Another ‘little’ overlooked aspect in writing: The Set

Hi all,

Awhile ago on this blog, I talked about characters and their traits, that is, to keep the character’s physical attributes consistent. Know whether they’re left handed (Phantom, Dracula) or right handed (Mina, Christine). Also, be careful of hair color, eye color and height of the characters (even the ‘minor’ ones) and make certain they stay the same throughout the course of not only your novel but also of your series of books, if you’re writing one (like I am at the present).

So now you have all the details of the characters. But you’re missing an important aspect. Scenery. Huh? You might be saying to yourself now. I’m not doing a play, I’m writing a novel. Well, yes, but that detail is as important for one as it is for the other. If you’re still confused, let me explain.

One of my favorite authors is a beautiful descriptor of scenery in her books. She describes everything. What the characters are wearing, what the furniture looks like. Even the patterns on the drapes hanging in one of the rooms. Wow. But yeah, she’s an amazing writer and that’s why this woman is one of my favorite authors. But I digress.

Describing scenery allows the reader to place the characters in his/her mind in a ‘space’ in their imagination. The more detailed the description, the more ‘real’ the scene may feel for the reader reading it. Now, one can go overboard with too many descriptions but my post was not about that so I won’t mention that aspect. However, I should just say that describing one’s scene should help set the tone for the story and enrich the action/emotion for the reader reading it. Too much description can remove the reader emotionally from the story. But yeah, description of the scene is a good thing.

Now, you’re done writing several scenes of the book, maybe even completed the first novel. And in the second novel, story, you have to revisit one of those scenes. The most important piece of advice that I can give my fellow writers in this situation is to make certain that the scenery and the furniture does not change. In other words, if there is a brass bed in the room, in the second book, unless the characters went shopping, the bed stays brass. And if there’s two chairs in the room in book one, there should be the same amount in the second book. Particularly, if you described the room or the furniture in detail. Again, at least IMO, it is important to stay consistent not only within the book but within one’s series.

So how does one keep track of all those ‘minor’ but very important details? A writing notebook. I have one where I keep a list of all my characters, short physical descriptions, short bios of each character and also, the rooms that I use for the scenes. In that way then, I can use my writing notebook as my ‘encyclopedia’ of information for my Dracula-Phantom universe and can ‘look up’ any detailed information I may have forgotten. I also suggest that you draw a picture of the setup of each ‘scene’ so that you can see the placement of the furniture in the room. That way, a character can stand with the chair on in right both in book one. And later then, in book five. Do you have to be so exact with the details? Well, no but IMO, it shows that you’re not only worrying about the ‘big’ picture of your novel/universe (characters, plot) but also, about the ‘little’ things in one’s book/universe. And in doing so, your longtime readers will appreciate you for it. And keep buying your books. Which is always a good thing:)

Until next time, take care all,
Chris