Very timely as I'm about to spend a month thinking about "setting" - I'm currently constructing a first draft and I have some key settings in mind and I want to describe them thoroughly in that sense of them becoming a rounded character... I want the setting to have meaning, purpose for the story... It is a touchstone for the emotional themes... and yes, evokes atmosphere and imagery for the reader (me). Thing is... in this first draft... it is a bit blank when I come to the moments where I feel "this is a good description spot"... so I'm currently putting in three-asterisks as a place holder that I can find on the return trip ... I'm not worried per se by this - I think it's a symptom of needing to know the final shape of the story arc so that I better know the quality if the touchstone(s) needed? Make sense? :)
Yes, I think that does make sense - if you don't yet know what kind of mood and atmosphere, what overall feeling, you want the reader to feel. Having said that, you'd want to be sure that you darn those sections in, so they don't stick out and feel separate. It's about the slid from whatever was happening just before, I think...
Very timely as I'm about to spend a month thinking about "setting" - I'm currently constructing a first draft and I have some key settings in mind and I want to describe them thoroughly in that sense of them becoming a rounded character... I want the setting to have meaning, purpose for the story... It is a touchstone for the emotional themes... and yes, evokes atmosphere and imagery for the reader (me). Thing is... in this first draft... it is a bit blank when I come to the moments where I feel "this is a good description spot"... so I'm currently putting in three-asterisks as a place holder that I can find on the return trip ... I'm not worried per se by this - I think it's a symptom of needing to know the final shape of the story arc so that I better know the quality if the touchstone(s) needed? Make sense? :)
Yes, I think that does make sense - if you don't yet know what kind of mood and atmosphere, what overall feeling, you want the reader to feel. Having said that, you'd want to be sure that you darn those sections in, so they don't stick out and feel separate. It's about the slid from whatever was happening just before, I think...
slides - yes, good point - it would need to be smooth and unobtrusive. Lovely. Thanks :)
One of the moments where working with point-of-view and psychic distance is key, I think.
Yes, bedding it into clear POV And stretching the PD to give the character’s voice to the description 👍🙏😊