Sharan Newman: A Picture is Worth . . . the Life of Your Novel

Where to put your novel?  No, really.

                  Imagine Wuthering Heights without the moors or The Snows of Kilimanjaro set on the Kansas prairie. They would be entirely different books.  Setting can add much to the atmosphere of a story.  In many cases, the place can almost be another character.  A Victorian house overlooking the rocky coast of Maine practically screams dark secrets and haunting.  But I have read too many stories in which the author decides that, say, Istanbul would be a good place to write about.  So she gets a guide book and notes that the protagonist visits the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.  But the story itself could really be anywhere.  Setting matters only if it helps to direct the action. 

                  In my own work I tend to set books in places that I want to visit or that I already know well.  The landscape, wildlife, weather: all of these become part of the book.  In Strong as Death a spring flood changes the lives of my characters, as does a trip through a foggy mountain pass.  A big city can become an adversary or a refuge.  Cara Black’s series set in Paris is a good example of this.

                  Locations don’t have to direct the mood of the story, however.   When I do workshops, I often hand out a photograph and have the participants describe it several different times.  They imagine setting the scene for a mystery, fantasy, science fiction, thriller or romance.  The choice of words and the focus are completely different each time.  Here is a sample of two photos for you to try out the process.  Think of the setting as a way to establish mood.  I guarantee that it can intensify the impact of your work, and save pages of boring explication.