Maureen Ulrich's Blog - Posts Tagged "setting"
On Setting
Okay, so I'm one day late, but 3 blog entries in 3 weeks has got to be a record for me.
Many of the things I wrote last week about character description apply also to setting. A few well-constructed sentences are all that is necessary. Let's look at an example of a setting from Shade and Sorceress by Catherine Egan:
"Eliza Tok was squatting perilously close to the rocky promontory. It was nearly a thirty-foot drop to the crashing surf below. The waves rolled in, one great blue swell after another, smacking against the cliff and bursting into white foam." (p. 1)
Lovely work, Catherine.
Notice I said a FEW well-constructed sentences. In YA, it is dangerous to get carried away with any sort of description. It slows down the pace and the flow.
As with character description, it is wise to have a real model in your mind's eye to help you. Much of the Jessie Mac series takes place in real locations -- though the events are largely fiction. Jodi Palmer's farm near Macoun is actually a combination of my farm and a neighbouring one. In my mind, I know exactly where the house is in location to the barn and the shop.
"I head into the darkness, moving further and further into a region populated only by shapeless mounds of junk and scrub brush. The glow from the yard light doesn't penetrate here . . ." (Face Off, p. 328)
The above passage intersperses details of the setting with narration. That's generally the way I like to handle setting. I prefer not to stop and say, "Hey, this is what everything looks like." I would sooner sprinkle the details throughout, to keep things moving.
My objective is to write a manuscript that readers want to finish in one sitting, reading long into the night.
I guess that would be a good segue into writing chapter endings or cliffhangers or what have you. See you next week!
Many of the things I wrote last week about character description apply also to setting. A few well-constructed sentences are all that is necessary. Let's look at an example of a setting from Shade and Sorceress by Catherine Egan:
"Eliza Tok was squatting perilously close to the rocky promontory. It was nearly a thirty-foot drop to the crashing surf below. The waves rolled in, one great blue swell after another, smacking against the cliff and bursting into white foam." (p. 1)
Lovely work, Catherine.
Notice I said a FEW well-constructed sentences. In YA, it is dangerous to get carried away with any sort of description. It slows down the pace and the flow.
As with character description, it is wise to have a real model in your mind's eye to help you. Much of the Jessie Mac series takes place in real locations -- though the events are largely fiction. Jodi Palmer's farm near Macoun is actually a combination of my farm and a neighbouring one. In my mind, I know exactly where the house is in location to the barn and the shop.
"I head into the darkness, moving further and further into a region populated only by shapeless mounds of junk and scrub brush. The glow from the yard light doesn't penetrate here . . ." (Face Off, p. 328)
The above passage intersperses details of the setting with narration. That's generally the way I like to handle setting. I prefer not to stop and say, "Hey, this is what everything looks like." I would sooner sprinkle the details throughout, to keep things moving.
My objective is to write a manuscript that readers want to finish in one sitting, reading long into the night.
I guess that would be a good segue into writing chapter endings or cliffhangers or what have you. See you next week!
