L is for Location, Location, Location
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Readers look to novels to escape reality. An
author’s words take them to distant lands. But a well-described location can do
more than just take the reader on a trip away from home. It plays an important
role in creating atmosphere and describing characters. The strength of location
in a story transforms the setting into another character. Characters and
setting rely heavily on one another not only to create images in the minds of
readers, but also to describe each other.
A character reveals information about a setting.
Their traits lead them to specific towns, cities, bars, schools, etc. A
well-developed character personality can create the milieu.
An uptight individual probably lives in a very
neat and organized apartment. A character concerned with the environment might
have a vegetable garden planted in the back with a recycling bin and compost
heap. A young, single girl might feel stuck in family-oriented suburbia.
Now, the same can be said about the location of a
story. In the beginning before we meet the characters, one technique of opening
a story is to describe the setting. What does it look like? What do you hear?
What does it smell like? Are the streets littered with trash, left
over food and medicine bottles?
If the character is a child, what impact does
low-income environment have on their personality and goals in life compared to
a child living in the same city in a penthouse apartment with a doorman?
Is your character in a foreign land where they
can't speak the language? An adventurous person willing to do anything to get
away from their normal life, perhaps.
As a mystery writer, profiling a suspect
determining how the investigator will find them.
Do you characters undergo a change through the
story? If so, a subtle way to accomplish this would be through their living
space: neat to sloppy, juvenile to mature, etc.
No matter who the character is the setting plays
an important role in creating the story world. Each one reveals something about
the other. Together they create a more realistic and engaging story for readers.
What does the setting of your story reveal about your characters?
Comments
The first time I started a novel (Don't ask whether it was finished) I was criticised for locating it in America and was told it should be aout a place I knew. It was, but thw writing course tutor effectively killed off my idea.
Like your comment on profiling, too. Do you watch the drama CRIMINAL MINDS? It's based on a team of FBI Special Agent Profilers who track criminals. Awesome drama - the best of TV.
Yes yes yes! I write fantasy, almost inevitably in another world, and location is incredibly important. Sometimes readers remember your world more than they do your story.
Setting has a personality. It mirrors the people who live in it. It influences them, just as they are a part of shaping it.
:0)
Great post.
Karin @ Nofretiris Dream Of Writing