tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27662400.post4599893265649004498..comments2024-03-17T02:20:03.772-05:00Comments on Riding With The Top Down: You're not in Kansas ...Kathleen Eaglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13561028604927993773noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27662400.post-44833692003616529022010-10-04T16:49:55.457-05:002010-10-04T16:49:55.457-05:00Keri, excellent point about showing setting throug...Keri, excellent point about showing setting through different viewpoints. Fiction is all about character, and we use setting to reveal character. For me, a place is as much about the people who live there as the details of climate, flora and fauna, etc. Setting influences a character's way of speaking and thinking and moving and being. It's quite a challenge to build a person from scratch, and setting is really helpful.Kathleen Eaglehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13561028604927993773noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27662400.post-26009010475461737552010-10-04T16:48:18.043-05:002010-10-04T16:48:18.043-05:00Keri, I don't read for setting, either. I rea...Keri, I don't read for setting, either. I read for characters and action, so it was difficult for me to develop this sense of place. But I am an extremely visual person. I do think it's important to include a bare minimum of the surroundings so readers can visualize the setting.Helen Brennahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08680081195181747377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27662400.post-14959387843551437382010-10-04T16:46:17.457-05:002010-10-04T16:46:17.457-05:00Christie, since there will be at least 7 of my Mir...Christie, since there will be at least 7 of my Mirabelle books when all is said and done, I keep files on all kinds of things I know I'd forget from book to book. I even have a map of the island drawn on the white board in my office!Helen Brennahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08680081195181747377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27662400.post-40518687902011969512010-10-04T16:44:25.337-05:002010-10-04T16:44:25.337-05:00I hear you, Kathy, and I always worry about that a...I hear you, Kathy, and I always worry about that as I've not been to a lot of the places I write about or done many of the professions of my characters. But I do my best. A reader can't fault me for that, at least.Helen Brennahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08680081195181747377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27662400.post-62422771105321040082010-10-04T16:20:05.592-05:002010-10-04T16:20:05.592-05:00ooh. my cp's ding me on lack of setting All. T...ooh. my cp's ding me on lack of setting All. The. Time. <br /><br />and I know it's because as a reader, I don't read for setting, I read for characters.<br /><br />The biggest thing I usually do is--try and capture the big picture look from a character who is new to the area. It bugs me when someone who has lived in their house for years walks in notes the carpet, wall paper, lamps, ect.Keri Fordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03342480359177235075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27662400.post-57393402945968336822010-10-04T14:50:08.590-05:002010-10-04T14:50:08.590-05:00Perfect post for me today, Helen! I'm thinking...Perfect post for me today, Helen! I'm thinking of going back to a setting I made up for a book that came out in 2000. I'm reading said book and noting all the things that make there, there.<br /><br />In that book, the hero is blind, so I used a lot of smell and texture cues. More than I normally would!Christie Ridgwayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17036552271272402052noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27662400.post-35884070747619313042010-10-04T12:42:11.724-05:002010-10-04T12:42:11.724-05:00I'm trying to remember whether I've ever s...I'm trying to remember whether I've ever set a book in a place I've never been. Can't think of one. I made up a Caribbean island once because, while I'd been to the islands on a cruise and I lived on an island when I was a kid (Pacific--a little different) I didn't want to use a specific place and get it wrong. But that's just me. Nothing pulls me out of a book faster than reading about a place I really know and realizing this ain't it. Wolves running around in the Black Hills? Nope. (Although there's been talk of introducing them.) Pickup trucks in North Dakota? Nope. Just pickups. Setting errors made by Kathleen Eagle? No doubt. But if I'm going to use a setting I don't know first hand, I've almost certainly visited, and the viewpoint character would also be a visitor or a newcomer. <br /><br />The Internet is a Godsend for checking details. What's that prairie grass with the wheaty-looking head? What's the difference between sage in Minnesota and sage in the Dakotas?<br /><br />Yes, riders, this is why I'm late on this book. But I just read a passage in a book that was supposedly set on a cattle ranch. The cows were chewing on the hero's vehicle. Seats, windshield wipers, mirrors. I showed it to cowboy Clyde (because even after 7 years on the ranch, I could have missed something) who nearly laughed his cowboy ass off. <br /><br />You don't want to overdo the detail, and little ones go unnoticed all the time. But a whole scene? Be mighty careful there, little lady.Kathleen Eaglehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13561028604927993773noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27662400.post-49462606588093120672010-10-04T11:09:37.353-05:002010-10-04T11:09:37.353-05:00Oh, that reminds me, Michele! I'll usually tr...Oh, that reminds me, Michele! I'll usually try to go to a restaurant that serves the types of food I'm writing about. A different kind of field trip!Helen Brennahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08680081195181747377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27662400.post-1543857584040131752010-10-04T11:08:15.439-05:002010-10-04T11:08:15.439-05:00I think you're right, Kylie. Although every pl...I think you're right, Kylie. Although every place has a uniqueness about it that we can bring out to our readers. City, small town, exotic or mundane. You may not think of the city as exciting, but it can still be a part of what takes the reader away.Helen Brennahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08680081195181747377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27662400.post-80235286044452973822010-10-04T11:05:24.591-05:002010-10-04T11:05:24.591-05:00Glad I could be of service, Leanne? lolGlad I could be of service, Leanne? lolHelen Brennahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08680081195181747377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27662400.post-85136236076488098772010-10-04T11:04:49.678-05:002010-10-04T11:04:49.678-05:00And I've never been to Peru, The Bahamas, or A...And I've never been to Peru, The Bahamas, or Argentina, Cindy! Heck, my November book goes to Rome, Athens, Istanbul, and Moscow, all places I've never been but would LOVE to go! Guess going in my head is the next best thing!Helen Brennahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08680081195181747377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27662400.post-42139928907331257732010-10-04T10:31:57.037-05:002010-10-04T10:31:57.037-05:00Great reminder, Helen! I like to cruise the inter...Great reminder, Helen! I like to cruise the internet for those details as well. Because sometimes your characters eat and smell things you've never experienced. So it can be a challenge.Michele Haufhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12255612473985897103noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27662400.post-73082873175304634952010-10-04T10:14:48.789-05:002010-10-04T10:14:48.789-05:00I love it when reviewers say my setting was almost...I love it when reviewers say my setting was almost a character is my stories :) But as a writer that's easier to do when you're writing about a picturesque place, like a Denver blizzard or the Willamette Forest. Bringing an urban center like Philadelphia to sensory life is more difficult for me.KylieBranthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02521116390801346909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27662400.post-87473769942199606852010-10-04T09:51:58.387-05:002010-10-04T09:51:58.387-05:00This is a GREAT post, Helen! I'm taking notes...This is a GREAT post, Helen! I'm taking notes from it and may even print it off. THANKS! xo, LeanneLeannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12903033094866182246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27662400.post-13702196223096985632010-10-04T09:04:00.228-05:002010-10-04T09:04:00.228-05:00great post, Helen.
I have a post it note on my scr...great post, Helen.<br />I have a post it note on my screen. it says simple: scent, taste, touch, sound, sight.<br /><br />A reminder to always include the 5 senses. And I feel that place is always crucial to drawing the reader into the story. how much depends on how heavily the setting is involved in the plot.<br /><br />and you're right - first hand knowledge is the best. I set my book in remote and sometimes exotic places but you're not likely to find me in Myanmar, El Salvador or Sierra Leone any time soon :o) Now Peru ... oh, I'd love to go there :o0Cindy Gerardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13311224531297908704noreply@blogger.com