Exercise 1
Sightless
Write for 5-10 minutes on one of the settings listed below, using whatever
point of view you choose.
You are strictly forbidden from registering any detail in terms of the sense of
sight. You can use all the other senses—sound, smell, taste and touch—but
not the visual. Choose the senses that best fit the scenario and/or the
character whose point you have in mind.
In the desert
Stormy weather
Sports event (choose the sport)
Farmers market
Clothes shop
School
Hide and seek in the house
In the garden
Hospital
If time allows, we will read aloud from a few examples but don’t tell the group
which setting you chose to evoke. Leave us to guess it.
How did you found this exercise? What did you learn?
Adapted from Andrew Cowan, The Art of Writing Fiction (Longman, 2011, p. 61)
© Angela Savage: How setting can enhance your story
Exercise 2
In the mood
Go back to the setting you wrote about in the previous exercise (‘Sightless’). Note
that this time you are allowed to use visual detail/sight among other senses.
If you are working on a story, put yourself in the shoes of one of your characters.
Otherwise, simply make a character up for the purpose of this exercise.
Choose one (only) of the moods/emotional states from the list below and imagine
your character in that mood:
Angry
Impatient
Joyful
Weary
Bored
Confused
Anxious
Nostalgic
Enthusiastic
Infatuated
Now describe the setting again from the point of view of a character in your
chosen mood. The objective is to write a scene that shows your character’s
thoughts and emotions but do not name the feeling directly. Show us their mood
or emotion through their physical reaction to, interaction with, and/or reflections on
the setting. Do not use abstract adjectives or nouns that name their feelings, i.e.
don’t write ‘he was angry’, ‘she was weary’, etc. Instead, use concrete, sensory
details, action, thoughts, physical gestures, speech, etc.
You have 5-10 mins for writing.
When you have finished, if time allows, read your piece out loud to the group
without telling us what mood you chose and see if we can guess it.
1
Some questions you might consider:
•
What would stand out for the character in the setting, given their mood/state
of mind? Think about sounds, smells, tastes, physical sensations (touch),
as well as what visual elements might stand out.
•
What objects (statues, signage, the shape of trees, flowers, clouds, lighting,
animals, etc.) might reflect their feelings? Are there particular objects or
features that would contrast or jar with how they are feeling?
•
How might they react to the weather conditions?
•
Would they take a closer look at something or touch something? By
contrast, is there something in the setting that might make them recoil or
back away?
Adapted from Andrew Cowan’s ‘Given moods’, in The Art of Writing Fiction (Longman,
2011, p. 168).
© Angela Savage: How setting can enhance your story
2
Handout
Details, details
Selectivity of detail would…appear to have three dimensions: the detail should
be concrete and appeal to the senses; it should advance or enhance the
storytelling; and it should signify or resonate at a thematic level.
—Andrew Cowan, The Art of Writing Fiction (Longman, 2011, p. 63).
‘There’s a way in which a writer can do too much, overwhelming the reader
with so many details that he [or she] no longer has any air to breathe. Think of
a typical passage in a novel. A character walks into a room. As a writer, how
much of that room do you want to talk about? The possibilities are infinite.
You can give the colour of the curtains, the wallpaper pattern, the objects on
the coffee table, the reflection of the light in the mirror. But how much of this is
really necessary? Is the novelist’s job simply to reproduce physical sensation
for their own sake? When I write, the story is always uppermost in my mind,
and I feel that everything must be sacrificed to it. All the elegant passages, all
the curious details, all the so-called beautiful writing—if they are not truly
relevant to what I am trying to say, then they have to go.’
—Paul Auster, The Red Notebook (Faber & Faber, 1995)
As you edit your draft, ask yourself the following questions:
• Are some of the details too abstract or general? Could they be more
specific?
• Do the details shed light on character?
• Do the details hint at broader themes in my story?
• Are there too many details? Could some be edited out? Can I be more
selective?
© Angela Savage: How setting can enhance your story
Handout
Resources
When descriptions of places drag, the problem usually lies not in the setting,
but in presenting the setting too slowly… [M]ake your descriptions dynamic
and quick; give bits of setting concurrently with characters and
action…[and]…when you show the setting, be selective, giving only a few
details that’ll evoke a place. If the chosen details are vivid, the reader will
piece together the whole picture from her imagination. Leave her that
pleasure.
—Josip Novakovich, Fiction Writer’s Workshop, 2008
Not only are characters a part of the setting, they influence, respond to and
are informed by it. Skilful fiction writers can evoke setting in such a way as to
signify the feelings and personalities of their characters.
—Garry Disher, Writing Fiction, 2001
Elmore Leonard’s ten rules of writing
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/feb/24/elmore-leonard-rules-forwriters
Further reading
Casterton, Julia, ‘The Space we Inhabit’, in Creative Writing: A practical guide,
Pelgrave, New York, 2005, pp. 14-25
Lodge, David, The Art of Fiction, Penguin, London, 1992, especially: ‘Sense
of Place’ (pp. 56-60); ‘Weather’ (pp. 84-88) and ‘The Exotic’ (pp. 158-161).
Novakovich, Josip, ‘Setting: Evoking a Vivid Sense of Place and Time,’ in
Fiction Writer’s Workshop, Second ed. 2008, Writer’s Digest Books, Ohio, pp.
26-44.
Turnbull, Sue, ‘Are We There Yet? – The Place of Place in Australian Crime
Fiction’, in Meanjin, 1999, Vol 58 (4), pp. 50-60
Recommended reading: great sense of place
Tash Aw, The Harmony Silk Factory (Malaysia)
Geraldine Brooks, Year of Wonders (Derbyshire)
James Lee Burke, Dave Robicheaux novels, starting with The Neon Rain
(New Orleans)
Raymond Chandler, Philip Marlowe novels, starting with The Big Sleep (Los
Angeles)
Peter Corris, Cliff Hardy novels, starting with The Dying Trade (Sydney)
Amanda Curtin, Elemental (Shetland Isles, Scotland, and Freemantle, WA)
Garry Disher, Bitter Wash Road (rural South Australia)
Tony Hillerman, Navajo Tribal Police series, starting with The Blessing Way
(American southwest)
Adrian Hyland, Diamond Dove (outback Australia)
Arnaldur Indriðason, Detective Erlendur novels, starting with Jar City (Iceland)
Hannah Kent, Burial Rites (Iceland)
Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible (Belgian Congo)
Denise Mina, Garnethill Trilogy (Glasgow)
Andrew Nette, Ghost Money (Cambodia)
Malla Nunn, Emmanuel Cooper novels starting with A Beautiful Place to Die
(South Africa)
Kwei Quartey, Darko Dawson series, starting with Wife of the Gods (Ghana)
Ian Rankin, Rebus novels starting with Knots and Crosses (Edinburgh)
Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things (Kerala, India)
Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea (Jamaica and Dominica)
Angela Savage, Jayne Keeney PI novels, starting with Behind the Night
Bazaar (Thailand)
Alexander McCall Smith, Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency novels
(Botswana)
Peter Temple, Jack Irish novels, starting with Bad Debts (Melbourne)
Archie Weller, Going Home: Stories (Western Australia)