Setting — April 13, 2025
Otter at Moss Landing Marina, CA — Feb. 22, 2012 photo
“No, life cannot be understood flat on a page. It has to be lived. . . .” – Donald Miller
Setting is a great way to add a bit of color and texture to your novel. And I’m not just talking the big picture – does your story take place in Cairo or Cameroon? — I’m talking about setting from chapter to chapter.
I went to listen to a mystery writer discuss his work a couple of years ago and he said he makes it a practice to create a new location for each chapter. At the time, I thought it was a bit odd to be so formulaic about it. I remembered his prescription though when I was writing my own novel about a woman who goes to work every day.
The office, the car, and the restaurant got old quickly. Finding new locations for this woman to interact with her people helped me formulate plot and add color to the story. You might find this device helpful too. Try it. There’s the laundromat, the tattoo parlor, a city street in the rain, a nightclub. A church. A forest. A beach. Each comes with its own mood, its own challenges. A new venue may be just what you need to show what lies in the deepest recesses of your character’s heart.
