Step 2: Build a Story World

Courtesy of Ohio Historical Society

Building a story world is great fun. I get to explore places and people I might never have met either in history or in person.

I start with the big picture environment. Is the setting a real place? Is it contemporary or historical? Can I travel there? Or create it from my desk?

How much can I actually see? For my contemporary medical mysteries, the story world was an intensive care unit in an urban hospital. I’d seen many of those units but no way would a hospital allow me access, especially since a murder would soon occur there.

For my current series, the Singular Village Mysteries, I travel often to Zoar, Ohio to explore the town, talk to residents, study in their research library, and interview the historian. Why isn’t that perfect for me? Because the stories are set in 1833! Creating that world requires additional research into how people lived and worked in that era.

Is the story world limited to one location? Probably not. To get my characters in trouble, they must move around or be dragged about. What is that setting(s) like? It may differ considerably from the cozy cabin where my character lives. She might be thrown into the hustle and bustle of a crowded city on market day, overwhelmed by the stench of horse droppings and sewage. Or she might be thrilled to experience the sights and sounds of the busy city streets, crowded with vendors hurrying about to deliver numerous goods to potential buyers. Or her mood might change depending on events in the story.

Once the big picture environment is created, details must be added. These include:

What are the cultural, religious, and political beliefs of the people?

Are they well-to-do or perpetually hungry? Or from both sides of the tracks?

What work do they do? Is it satisfying or dull?

Do they live in houses, apartment buildings, mansions, or tenements?

Many more details will be added as the story begins to take shape.

Next I drill down to the specific dates of the story. How many hours, days, weeks, or months pass during the story? What events transpire in the normal story world? In Tree of Heaven, that I’m creating right now, it’s September, the harvest is in and the apples (a major crop) are ripe. Time to make apple butter. What complications can I build into that project? These may have nothing to do with the murder. Or they may.

Okay, I have my time and place. Let’s populate it with people. That’s next week’s step.