Location, location, location...

Nope! I'm not looking to buy or sell property. However, location plays a major role in the setting for mss. (Actually, it applies to more than novel writing, any form of fiction needs a setting or set for scripts.)

Even though location plays a backstage role in most novels, it can have a huge impact on the believable factor for the reader. You can take the average main character (MC) and move them from one location to another unrelated location, and their behavior will adapt - or should.

While the characters, particularly the MC and the antagonist, play the largest role in getting the reader to dispense with reality and buy into your story's reality, a well done setting can help the process along.

I'm visiting in Pine, AZ, in the Tonto National Forest. This isn't the typical mountain living, like in Flagstaff or one of the Colorado mountain cities. This is where cabins are sparely placed in the forest. Many of the roads are dirt and rugged.

One thing I've learned in the short while I've been here is to scan the horizon for smoke every time I go outside. Forest fires are frequent in the Arizona forests (and in Southern California).

As we were driving up the 500 feet elevation from the town where shopping is done here, we noticed a yellow-brown haze hovering over the next ridge ahead of us. It was the kind of thing found over many US major cities, but we both scanned for the source of the smoke. Once we found the chimney of smoke was narrow and from the east of where we were headed, we resumed our conversation and proceeded up the mountain.

The point is, there are behaviors that locals do particular to their environment. Don't go overboard, but if you can add something to convince the reader who has lived in a similar location that this is true, you are one step closer to moving them to dispense with disbelief.

The converse is true. Hubby's great aunt remarked once how a fairly famous writer had the moon rise over the Mid-western plains at 2:00 AM. She threw the book in the fireplace. The moon does not rise that late in the central plains states. Actually, it should be beginning its descent by then.

While I don't want novice writers to sweat blood over every detail, do pay attention to particulars that the locals would know are pure fiction, if you're asking them to move into the world you've created in your novel and believe it is real.

On the other hand, in SciFi or fantasy, it is sometimes useful to take a known item from our world, like the moon rising, and have it behave differently. That gives the novel an other world quality. So, maybe you want the moon to rise at noon. Then you can have the characters react to that, such as saying it will be clear for the battle or the journey at hand. I think it is handy to take an element from the setting that is familiar and guide the reader to translate that item into the unreal world.

Make sure what you add to your story is there for a reason, not just filling space. Write well, enjoy the process, and take your readers with you.

TIP: Get travel videos from the library and watch the locals in the background of the host.

PITCH: I rarely pitch, but Kathryn's Beach is an excellent example of setting contributing to the character of the MC. The link to purchase is in the left sidebar of this blog.

The other beach

Calling Seal Beach, California, the 'other beach' sounds like the 'other woman.' That's not the case. Though not mentioned by name in the books, it is the main beach, Kathryn's Beach.

Note the difference in the physical features of her beach and her father's beach. The photos linked with the last two blogs point out the rugged difference quite obviously. (I'll post the link again at the end.)

Here are snippets of Kathryn's Beach/Seal Beach, California.

... a greenish cast to the water and the glitter in the wet sand ... Seagulls screech at each other ... sandpipers play a hurried game of tag with the tan foam at the waves’ edge as it advances and retreats ... The endless sound of the waves coming and going, and the occasional sound of a boat motor revving to pull away from the pier ... The last of the commercial fishing boats begin to come in with their morning catch. They pass into the channel leading to port. The boats are near enough to see the swarm of seagulls following them to the wharf beyond my view. The familiarity of the sights, sounds, and smells wrap around me in a maternal embrace. (Kathryn's Beach)

...the essence of the sandy saltwater scents, and listening to the sound of the crashing waves as the tide comes in ... As the tide rises, the mist of the breaking waves reaches out to touch me from the darkness. (Kathryn's Beach)

The sound of the pounding surf is a loud distraction ... Thundering waves resonate in my chest each time one comes in and hits hard, high on the beach, and again the aftershock when the backwash collides. The sound carries for blocks in the thick, evening air ... people run quickly to see what is happening with the Pacific. Surfers huddle on the beach with their wetsuits hanging at half mast on their trim bodies. They evaluate the quality of the waves with the precision of the Army Corps of Engineers ... [they] fidget – longing to be in the water. Low-hung clouds darken. Hypnotizing lightning comes. It spiders across the dark clouds, driving most of the people from the beach. Strikes of lightning light the beach long enough for me to see the surf is more violent than before ... The wind is coming inland, bringing with it the smell of the ocean ... For a long time I stand and watch each flickering in the distant sky. The umbrella is only a ruse. The rain ignores any attempt to be shielded from it. High tide will be monstrous tonight. Finally, long after I come inside, the lightning moves up the coast and away. (High Tide)

The evening breeze is beginning to blow inland. It is still hot out, a July hot. The sand is radiating the heat it accumulated from the day. The breeze is slight and gentle against my cheeks. (Storm Surge, manuscript)

The September beach ... The sky is clear and a crisp, rich blue. There are no clouds or smog today. The warm sand feels good on my feet as I carry my shoes ... three people [are] in the water wind sailing. They glide effortlessly over the waves. (Storm Surge, manuscript)

Beach photos in YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwh8DIXKXv8

Beach photos on website (again):
http://nadinelamanbooks.com/photos.html

Setting the set

My writing style is a bit old school. I tend to make the setting part of the story, which isn't as common now. In the excerpt [below] from Kathryn's Beach, the playroom wall comes alive as it advances center stage for a brief close-up shot. It is never mentioned again, but makes the transformation of Saint Mark's Convent and School into Spirit of Hope Homeless Shelter have more depth. More of the convent is detailed in the excerpt from [again below] High Tide where Shasta leads Kathryn through the convent hallway to her secret passage.

Like Hemingway's, Old Man And The Sea, of course, I feature the beach as a character, especially in Kathryn's Beach. Since Kathryn is less dimensional in Kathryn's Beach, the beach takes on more moods and dimensions to fill in the gaps of a full bodied character that every story needs. I'll remind everyone again, Kathryn doesn't even have a last name in Kathryn's Beach.

As Kathryn travels through the trilogy, her character develops and the list of characters around her increases. This is especially true in High Tide where the cast of characters increases dramatically from the cast list in Kathryn's Beach.

In writing fiction, it is almost as if there is a formula to the balance of character elements with the other elements in the story. As the character side of the balance needs less from the setting to balance their weight in the story, the setting specifics diminish, as I think you'll see if you read Kathryn's trilogy from beginning to end.

While the speed of the story is a main feature in an adventure story, literary devices have to be employed more in stories, such as mine, that meander along in the telling. That is not to say that a good adventure story is less well written, which isn't the case, than a story-story.

As I find the focus of this blog, I will continue to share excerpts from the books, even the unpublished third book, Storm Surge, and discuss elements in the story telling process -- much like a director's commentary is done for a DVD. Hopefully, I will be able to enhance the reading enjoyment without tipping key elements of the story line with these excerpts that have not been posted anywhere else on the internet.

A good writer writes to the enjoyment of the reader -- not the publishing industry, not for their own satisfaction -- but for the reader's enjoyment.

Here are pictures of the setting in the trilogy.
http://nadinelamanbooks.com/photos.html

Who knew?

US Army Col. Thomas Brown, retired, likes this best of anything I've written. Who would have guessed that a guy would like this? (Sorry, that didn't come out right. It is just that I write like a girl.)

Note: Just going to jump in here because it is out of the middle of something. Try not to worry about the part that is missing, the point is what is here.

(excerpt from Kathryn's Beach)

“One of our sisters and a local artist painted a mural around the walls of the playroom,” she beams.

I stop in awe just inside the door and look around the room. Amazingly, it isn’t overwhelming to have the mural from floor to ceiling on all four walls. It’s detailed, but not too busy. It’s rather calming. I feel its effect standing here, though my eyes are eagerly moving from one surprisingly delightful detail to the next.

To the left of the door and around the nearby corner is a country scene with a cottage and a variety of domesticated animals and squirrels that ventured near the dwelling. Midway along the wall the terrain rises slightly to gentle rolling hills covered with wild flowers. A paved road emerges from the far side of the hills and turns the corner onto the next wall.

The road quickly grows into a freeway system with bridges over a barge-filled river in the forefront of a city, which includes tall smokestacks belonging to a factory. Towering apartment buildings glow with the setting sun. The buildings blend into silhouettes with light-filled windows as the painted sky fades to darkness, except for the moon and stars over the city. The cityscape takes nearly the entire wall opposite the door.

Beyond the city, nearing the third corner of the room, the ground rises to a high meadow at the edge of a forest which begins on the third wall. The forest grows dense with hardwood trees that reach to the ceiling, blocking most of the painted light to the forest floor and a small overgrown footpath. Tiny shimmering rays of sunlight filter through the forest canopy to illuminate deer, bears, and other indigenous adult animals in the distance, keeping watch over their youngsters in the forefront – within reach if a child wishes to touch them.

Moving on along the wall, the forest thins and a stream gives way at a steep drop. The rising sun glistens through the mist of a waterfall cascading down the corner of the room and splashing into a freshwater pool with brightly colored trout, frogs, and dragonflies. At the far edge of the lake, the water rushes to the sea and the waves splash with a pair of dolphins. Farther back, a California gray whale spews a waterspout while another breaches into the water. Beneath the surface, a whale calf is visible swimming at an adult’s side.

On the fourth wall the waves rush onto the shore where there is a wonderfully intricate sandcastle. Beyond the grassy sand dune beach, a desert materializes. It is full of cacti, Joshua trees, horny toads, a burro, and a scorpion with its tail turned up. The sand grows green and golden with California poppies that end at the door. The entire picture connects together, and I love it!

My eyes go around the room a second time looking at the details. There are butterflies, seagulls, hummingbirds, soaring eagles, and a cactus wren – all in the appropriate habitat. The idea and the art are brilliant.

From Kathryn's Beach http://nadinelamanbooks.com/books.html

Find Colonel Thomas Brown here: http://www.thomasbrownbooks.com/