Writing Active Setting Book 1: Characterization and Sensory Detail by Mary Buckham Read Free Book Online

impression of you to the reader .
     
    Again only 2 – 4 sentences max. What do you focus on? What do they focus on? What word s do you choose to describe your space? What are their word choices that show you are in a different POV ? What do your word choices reveal about the character viewing the room and the character that lives in the room?
     
    PART 2 – YOUR WIP:
     
    Choose a Setting description of less than a paragraph from your story. In a maximum of 2 – 4 sentences, show this Setting through the following POVs , even if you do not u se all three in your manuscript:
     
    1) The protagonist’s POV .
    2) A secondary character ’s POV , especiall y one who is very different from the protagonist.
    3) Your protagonist ’s POV again, but this time giving an impression of another character through describing that character’s relationship with the Setting .
     
    Again , only 2 – 4 sentences max imum . What does the protagonist focus on? What does the secondary character [antagonist or villain] focus on? What are his or her word choices to describe the Setting ? How do these word choices change the feel of the Setting and what the reader sees ?
     
    Intention: The pur pose of this exercise is to start to show yo u the power of POV as it related to Setting . Change the POV , and though the Setting might remain the same , the impressio ns the reader receives of that Setting can vary wildly . If those impressions don’t change you probably are showing the Setting through your POV as opposed to your characters.
     
     
    RECAP
     
    * R emember that place can and should be filtered through a specific character’s emotions, impressions, viewpoint , and focus. How one character sees a Setting can be more important than the Setting itself.
     
    * D o not stop or slow your story flow to show a Setting or details of a Setting unless that Setting reveals something important about the story or characters.
     
    * Consider showing the same setting through two different characters to reveal information about the POV character or information about another character that they may not know about themselves. For example i f a young woman thinks of herself as independent and self-contained and the reader is shown from her personal space how she has saved mementos of her childhood or of the people who have cared for her in the past, you are showing the reader something about her the character that she herself does not realize.

Part 3
    USING SETTING DETAIL TO ENHANCE SETTING
     
     
    Sensory detail is one of the most underrated tools in a writer’s toolbox and can make a world of difference in creating novels that stand out in a reader’s mind. Not every Setting needs all five senses described in de tail — t hat approach is overkill and can have a ma jor impact on your story pacing. B ut when introducing the reader to a character, or changing the location of the story, or focusing a reader in on a place that’s going to play a larger role in the story, then by all means dig deeper to create a strong Setting image. And a key way to do this is via sensory details.
    Use sensory details in your Setting when you first change a location or open a chapter or to indicate a shift in the emotional state of the POV character. Think in terms of which sensory details a POV character would notice at that particular time. Change the time and emotional state of the POV character and you should notice a difference in which sensory details are being noticed. An example might be listening to specific music at the opening of the scene. What can be soft and relaxing at the beginning of the scene can be lonely and low-energy at the end of the scene. Have you ever entered a favorite store and found the music upbeat and fun only to discover that the person with you finds the same music annoying and dated? Each person’s description of the music would create a different feel for a reader about the store Setting.
    Texture is so often overlooked in a story