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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Tuesday's Inspiration - Anton Chekhov

"Don't tell me the moon is shining, show me the glint of light on broken glass." Anton Chekhov.

This was one of the hardest things I've learned. When to show and how to show. It's those little details that make a reader look at the story one is writing and makes them remember. They will often buy other stories. Why is it hard to bring the senses into a story, As children we are told stories and the telling is generally just the facts. Part of the reason is that children's stories are often presented with pictures. This is a form of show. As an author one must take that picture and turn it into words to bring the picture into the reader's mind and imagination.

A writing friend of mine pointed this out in a long ago critique session. I read a scary scene with the villain creeping up on a character. I wrote she heard the sound of footsteps behind her. My friend said "That's okay but better let me hear what she hears. The lines became something like this "The scuff of leather on the sidewalk sent chills along her spine. "Who's there?"

That's the difference and what Anton Chekhov meant. Do you go through your stories when you're editing and look at passages to see where you can show rather than tell?