Kathleen Heady's Blog - Posts Tagged "setting"
How Do I Choose a Setting for My Story?
"There is no happiness in love, except at the endof an English novel." (Anthony Trollope in Barchester Towers)
Why did I set The Gate House in England?
The simple answer to that question is -- because that's where the story is. But obviously there is more to it than that.
Setting is one of the crucial elements of fiction, but it is not arbitrary. A writer cannot pick up the plot and characters of a story from one location and drop them down unchanged in another. Even though the characters are what make readers care and keep turning the page, setting shapes the characters as much as the other influences in their lives.
I think my fascination with setting comes from my love of travel. I often "see stories" when I visit a location away from home. Different locations evoke ideas of different kinds of emotions and plot ideas. Washington, DC, where I spent a recent week-end, is a setting full of enormous political power and history. A story set there must somehow touch on those elements. A trip to Lincolnshire, England, where my husband's family originated, inspired The Gate House, when we spent an unplanned couple of nights in a bed and breakfast of that name. This setting called me to create a story of mystery and the layers of history that are so present in England.
Setting can almost be considered another character, as the time and place of the story interact with the other elements. Literary themes and human emotions may not change over time, but how the pieces fall together can create unique and compelling stories.
Do you every choose a novel based on the setting? Are there certain setting you prefer?
Why did I set The Gate House in England?
The simple answer to that question is -- because that's where the story is. But obviously there is more to it than that.
Setting is one of the crucial elements of fiction, but it is not arbitrary. A writer cannot pick up the plot and characters of a story from one location and drop them down unchanged in another. Even though the characters are what make readers care and keep turning the page, setting shapes the characters as much as the other influences in their lives.
I think my fascination with setting comes from my love of travel. I often "see stories" when I visit a location away from home. Different locations evoke ideas of different kinds of emotions and plot ideas. Washington, DC, where I spent a recent week-end, is a setting full of enormous political power and history. A story set there must somehow touch on those elements. A trip to Lincolnshire, England, where my husband's family originated, inspired The Gate House, when we spent an unplanned couple of nights in a bed and breakfast of that name. This setting called me to create a story of mystery and the layers of history that are so present in England.
Setting can almost be considered another character, as the time and place of the story interact with the other elements. Literary themes and human emotions may not change over time, but how the pieces fall together can create unique and compelling stories.
Do you every choose a novel based on the setting? Are there certain setting you prefer?
Is it good to take a break from writing?
I traveled to Chicago last week-end to be involved in one of my other loves -- singing. With rehearsals close to eight hours a day, there was little time for writing. I managed a few lines in my journal before gong to sleep, but that was all. But did I forget about writing? No. I thought about it all the time. I thought about characters, situations, and settings that I could use in future writing. I listened to conversations and observed people. I experienced the week-end.
If you make a commitment to write, I don't think you can ever take a break. You may take a break from actually sitting at the computer and putting in your daily quota of time or word count, but the ideas are always churning in your mind. And you always have a pen and paper with you, because you might want to jot something down for future use.
Writers live in an inner world of words and ideas, and it is a world that never goes away. So I take a break when my life goes that direction, but I am always a writer. The stories are there, and I will write them.
I used to be a teacher in another life time, and that profession was the same. I was constantly looking for ideas and materials that I could use in my classes, even when I was on vacation. What other professions are life-consuming like writing and teaching? Do you need a break once in a while, or is it something you love so much you want it to consume you?
If you make a commitment to write, I don't think you can ever take a break. You may take a break from actually sitting at the computer and putting in your daily quota of time or word count, but the ideas are always churning in your mind. And you always have a pen and paper with you, because you might want to jot something down for future use.
Writers live in an inner world of words and ideas, and it is a world that never goes away. So I take a break when my life goes that direction, but I am always a writer. The stories are there, and I will write them.
I used to be a teacher in another life time, and that profession was the same. I was constantly looking for ideas and materials that I could use in my classes, even when I was on vacation. What other professions are life-consuming like writing and teaching? Do you need a break once in a while, or is it something you love so much you want it to consume you?
The "Nature" of Setting
I have always wondered how a person’s surrounding affect they way they live. How is it different to grow up on the flat land of Illinois in the midst of corn fields and soy beans, compared to a city overlooked by an ancient castle (Edinburgh, Scotland), or the lushness of tropical trees and flowers. Different people react in different ways to their childhood environment, and I am not sure it has anything to do with whether or not a childhood was happy. I had a very happy childhood in Illinois in the midst of the corn fields, but I have no desire to go back there, and neither do my brothers. We were always taught to think big, dream big and explore the world, and we have done just that. Illinois is where I am from, not where I am.
In my latest Nara book, tentatively titled Hotel St. Clare, which is actually the beginning of her story, we go back to the island country of St. Clare, where she grew up, and will see how her island upbringing helped to shape her personality and character. At that time, and at the beginning of The Gate House, Nara had very strong ties to St. Clare and life on the islands. But circumstances and people change, and perhaps if she returned, it would not be the same. By the end of Lydia’s Story, how would she feel?
What do you think? I would love to hear how other people have been shaped, or not, by the place where they grew up.
In my latest Nara book, tentatively titled Hotel St. Clare, which is actually the beginning of her story, we go back to the island country of St. Clare, where she grew up, and will see how her island upbringing helped to shape her personality and character. At that time, and at the beginning of The Gate House, Nara had very strong ties to St. Clare and life on the islands. But circumstances and people change, and perhaps if she returned, it would not be the same. By the end of Lydia’s Story, how would she feel?
What do you think? I would love to hear how other people have been shaped, or not, by the place where they grew up.
