in mind, make sure it is not forced.

The most important thing an author can do when telling a story is to invoke intrigue in the reader in such a way that leads to a sense of attachment to the story's setting. It's true that since I love big cities, I love to read stories set in New York. But if an author gives me a reason to be intrigued in a story taking place in rural Montana, I will be interested. It can be exciting to simply imagine being a cowgirl, even though I have no experience in that type of culture and never been to Montana.

Please do not overlook this ingredient. And other writers, please comment and share your suggestions, ideas and advice.