Establishing

Setting©Alison Byrne 2014

Developing a sense of placeSo, you have decided on your ‘discovery’

concepts - remember you should have a number of interconnecting concepts to ‘seed’ within your story.

You should have some idea of plot. You have developed a multi-faceted

character with a detailed backstory, right? Okay, what now?

Place

So, how do you write about place?

The place your character inhabits should almost be a character in your story.

How does place reflect a sense of discovery or a challenge to discovery?

How does place reflect your character? What does this place mean to your character?

Describe the physical attributes of the place represented in the image below using sensory images. How does place smell, sound, taste, feel, and appear? Use a range of literary devices to illustrate these images.

Wait, there’s more!What is your character’s connection to place

in terms of ‘discovery’?Write about the significance of place. How is

place significant in your prescribed text?Don’t use clichés or hackneyed expressions

to describe a place.Use concrete and specific details. Remember

as many significant details about place as you can.

What are the transformative properties of this place?

Look at the following example, how does it set atmosphere?

Adding atmosphere through place

There was a desert wind opening in the night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Annas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every party ends in a drunken fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands’ necks. Anything can happen.

Raymond Chandler Red Wind

… or adding depth through colour

The world had turned grey. Nothing but mud and asphalt surrounded the unpainted house, little more than a box made of concrete blocks. Charlie, dressed in faded work pants, rubber boots, and a thick wool sweater, steadied himself with a hand on the top rail of a weathered cedar fence. Behind him, nothing but ash-coloured sky, bare trees, and plumes of smoke belching from the factory in the distance. A lone sparrow rested on a branch, one beady eye watching.

Activity for the day

Look at the previous example. Identify all of the references to grey

Using the following colour palette. Write down any word you can think of inspired by the colours. This may be a word that identifies the shade of the colour, something that the colour describes or something the colour reminds you of. You may work in a pair for this part of the task.

Using the example as a guide, write a paragraph describing a place using your ‘word palette’.

Now start putting it together…

Does the place you have written reflect your ideas about discovery?

Does your character fit well within this place?

Write an opening scene in which you:1. Introduce your protagonist2. Create a sense of place3. Seed one discovery concept