#TipfulTuesday Scenes That Propel Story

#TipfulTuesday Scene Setting Tips
(The bridge in the photo is significant for this topic...read to the end to see why)

When the story scene moves to a new location, the writer provides a brief description, transporting the reader there.

The point of today's post is to show the flaw in that statement.

Yes, each new scene should have a description. 

Brief at first. More revealing as action and dialogue quickly take over. Readers want to know if they are underwater, on a mountaintop, in an office room, a small town, etc. This is essential for storycraft.

So, what is the error in the introductory sentence to this post?

"The writer provides."

Setting the scene will look very different depending on the POV character, and as a result, sets the tone and so much more. It's true!

Say, for example, the scene is in a living room. This is the first time this living room has been in the story.

The POV character is a female detective. Her boyfriend left for Italy with another woman on a business trip this morning. He didn't say goodbye. A body is on the floor. When the detective walks into the room does she first see the body or the Italian deco? Well, that would depend on where her mind is at that moment. Is she in the job? Then the body. If she struggles with her relationship, then the deco. 

Both will be described in this scene because both are essential. The Italian deco lets readers see more than just a body and carpet. Naturally, hidden clues can only be seen if the description takes readers beyond the body. Still, readers want to know more about the crime. Who died? A child, a woman, a man with a mask and a gun in his hand, etc.?

The first descriptive sentences of a scene propel the story forward, indicating exactly where the POV character's focus is. The first also tends to go deeper for that very reason.

Therefore both answers can be correct. It simply depends on the forward momentum of this story at this time. 


 A great resource for more information is, Kathy Tyers Writing Deep Viewpoint.

Do you have questions?

Oh, and the Venetian bridge in the photo served as the last view a prisoner received of the world before guards took him or her to prison. Can you image their POV when looking out this window? Changes the way you first looked at this photo. Right?

~Mary Vee
Photo taken in Venice, by Mary Vee

Would you like to visit Montana? I am taking a group on a virtual trip in my June 15th newsletter. No packing needed. No bug spray required. Explore something new in each letter! Sign up today at http://eepurl.com/dITkz5

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Mary Vee -Rock climbing, white-water rafting, and hiking top Mary’s list of ways to enjoy a day. She was homeless for a time, was a teacher, a missionary, and married an Air Force vet. Mary has been a finalist in several writing contests and writes for her King.

Visit Mary at her Website, Blog, and her ministry blog to families: God Loves Kids. Or chat on Facebook or Twitter

The Importance of Setting in Fiction

I read another chapter of Donald Maass's book, The Fire In Fiction, and it was all about setting. When I think about setting, I usually think about the place and the details, but Maass says it is oh-so-much-more! You "bring the setting into the story in a way that integrates it into the very fabric of your character's experience." Easier said than done, I know. But he gives suggestions on how, like:

LINKING DETAILS AND EMOTIONS - Take a childhood home, for instance. Describe the place and let your character experience the feelings the place evokes. Together, details and emotions make a place a living thing.

MEASURING CHANGE OVER TIME - Tangible things in your scene can bring out passage of time, such as ice cream trucks, crew neck sweaters, leaf blowers, Popsicles, swim suits, scarfs, snow plows, etc. Of course, these things can evoke emotions as well, to enhance the experience of your character.

HISTORY IS PERSONAL - Historical detail is a good thing, but a story doesn't have to be chock full of it. Creating a sense of the times is not just about the details (or even coupling them with emotions). The times are also enhanced by infusing a character with strong opinions about both the details and the emotions. What does the character feel about historical events? What shapes his views?

SEEING THROUGH CHARACTER'S EYES - Use different POV characters to "see" the setting. Each character's personality will see with different emotions and from a different perspective.

CONJURING A MILIEU - Yeah, I had to look that word up. (*blush*) It means a social or cultural environment. It is not necessarily a "place", but something like the world of pro-baseball players, or the life of stage actors, etc. This is what Maass said about it: "A milieu exists not in a time or place, but in the mind and hearts of the characters who dwell in it. Their memories, feelings, opinions, outlook and ways of operating in their realm are what make it real."

SETTING AS A CHARACTER: A setting may participate in the story, like a blizzard, drought, or nature. It can be a place of significance, like The Boardwalk on Coney Island. It could be the place where your husband proposed and you spend every anniversary at. You make it real by making it significant to the character.

As always, Maass gives many examples of each point from many different author's works. It is very helpful to see how others are doing it.

Setting is one of my weak points in writing. I like dialogue and action best, so all the details slip me by. I am trying to incorporate setting with each new scene, but I am definitely a minimalist. :)

Do you love to build your story's world? If not, how do you make yourself write the setting? What tools or rituals do you use?

**Originally posted at Sherrinda.com on 6/22/09
**Photo by schwoaze at pixabay.com


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Sherrinda Ketchersid is a born and bred Texan, preacher’s wife, mother of 4 children, and works part-time as a bookseller at Amazon. With the children grown and out of the house, she weaves tales of fierce knights and their ladies in a time where men were warriors and women had to be strong enough to keep them in check.

After taking time off from writing, she has returned with a new motto in place to spur her on. “Writers write. Everyone else makes excuses.” ~Jack Bickham.  No excuses this time. She is weaving her love of romance with history to bring joy and the hope of love to those who may one day read her stories. Her first book, tentatively The Lady's Masquerade, will release April 2019.

You can connect with her through:

Personal blog: sherrinda.com

Twitter: @sherrinda

Instagram: @sherrinda

Inspired By Place: 16th Century England meets Small Town, USA

Hatfield photo borrowed from:

http://www.timetravel-britain.com/articles/houses/hatfield.shtml

Here at the alley we are spending the next couple of weeks talking about places that inspire. I took this assignment rather literally as I am going to share my latest inspiration for my newest novel, Goodnight, Lizzie.

I have been all caught up in 16th century England for the past three years, but more and more, I also find myself inspired by
every day beauty as I live life in my part of the world.

So with NaNoWriMo in full swing, my brain worked in overdrive to think up a great story to whip up in a month.

Usually, I am one who decides on "place" first...guess it's the Landscape Architect background or my love for traveling...or my historical bent that calls for a rich setting...

I decided this year, I'd base my story where I've been living lately...Small Town USA, but still weave it with my great love for history and Elizabethan England.

(Maybe one of these days I'll share exactly how I am going to do that...let me get a few chapters under my writer's belt.:))

Whether it be a large, mysterious castle, or a tiny coffee shop in the Midwest, the most important thing that inspires me is that life can be lived out there, and I can play "dolls" with my characters for a good long session of make-believe. If I can visualize life lived out, then I can write it on the pages. Glad I can hop in my car and drive just down the street for a good gulp of research--perfect for the time crunch of NaNoWriMo, huh?

So, how did you come up with the setting for your novel? Or, what's your favorite place to go find inspiration?

Happy 2nd Day of NaNoWriMo!

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Angie Dicken is a full-time mom and lives in the Midwest with her Texas Aggie sweetheart. An ACFW member since 2010, she has written six historical novels and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of The Steve Laube Agency. Angie also spends her time designing one-sheets and drinking good coffee with great friends. Check her personal blog at angiedicken.blogspot.com and connect at:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/dicken.angie, 

Twitter: @angiedicken

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/agdicken/

How Research Can Strengthen Any Story

One of the reasons I love writing contemporary romance so much is that I don't have to worry so much about period-specific clothes, customs, sayings, etc. because I'm already living in the time of the story. I really enjoy reading historicals, but the idea of all that research in my own writing makes me a nervous wreck! What if I get one detail wrong and mess up the credibility of the whole thing?

But does that mean contemporary writers are off the hook when it comes to research? Not even a litte. We just do a different kind of research. We still need to know all about our settings, how the characters would really speak to one another in their home environments, and cultural normals, which can vary from one city of a city to the other, let alone from one side of the country to the next!

Doing strong research can benefit any story, and though I know it's easy to shrug off the research stage (especially as a contemporary writer or as a historical writer already familiar with a particular time in history), doing so can be detrimental. Just think of all the editing you'll have in store for you when you realize, for instance, only half of Florida uses the phrase "y'all" and drinks sweet tea! :)

A couple weeks ago, I had the chance to go on a short trip to Charleston with my husband for our babymoon. We chose Charleston because it was the perfect pace for my seven-month-pregnant-self and because we both adore the city. But, an added plus is that Charleston is also the location of my new work-in-progress. It is amazing how doing a little story-related research can energize you and get your creative wheels turning!

So, what are some ways you can dive in?

• Plan a visit to the town/location your story is set in. Maybe your story is set in England, and this is unrealistic. Well, be creative! You may not be able to afford airfare to Europe, but I bet you can find an English teashop somewhere in driving distance! Or maybe a particular kind of house, tree, barn, etc. plays a key role in your story. Even if you can't visit the real city your story is set in, find a similar object and spend an afternoon near it. Let it really sink into your senses, and take notes. What are the sounds, sights, smells? How do people react to it? If you can visit the location of your story, even better! I guarantee the trip will be worth your while!

• Talk to/interview someone who relates to your story. While in Charleston, I had the privilege to interview a woman who does walking tours and knows some extensive history that directly relates to my characters' genealogy. Your interviews could be with someone who knows a lot about your setting, or could be with someone who has the same career as your hero/heroine. Rene Gutteridge was the first one to give me this advice, and it really does make a difference. Something comes alive when you speak with people firsthand.

• Take time to imagine yourself in that situation. I know for me, at least, it's easy to get a few location details at place in a setting description, then rush forward with the story. Instead, push yourself into the living, breathing story. Imagine life for your characters. Imagine how you would feel to walk the cobblestone streets or pick cotton or hide under a desk for an air raid drill. These are the types of details and emotion that set a great story apart from a good one.

• Don't underestimate the power of reading, Pinterest, and Google searches. Yes, I know it's old fashioned and sometimes boring to pick up a biography or non-fiction book about your setting or someone who lived during that time period. But history is chalk-full of wonderful stories just waiting to be a springboard for fictional ones. Try going to your local library or bookstore, and you may be surprised how inspiration hits!

What about you? What steps do you take when researching a story? Do you enjoy the research process?

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Ashley Clark writes romance with southern grace. She's dreamed of being a writer ever since the thumbprint-cookie-days of library story hour. Ashley has an M.A. in English and enjoys teaching literature courses at her local university. She's an active member of ACFW and runs their newcomer's loop. When she's not writing, Ashley's usually busy rescuing stray animals and finding charming new towns. You can find Ashley on her personal blog, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. She is represented by Karen Solem.

Setting Wow: Making Your Setting as Important as Your Plot and Characters

Hi, AlleyPals! Laurie here :) Today it's my privilege to welcome one of my dear friends, debut author Sally Bradley. She recently celebrated the release of her novel, Kept, and I couldn't be more excited for her. You guys are in for a real treat today :)  

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Setting has typically been a weakness for me. I always used specific locales and even explored the area so I could write knowledgeably, but when people talked about the setting being another character in the story, I knew I wasn't there. Then came Kept.

Kept takes place on the edge of Grant Park in Chicago. I've been there a number of times, but it wasn't an area I knew. Yet somehow, in this book, the setting mattered in every chapter. It affected everything, and readers who know the area said I captured it well. So I got to thinking. What did I do differently? Why did my setting have such an impact on the story? Better yet, how could I do this again? After much thought, here's what I came up with.

1. Adore your setting.

Like... seriously. Take that adoration to the nth power. I'm a Chicago geek. I grew up in the suburbs and loved every moment my family spent visiting museums or parks or driving by the skyscrapers. If I had to pick, I'd totally live downtown. In fact, I'd live in the exact luxury high rise that Miska Tomlinson, my heroine and no relation to Laurie, lives in. I realize now that was key.

To me, Chicago is a gorgeous, glittering magic that I can never get enough of. And Metropolitan Tower, on the edge of Grant Park with incredible views of Lake Michigan and Buckingham Fountain, captivated me. I wanted to know what it would be like to live there. My fascination with my setting helped me not just include it, but also bring it to life. Find that one spot that makes you passionate, the place that maybe no one else even knows you love so intensely -- or are curious about. That fascination, that love will keep you tied closely to your story, always wanting more. You'll strive to do it justice, to make everyone else see the same beauty and value.

2. Make your setting truly visual.

Do you make up a town? Use a real one? Since Chicago is my MO, I went for reality. When my characters were arguing beside the lakefront, I hopped on Google Earth, went down to street level, and stood where they stood, took in all the views they did. When my hero chased my heroine back to their building, I traced his path along the streets and showed details that mattered -- the crosswalk signals that kept him from catching her, the revolving door of their building that she went through. In essence, I didn't have to make stuff up. I looked at what was there and made sure it got onto the page. You can do this too, even if you make up a location. Find a real place that matches your imagination and get every image, video, picture that you can. Surround yourself with them so that at any moment, you can look at what's real and draw inspiration from it. Of course you can make stuff up, but having something visual helps you include details you'd forget otherwise. And if you can see it, odds are so will your reader. Also find the one thing about your setting that matters most. What do you really love or want to play up? For me, that was Buckingham Fountain. I wanted Miska to have a view of this massive fountain. (Tell me that's not stunning!)



Because I loved the fountain so much, I looked for opportunities to not just include it, but to highlight it and make it come alive for the reader. You become an evangelist for the setting because we want everyone to catch our passion, right?

3. Connect your characters to the setting.

In the past, my characters were ambivalent about where they lived. But not this time. In fact, the whole plot revolves around Miska's love for her home's location and her determination to day anything (seriously, anything!) to stay there. Dillan, the hero, likes the area too, although not as intensely. Early in the book, he makes a comment about Buckingham Fountain that makes Miska think he loves it the same way she does. It's that innocent comment that makes her first take notice of him. How do your characters feel about their setting? Do they hate it? Love it? How can that feed your plot? Your characters' motivation? Figure out how it affects them. And if it doesn't? Maybe that story isn't right for this setting.

4. Use the setting to create action and characterization.

We don't want our setting to just be a stage; we want it to play a role in the book -- in the characters and in the plot. That's why it's so important that your characters have strong feelings about their location. Like I said, Miska will do anything to live by Grant Park. But as her character arc evolves, she begins to react -- and behave -- very differently toward the setting. It's that change that conveys how deeply her character has changed.

I also used setting to play a role in the plot. I'd love to tell you exactly how, but I'd have to give the ending away to do it! But go back to what fascinated you about your setting. Go back to your visuals and the details you uncovered as you explored the area. What can you use literally in the action of your book? What aspect of the setting can twist everything around for your characters?

5. Don't force the symbolism.

During the rough draft, I spent too much time on the fountain, park, and lakefront. I overwrote about them big time, but it was so fun. When I began editing, I kept coming back to Buckingham Fountain. There was some symbolism there; I just knew it. But I didn't know what it was. What did it mean? What did it signify?




It wasn't until the fourth draft that it dawned on me. The fountain had a spiritual significance to my heroine. Now I never tell the reader this. In fact, I'd like to think that it's very subtle and that a lot of people will miss it. But I think deep in the reader's subconscious, the fountain's symbolism creates a continuity between Miska and her character growth. The setting connects her to her internal goals and arc. I'm so glad that I didn't censor myself or force anything during those early drafts, because it would have been obnoxiously in the reader's face. But something was going on in my own subconscious, tying the things I loved to deeply personal moments in my character's life. Letting it happen naturally was worth the forehead wrinkles. 

So there it is, my list for setting success. Next up for me is a rewrite of a book I loved... but had no connection to the setting. I'll be taking time to figure out exactly where this story should take place. And I can't wait to see how it changes everything.

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Sally Bradley writes big-city fiction with real issues and real hope. A Chicagoan since age five, she now lives in the Kansas City area with her family, but they still get back to Chicago once in a while for important things like good pizza and White Sox games. A freelance fiction editor, story has been her passion since childhood, and she's thrilled now to be writing books that not only entertain, but point back to Christ. You can find Sally at her website and Facebook page and can check out images for Kept on the book's Pinterest board. Kept is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo and will soon be available at iBooks.

Creating a Setting That Comes Alive for Your Reader

I've been thinking a lot about settings. The reason: we're planning a move to a different state. I've become an ultimate research buff in preparing for the change and I've learned some things along the way that I think might help with a manuscript.

Also been reading a great book by Jan Karon, her September release, Someplace Good with Somebody Safe. The town of Mitford has had millions of visitors annually, at least on the written page. In fact, she's revisited the town after a decade away. Her main character, a priest named Father Tim who marries his middle-aged neighbor, hates change and loves Orange Mamalade Cake.

What makes us love going to Mitford and what can help readers to fall in love with our settings? You can't always travel to your setting, but there are great things you can do to build authenticity.

1) Visual aids:

Karon has done her research on the fictional town she's created. She has done it so well that this town seems real. We can taste the Orange Marmalade Cake (it doesn't hurt that she includes the recipe so we really can enjoy it), we smell the budding lilacs, and can clearly envision Father Tim's cranky neighbor.

Each book includes a map of Mitford. She has thoughtfully considered all the details. Many times an author forgets an essential detail and that can confuse or frustrate the reader. The maps included in these books not only give an idea of the location of one place in regards to another, but also give a feel for the physical appearance of some of the buildings and parks without spoiling imagination.

Knowing the exact placement of your fictional town or city is essential. If you talk about the main character getting a haircut and then stopping for an ice cream soda, you'd better make sure you have your details right.

Karon has also included landscape in her maps. The reader is impressed with the fact that Mitford is a shady town with lots of trees, and sidewalks everywhere.

Jan has hired a wonderful illustrator for her novels. Maybe you don't have the means to do that, but you'll be amazed at what computer graphics can do for even the least artistic among us!

If you are interested in looking at some sample maps, check out this page: created by a librarian who works in the maps section of a research library. It includes maps from such notable children's classics as Wind in the Willows and The House at Pooh Corner. 

Make yourself as many visual helps as you can, even if they're just for you. Buy or print out state maps for your state, both topographic to help you get a feel of the lay of the land and political maps. Also, observe weather maps to find out what are the weather patterns in your city. What time of year does North Carolina get hurricanes? How many inches of snow does Buffalo, New York typically get in January? These little details will bring life to your novel. And don't forget to think about how the climate might affect your character's life. For instance, if your character lives in Buffalo, they might struggle with Seasonal Affective Disorder because of the lack of vitamin D. If she lives in the midwest, her house probably has a root cellar for tornado preparation.

2) Go on a hunt:

Pretend you're moving to a new area (this isn't much of a stretch for me right now!).

What will you need? First, a job right?

Go to sites like monster.com, indeed.com, and gov.jobs to find out where your character might work. If he's a computer programmer maybe a seaside town with lots of touristy attractions is not where you'll find him. Perhaps it is where you'd find a seafood waitress or a travel agent. Find out what the typical salary is so you know how your character might live.

Next, you'll need housing or a rental. Does the type of housing you envision for your character fit into the city you've chosen?

For instance, if they live in the Southeastern United States they may not have a basement because of flooding, so make sure you don't have your character store her pantry down there. If they live in Manhattan, keep in mind that they will probably have a one bedroom apartment they share with someone else, unless they're wealthy. What does the housing market look like for your setting? Do most rent or sell?

3) Find the religious landscape of your area.

Does your town have two community churches or many in various denominations? Is it a bastion of Southern Baptists or Roman Catholics? Is going to church a cultural thing? Are the churches more traditional with hymns and organ music or contemporary with Matt Redman and Chris Tomlin worship songs? Maybe search out some of the mega churches in the area to give you a feel for some of what is present as well as googling small town churches. For our CBA characters church often plays a major part in their lives so it doesn't hurt to know what the spiritual landscape of your setting is like.

4) Don't forget about food.

Oh boy this is my favorite one to research. If your character has favorite foods, try to find a good recipe for them and just enjoy the sensory pleasure of it. Find out what ethnic foods are popular in the area you're choosing to write about (it may not be what you expect). And try restaurants in your area that serve similiar cuisines. Consider taking out cookbooks from the library from a particular region. Junior Leagues produce cookbooks in communities throughout the US and can often provide a great feel for what the average person in an area might be having for dinner. What are the food specialties of your area? Have you tried them?

One site that I love (and check every time I travel to a new area is roadfood). Roadfood's forums contain nearly every major area in the United States and feature specialties that the average person might eat. Perhaps your main character is upper class and will eat at 21 Club but in most cases meals out might consist of hamburgers or an all-you-can eat pancake breakfast. This site will give you a feel for the food of your favorite region. Pinterest will help too.

5) Look for tourist-y materials.

Don't forget to go to local websites and request brochures about the museums, fine arts, and other attractions. Look for Fodor's & Moon travel guides from your local library. There are also Food Lover's Guide to.... and An Explorer's Guide To... Maps, descriptions and small pictures will give you a better feel for what's available in the area you are considering.



So don't forget to hunt the internet, your library, local bookstores for information about the setting you are writing about. Google earth is a great resource that most already use and there are many other similiar sites. Getting the taste, feel, smell of an area is crucial to creating a believable setting your readers will love.


What's your favorite setting from literature and why?

Julia enjoys writing women's fiction whenever she can find a chair free of smushed peanut butter sandwiches and lego blocks. She is a wife and homeschooling mama of two littles. She also enjoys reviewing and writing for Library Journal and the blog Wonderfully Woven.

Adding Culture to Your Setting

A couple weeks ago, my husband and I drove to Charleston to celebrate our anniversary. We'd never been to Charleston before, and to say I feel head-over-heels for this city would be an understatement. The history, the shopping, the biscuits and sweet tea! Can life get any better? I'd say a Charleston-set story is definitely on the horizon for me.

All this got me thinking. Seems like every time I travel to a cool place, whether it's a new coffee shop in town or a new city, I find a creative spark there. So what if we could learn to capture that creative spark and add it to our stories?

I think the answer lies in thinking of setting not just as a place but as a culture.

So, if you're writing about Charleston, for example, the first things that come to mind are probably saltgrass baskets, church steeples, and sweet tea. All great examples of Charleston culture.

But do these things really capture the heart of Charleston, and for that matter, Charlestonians? No. For the real heartbeat of a setting, we have to go deeper. If we want our readers to connect with our characters on a heart-level, accurately describing the time period of the surroundings isn't enough. We have to be intentional about setting. We have to choose a particular time and place that compliments the story.

So, maybe your character does live in Charleston and love southern biscuits, but what if there's more to it than that? What if she is in the process of renovating her family's hundred-year-old home and she loves biscuits because her grandmother used to make fresh jam every Saturday morning? What if the church steeples aren't just dots in the landscape, but a sound that stirs hope in the heart of a newly-divored woman one block down the street?

It can be so easy to blaze right past setting as something that's in the way when we're trying to hash out the plot details, but setting can be every bit as important as plot in crafting depth within a story. Think of books that have left a lasting impression on you. I bet most of them not only put you in the mind of the character, but also in her situation, which entails her setting.

So how do we craft these three-dimensional settings?

• Go to your setting. If you have the ability to physically go to your setting, great. If not, try YouTube videos, Google photos, magazine interviews, etc. to immerse yourself in that culture. It's not enough to know how something appears. Readers want the unexpected. What is going on in your setting that isn't as it appears? That is where you'll find your true story.
• Ask how your setting impacts your characters. Is your character living in a new city that's outside her comfort zone? Or, in contrast, have three generations of her family lived in Victoria, British Columbia? Do the very streets seem to be family to her? Be intentional about your setting. If you aren't using setting to your advantage in your WIP, challenge yourself by asking if you might be able to change your setting to challenge your characters in some way.
• Don't settle for descriptions. Get specific with your details so you can weave backstory into your setting. Ask yourself, "Why?" For example, "Why does it matter that this character always looks at the street lamps at dusk?" Or, "Why does this character avoid cobblestone streets? Is she always wearing heels? Why does she feel she needs to always wear heels?" Go deeper into the culture of a place (and the heart of your characters) when describing the setting. Setting should have a heartbeat, just like your characters do.
• Find creative ways to describe setting. Using common descriptions of a particular setting is fine, as most people expect taxis in New York and pecan pie in Georgia, but push past that. Really work to find creative ways to describe your setting. This is also were going to your setting can be very helpful. Try observing people's mannerisms or the sounds in your setting, and then incorporate those unique aspects into your story. Readers want to see a place in a new way when they read your book--that's the whole point of inhabiting a story world.

Your turn! How do you use setting in your stories? How do you incorporate the deeper culture of a place into your setting?

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Ashley Clark writes romance with southern grace. She's dreamed of being a writer ever since the thumbprint-cookie-days of library story hour. Ashley has an M.A. in English and enjoys teaching literature courses at her local university. She's an active member of ACFW and runs their newcomer's loop. When she's not writing, Ashley's usually busy rescuing stray animals and finding charming new towns. You can find Ashley on her personal blog, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. She is represented by Karen Solem.

The Writer's Notebook

A few days ago I finished reading a book of interviews with writers. All of them are successful Australian authors who've written bestsellers, received critical recognition for their work, and in most cases, earn a comfortable living from their writing.

When you immerse yourself in the mind of writers for a solid 280 pages, patterns begin to emerge. In this case, the predominant pattern was not one I'd been expecting. It's a takeaway so simple that if I hadn't heard it repeated at least a dozen times by a dozen different authors, I probably would have just skimmed right past it.

Simple. Elemental. And yet, it's something I don't do.

Do you want to know the one thing that most of these authors have in common?

Well, let's use a process of elimination. It's NOT any of these things you may be thinking:

• Their path to publication. Some had agents, some didn't. Some self-published first and were discovered through that avenue. Some wrote for years before breaking in; others wrote a couple of chapters and were contracted on that basis by the first publisher they submitted to (one at the age of fourteen!)

• Their chosen genres, which were varied - from crime thrillers to literary works.

• Their approach to research, which ranged from the extreme dedication of one author who learned French in order to be able to read primary sources for her novel set in France, to another author who said "the joy" of writing science fiction is that "you don't have to do any research."

• The amount of words they write per day, or even the requirement of writing a certain amount of words in a day at all. (John Marsden, author of the multi-million bestselling "Tomorrow" series for young adults, surprisingly said of his writing time, "it may only happen twice a week or it may not happen at all some weeks.")

• Their approach to platform and marketing, which varied from "out there" to "really not my thing - my publisher does it all."

• Even their love for the craft. (One award-winning and prolific author cynically remarked, "I mean, there are important things that people can do in the world. Writing more novels in a world that doesn't need any more novels is not one of them.")

So what on earth could it be?

The answer surprised me.

The one thing most of these authors had in common is this: 

They use a notebook to record their observations of daily life.

Image by Stoonn, freedigitalphotos.net

So simple it's easily overlooked, and yet actually - the more you think about it - so fundamental.

We're not talking about a notebook where you jot ideas for your WIP - plot twists, character descriptions and the like. That probably comes more naturally to all of us, out of necessity. 

By comparison, the observation notebook seems almost... trivial. Non-essential. 

But when a dozen successful authors, interviewed independently of each other, all cite this one common habit as a foundational element of their work, it sure made me sit up and listen.

It also made me think. What's the big deal? Why is it so important? This is what I came up with. You could probably add more to this list.

4 Benefits of using an observation notebook:

• It will breathe life into your characters. The personality quirks, physical appearance, facial expressions, modes of dress, habits and reactions you observe in the people around you are rich fodder. If you want to create characters who seem real, instead of cardboard cutouts, observe real people everywhere you go - and record those details.

• It will enrich your settings. How often do you sketch a setting in a line or two, using the same stock-standard phrases - because you really can't visualize the setting with any certainty in your own head? Our memories are unreliable. We forget the pungent, particular details of the places we've been - unless we write them down.

• It will keep your writing brain in gear. Many of us compartmentalize our writing and non-writing time. I know I do. But this makes it harder to switch gears when you do have time to write. The habit of keeping an observation notebook has the power to change your daily mindset, so that you approach the whole of life with the curiosity and keen observation of a writer. To use another metaphor, keep your writing brain simmering away with ideas instead of turning off the heat once your writing session is over - it'll be that much quicker to bring it back to a rolling boil when you next sit at your computer.

• It's an endless source of ideas and inspiration. In an interview with novelist Louise Zaetta, she was asked whether she ever experiences writer's block. Her answer? "No, and I'll tell you why not. There's a beautiful way to avoid writer's block, and that is to have a notebook with you at all times where you endlessly record the things that happen in life. Out and about. Anywhere. At someone's place for dinner. I once interviewed Claire Astley, who said she does that. She has her little basket of bits of paper on the floor. Whenever she gets stuck she just pulls one out, and it may have something on it that she observed a year ago and she'll write about that. Somehow or other you can fit everything you have observed into your work. There's hardly anything you'll ever have observed that you can't use. So if you have a good notebook you should not have to suffer from writer's block, because you can just use something from there. Write that and it will lead you on to something else. It's a marvellous resource." (Literati: Australian Contemporary Literary Figures Discuss Fear, Frustrations and Fame, 2005)

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I don't know about you... but I'm inspired.

I've used an observation notebook in the past, but only very sporadically, and never for long. It was a habit that didn't stick, because I never fully internalized the value of what I was doing, and therefore didn't prioritize it.

From now on I'm making a commitment to carry a notebook with me everywhere I go, and take a minute here and there throughout the day to jot down the rich and colorful details of daily life, which will otherwise be forgotten.

Who'll join me?

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Karen Schravemade lives in Australia, where she juggles writing with being a SAHM to three small kids. She's had short stories published in two literary journals and is represented by Rachel Kent of Books & Such. Find her on her website, Twitter, and getting creative on her home-making blog, A house full of sunshine.