By
Lanee’ Blunt
 |
| Details are important in setting-- Image by Kaeska. |
Building
setting in your novel must be done carefully. Details in a novel are either
used to the extreme or some writer’s don’t give enough details. The details of
setting should be weaved into the fiction without notice. When setting is done
correctly it pulls your reader into your fiction world and helps them imagine
your novel vividly.
The
setting has to be incorporated into the fiction and not just stuck in. If you
are writing about a character’s feelings don’t describe what the room looks like.
For example, Maria was hurt by John. She noticed that her kitchen was a mess.
There were pots and pans on the stove and the dishes were piled high almost to
the ceiling.
That
information may describe the room but what does it have to do with Maria’s feelings
toward John? The messy kitchen has nothing to do with Maria’s hurt feelings. It
is just there and it doesn’t emphasize her feelings.
Example
Maria
felt like the empty dirty glass in the sink. What was she just something to be
tossed aside when John was finished using her? She slammed the glass into the
sink on top of the dirty dishes and broke it.
When
you write your setting this way you never leave the focus of the character and
you still got in the details of the messy kitchen. Professional writer’s use
these details so skillfully that the reader is immediately drawn into the
fiction and never notices them.
Reference:
Leonard
Bishop; Dare to Be a Great Writer; Writer’s Digest Books
