Wednesdays' Writer's Tip, More from Orson Scott Card

Running behind today and that happens but found this interesting bits of writer's knowledge from How To Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card. This bit of knowledge can apply to all kinds of fiction no matter the genre. Orson Scott Card talks about deciding on what kind of story you're planning to write. There are four Milieu, Idea, Character and Event. The decision will depend on how you slant the story.

Today I'll look at the Milieu king of story. What he speaks of here is having a person enter an environment that is unfamiliar to him or her and showing the story through discovery. The story looks at all the new things the character uses. Sometimes bits of this can enter into the story but this isn't the main focus. I've used a bit of mileau when I'm doing the three books based on an alternate Ancient Egypt since the characters must explore what is unfamiliar to them. But that's not the real focus of these stories.

In Milieu stories the action begins the moment the characters enter the unfamiliar environment. There's little seen of their childhood, their background. The focus is on the new and interesting. Orson Scott Card mentions several books where the milieu plays the largest part of the stories. Think Gulliver's Travels or Shogun. The new culture and the characters experiences with the unfamiliar are what brings the story together.

So remember all stories have a milieu but not all stories follow the pattern making the story mainly focus what goes beyong the setting, the time or the place.