I recently touched base with one of my authors before we dive into her third book’s initial edit, and she confessed to me that she loathes writing her settings.
“Yeah, it shows.”
“What?!”
She was floored that I wasn’t surprised by this information. She always worked hard to describe big concepts of the setting all the way down to the minutia of it, but the problem with it was that it read like hard work.
Readers don’t want a block of text listing characteristics about the room they’re in. They want to feel like they are sitting in it themselves. But a person doesn’t sit in a room making a mental list of everything in it. So, how do we fully immerse readers in the setting?
Write What You Know
Yep, let’s get the cliché out of the way. Clearly the best way to really feel connected to your setting is by having strong memories of it. What does it smell like? How does it look after a rain? You don’t have to wonder because you already know the answers to these questions. Even if you’re writing about a fictional place, studding it with reality is a great way to ground it in your readers’ minds. A great example of this is Shades of Magic series by V.E. Schwab. All three wildly varied worlds are centered on London despite their mystifying surroundings.
Maybe you need a refresher course on the reality of the setting because it’s been a while since you’ve last visited. Technology comes to an author’s aid here with Google Street View. You can literally walk the streets and come upon a distinctive landmark like Frenchy’s Sex Shop in Chicago featured in Will Grayson, Will Grayson. These details especially titillate local readers who are familiar with the setting and create opportunities for special pilgrimages for ardent lovers of your work. When I moved to the city, I sought out Frenchy’s knowing John Green rarely makes up his settings.
Integrate Setting Descriptions
It’s true. Some authors have become ludicrously famous writing stories that have pages of setting description ad nauseum. But for most readers, that is a great way to get very bored. Instead of describing your setting (or your character’s appearance, for that matter) in a block of text, intersperse important details as your characters take action.
As your character enters a haunted mansion, for example, she may run into a spider’s web, creak across the old floor, or startle a family of rats. Instead of stating it’s an abandoned house, describe how she feels as she explores. This rouse to the reader’s imagination to fill in the gaps while conveying the creepiness of the house delicately.
Listen to the Locals
I am born and raised in Indianapolis, and now I’m kicking it in Chicago. So, I am well versed in Midwest culture and vocabulary, which is why I lost it when a book I won’t name here set in Indiana had the characters saying ‘soda’ instead of ‘pop.’ It actually totally pulled me out of the story because I couldn’t believe it. Overly dramatic? Almost definitely. Still a true story? Yes.
Dialogue is a cornerstone of world building and the second most important element of character building. Having it divorced from your setting is a definite no-go. Plus, including a character thick with local culture, carrying an accent, and acknowledging stereotypes of your setting can enrich the reading experience.
Acknowledge All 5 Senses
Taste the salty breeze. Feel the grass tickling between your toes. Smell grandma’s blueberry pie cooling on the windowsill. Hear the waves thundering against the short cliff just before the white, foamy spray juts into the air. Tell me, did it work? Can you imagine the back yard of house I rented in Maine a few years back?
Neurological researchers have found that reading a description with sensory information activates the same parts of the brain that process senses as a first-person experience. Many authors focus their attentions on the sights of the setting. But including a wider array of the senses in your story, you’re immediately engaging readers more deeply as they imagine that sensory encounter with your setting.
In order to write a setting, a novelist needs to be able to walk through it in their mind. But in order to become a great author, their readers need to be able to walk through it, too. Settings have the opportunity to build worlds or break them down. Make sure you’re captivating the audience instead of ticking off a to-do list.
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