This is the place!
Parma, Idaho. March 1992
Spring in the valley feels like winter everywhere else. The air is so thin and crisp that my skin crackles the instant the backdoor opens. A haze hangs in the distance, masking the dark mountains that loom along the horizon. Cow pies steam as I cross the field heading toward to railroad tracks. The cattails sway, beating an irregular rhythm on the age-old ties. Trains don’t come this way often enough to disrupt their wind-whipped dance.
Northern New Mexico. August 2006
Sunflowers stretch their necks, their heavy heads turn slowly. The road I follow disappears into a splash of gold and green. Dark eyes track my progress, each staring sightlessly as I disrupt their solitude.
Miami, Florida. September, 2003.
Strange fingers trace down my spine. In the press of bodies, I can’t find the source of the uninvited touch. The music is loud – the base pulses hard and fast leaving an echoing vibration in my chest. Bright colors and skin swirl around me. I’m a blob of black cotton in a sea of multi-hued polyester.
Spring in the valley feels like winter everywhere else. The air is so thin and crisp that my skin crackles the instant the backdoor opens. A haze hangs in the distance, masking the dark mountains that loom along the horizon. Cow pies steam as I cross the field heading toward to railroad tracks. The cattails sway, beating an irregular rhythm on the age-old ties. Trains don’t come this way often enough to disrupt their wind-whipped dance.
Northern New Mexico. August 2006Sunflowers stretch their necks, their heavy heads turn slowly. The road I follow disappears into a splash of gold and green. Dark eyes track my progress, each staring sightlessly as I disrupt their solitude.
Miami, Florida. September, 2003.
Strange fingers trace down my spine. In the press of bodies, I can’t find the source of the uninvited touch. The music is loud – the base pulses hard and fast leaving an echoing vibration in my chest. Bright colors and skin swirl around me. I’m a blob of black cotton in a sea of multi-hued polyester.
####
I’m building a world. It’s still earth – and should be recognizable – but the face of the planet has changed. Mountains have replaced valleys, oceans cover the deserts.
This place needs to be real, tactile, pungent. The setting is essential to the veracity of the story and to the development of the characters. The reader needs to feel dirt crumble between their bare toes, and later, the pinch of a first pair of stilettos and hear each footstep click on cement.
Generally plot and characters drive my work. Setting is just a flat backdrop, a very brief description to provide context. But this is the first time location is a character. I want to bring it to life, give it qualities of depth and motion.
I’ve begun literary sketches of my memories – the thoughts that gave birth to this story. I think it’s helped make each scene feel like something that could be true, but still a work in progress.
When you write, how do you determine what your settings look like? Are the based on real places? Or are they snapshots of imagination?
26 Comments
Joanne
I like that idea of literary sketches of your memories. There’s something about the process of sketching, even with words, that really heightens details. My settings are usually based on actual places, or a combination of two different places blended together. They’re locations that hold a lot of meaning for me …
Lindsay N. Currie
Good post Becky. Actually, the setting of my books is usually some place real, but often somewhere I’ve never been which makes it a challenge in and of its own. I like the idea of using memories though and putting together a bit of a mental collage for this type of thing.
Diana
Characters drive my storylines, but the setting is critical for me to picture the scenes in my head. The first picture & place is interesting…I think I’ve heard of it before…
Becky Wallace
@ Diana: LOL. Interesting is ONE way to describe Parma. Googled the stats, and got a kick out of the population: 1771.
P.S. Is that a pretty accurate description?
Becky Wallace
@Lindsay: Collage! That’s a perfect word for what I was trying to do!! Thanks!
William Kendall
Setting is essential for me; location in Israel has almost become a character in its own right in my WIP. So I’ve been googling pictures of the places where I’ve been writing, and incorporating details into the narrative.
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