The 3 Building Blocks of Every Novel, by Josh Stallings

Q: Plot, character, setting - how do they fit together in your work? Which do you find the most tricky (if any) and which do you have the most fun with?

A: I’m drinking a mug of coffee watching the sun creep into our shadowed valley and thinking about this question. When writers talk about “setting” it never feels like the right word. I come from theater and film where a set is only a physical space, it didn’t seem inclusive enough. I prefer milieu: “applies especially to the physical and social ...