Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Tuesday's Writer's Tip - Showing place in your story #MFRWAuthor #BWLAuthor #Place #Writing

The reader needs to know where your characters are not only in time but in space. When I first submitted a manuscript, an editor wrote back saying she liked the idea for the story but the characters existed in a vacuum. She rewrote a small passage showing me what she meant. Took me awhile to rewrite that story putting the characters in places or settings. There were other problems but that one opened my eyes.

When do you need to establish the setting or place of the story. In the opening scene, if you use flashbacks, during the action scenes and when the main characters are together.

Establishing the place where the story takes pace fits with the time period you've chosen. You probably wouldn't find the hero or heroine in a dungeon if your story is a contemporary. If they are you need to let the reader see what they see through the character's whose viewpoint is being shown. Remember different characters see the setting differently.

Take the dungeon. A heroine might focus on the dark dankness of the place. The hero might see something different like finding a way out. So when you start your story, let the reader see, feel, taste, hear and all the senses about the place where the characters have landed.


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