Writing your story setting requires more than just pretty language. Descriptive language sustains the world of your story. And does so much more than provide a physical setting. It anchors the reader in time and place while immersing them in a tactile sensory experience. Setting also creates mood and reveals your point of view character’s interior.
In this episode, I’m going to share 4 essential techniques for writing your story settings.
You’ll learn to craft setting descriptions selectively and with intention.
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Episode at a glance:
[02:26] Locate Us Early and Often
You always want to anchor us in a particular place early. Get to where the characters are as soon as possible in every scene, and keep anchoring the reader in the particular space where the action is happening.
[07:11] Be Specific and Selective
You don’t need excessive description, or details that mere decoration. Select details that create mood and tone, and images that suggest more than what’s on the surface.
[13:14] Filter Description Through the Point of View Character’s Filter
What your point of view character notices tells us more about how he feels, and how he experience the world around him than any direct approach. Setting is intimately connected to your character’s mood, emotion, or frame of mind.
[19:03] Use Sensory Details
Sensory details the reader can see, hear, touch and smell ground the reader in the physical world and shape the story’s tone. Think of the senses as emotional entry points, not just descriptive check boxes.
Books Mentioned In This Episode
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
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