Settings: The Big Picture

Continuing the series of using images to provide detail for your writing, we’ll look at settings today.  As a reminder, these are absolutely not necessary, but can be helpful in keeping things straight in your mind or providing those unconscious details that enrich your prose.

Where do your characters hang out?  Do you have a good idea of their environment?   A modern story isn’t so hard since we can pull it from our everyday lives, but if a character lives in poverty and you have always been wealthy, how can you describe their home?  If you’ve always lived in the inner city, how can you describe the vistas of a Montana cattle ranch?  It’s easy.  You find images, pictures, and descriptions that tell you what you need to know.  This part of research is fun and can add a lot of depth to your settings.

Does your story take place in a small town in which citizens meet in the city park?  What features does the park have?  Benches, a fountain, a view of the courthouse?  Can you consistently describe these features in bits and pieces throughout 90k+ words?  You can with a picture.  With one such as this at the left, you can also know which businesses offer a view of meetings near the fountain, furtive or open.  You know where the bench is in relation to the street, even if it is likely someone could be surprised from behind.  With the image to refer to, the tidbits you give about this park should remain consistent.

While writing science fiction, do you know what your various races look like?  What about the planets and ships?  While the reader needs little detail to spark their imagination, images can help you remain consistent and stave off contradictory descriptions.   Descriptions of te ethereal beauty of a nebula or the fearsome light of a supernova are only an image away.  One image can be enough to set your supernova in your mind for the length of the story.  Sketches of a race can bring about intriguing little bits in  your story as well…such as a fluttering gill (nervousness?) or an appendage that goes pale (anger?)

Can you describe the castle in your high fantasy novel?  How far from the inner bailey to the outer?  Where are the stables housed in relation to the main gates?  Where’s the weakest section of the wall?  Is it a mere tower or is there an inner ward with living quarters for the Lord and his family?  Where are the soldiers housed?  The servants?  Small details, to be sure, but the more you know your world, the more small believable details will slip into  your writing to enliven the environment for your reader.

Do you know the floor plan of the house in which most of the action occurs?  Ghost stories, family sagas, mysteries, and crime fiction all benefit from an interesting setting described in broad strokes that allow the reader to fill in the particulars.  You, as the writer, will benefit greatly from knowing the floor plan.  You might even find that the characters discover passages from one room to the next or surprise niches in which to hide.  Can character A overhear an argument in the next room from where he’s standing?  Would the duct work carry a conversation from the room overhead?  Your floor plan will let you know.

Is your novel set in a business environment?  If so, do you know the difference between government offices with their standard issue metal desks and the luxury offices of, say, a high powered conglomerate?  Would your character recognize an office setting that was ostentatious versus one built with old money?  What does the office furniture say about the business?  Do they care more for their image than their functionality?  Do the desks have damaged or broken corners and drawers or are they new and modern?  How does the dress of the workers look in light of the decor?  Is there a water cooler?  New or ancient and noisy?  Is the copier in the open or in another room?

The offices of a law firm must have a place for law books, and perhaps cubbies for clerks.  The office of a county agency likely has linoleum floors and beat up metal desks.  Academic offices will salvage all they can of serviceable pieces, and can often be a mix of old and new, metal and wood, 40s style and modern.

What about a situation room or ready room? Is it crowded, filled with half-empty paper cups and candy wrappers, or is it the domain of young techies with sleek laptops and leather binders?

Situation rooms can be  used for an ongoing investigation for the FBI, CIA, or local law enforcement.  They can also be  used by a team within a corporation assigned to a single project.  What does yours look like?  How do people move through it?  Loud or hushed?  Chaotic or orderly?  Once you know in your own mind, your characters can take over and move through that environment as they work and live out their story.

The better you know the world, the more unconscious and natural the details will seem.  Your imagination is all that is required, but should you need a little help, consider researching your setting and fixing an image in your mind or on your desktop.

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