Pebblepup's Writing Den

Your story takes place somewhere. It never takes place in a vacuum. The story location is important. Get to know it.

Where does your character live? Draw a map of the town. If it’s set in a real town, use a map of the town to show where the action takes place. What is your hero’s house like? What’s the floor plan?

Can you visualize the rooms? What about the furniture? If you can’t visualize these details, work on doing so. Otherwise your characters will be talking heads. You don’t want talking heads. You want action.

Your characters are somewhere doing something. Even if all you do is describe them walking along a country lane, know what they see as they walk. Know what they smell. Is there a breeze? Describe how it affects your characters.

These details add a sense of reality to your story. Use the places where the action takes place to add problems. Is someone pursuing your character? If so, consider where your character could hide. What would prevent them from hiding from whoever is chasing them.

What is your character’s morning routine? Describe it and the places where the routine occurs. What kind of bed is in the bedroom. What color are the walls. Is the floor tile, hardwood, or carpet. What does the bathroom look like? Where do they eat breakfast. What kind of kitchen do they have, small and cramped, or large and airy.

Do they have a TV? Where is it in the room? There’s a lot you can leave to your readers’ imaginations. But, you have to give them something to start with. Paint the backdrop with broad strokes. You don’t need to describe everything in great detail. You do need to anchor the action in some place.

If the character lives on the fifteenth floor of a building, show them getting in an elevator. Or show that they need to climb the stairs. That was a running gag on The Big Bang Theory. The characters often had to climb the stairs because the elevator was always out of service. It added humor to an already funny show. Little touches like that help to create tension. Whether the characters need to climb fifteen floors of stairs. Or if they step into an elevator and listen to it groan and moan its way up or down.

If you don’t know where your character is in the setting of the story, you can’t convey it to your readers. That is a good way to lose your readers.

I’ve been reading a cozy mystery series in which the main characters have a car haunted by turkeys. That’s a detail that doesn’t add to the story, but it does add to the fun of the series. It’s a small detail, but it shows the ghost-seeing abilities of the main characters. It helps with showing their character that they do the best they can. Even while driving a car full of ghost turkeys.

Work to show that your characters live someplace. Have them navigate a world of some kind. Know where they are and your readers will know too. Good luck and keep writing.