The Why Behind Setting

Whether you write romance, mystery, fantasy, science fiction or a sub genre, all fiction requires a believable setting. I tend to write character driven fantasy and learning to establish the setting has been an adventure in creativity. In fact, it's the reason behind my creative writing book Pumping Your Muse. In it, I developed a series of exercises that spurred me to consider aspects of a secondary world that may otherwise be overlooked.

Establishing anchors from the real world to your fictional world is key to making your setting believable, whether it is vastly different from reality or just a little different. An anchor is an element readers can relate to that links the real world to your secondary reality. In Beyond the Fifth Gate I established a rural, pre-industrial setting where the people were divided over issues of faith. Amid the setting we learn about family ties, ancient prophecies, divided leadership, a simple life that is ripped apart when a large insectoid race invades and conquers. Young people are taken captive and carried off in a cage on the back of a cart. The anchor—family relationships torn apart; freedoms stripped; it creates a need that transcends from reality to fantasy. This is an emotional anchor. Humans lose their freedom and fight to get it back and the quest is on.

Geographically, the Beyond the Fifth Gate setting challenged me times five. The original setting is the pre-industrial world invaded by a sentient insectoid race. The quest requires the protagonist, Elita, to travel through five mystical gates to free her people. Each gate leads to a different world and Elita has to accomplish her quest during a planetary alignment. She has one week. If she doesn't make it, she'll be trapped in a strange world between gates--for the next 50 years.

In this story, not only did I have to provide anchors from this reality to the fictional reality, but additional anchors were needed to tie one fictional world to the next as the main character traveled through the gates. The setting put parameters in place for the quest. Planets line up in dawn's light and mark the beginning of the quest for freedom. Planets are something we can relate to on this side of reality, and these planets act as an anchor from one world to the next. As they fall out of alignment, they work like the sands in an hourglass to let the reader know time is running out. This aspect of setting is used to add tension, conflict, and keep it clear in the readers' minds that the five worlds are linked.

For readers to accept the stranger aspects of a secondary world you must establish believable physics--the science of matter and energy and their interactions. If something works differently than the real world, you have to make the science or magic clear—not only that it does happen but how it happens. It has to work in the reader's mind. For example, the powers of Kamali are established early on in Beyond the Fifth Gate. When Kamali is present physics change. The star beats brighter and brighter…the floor thrums and…well I better not say too much because I wouldn't want to be a spoiler. Readers know that this deity plays an instrumental part in the opening of the gates and that the gates do lead to other worlds. But they also grow to understand that each portal works differently. Setting continues to play an important role, too, when Elita must bring something along with her from each world if she hopes to defeat the isectoids.

Along with physics, other specifics readers relate to in regards to setting include things like:

*Government

*Legal systems

*Economy

*Religion

As you develop these aspects of your world stop and ask yourself "why". Why is this government in place? Why do the people react to it the way they do? When the insectoid race takes over Elita's world, they are the new government. The opening scene establishes not only the world's setting but the "why" behind the reason humans don't honor the government. Lines are drawn, readers take sides and they learn to watch for the light to appear in the eastern foothills. Effective setting works with the characters to move the story forward and answers the question why.

Beyond the Fifth Gate - Review

Those of you who own my creative writing book Pumping Your Muse may remember the flip side exercise that generated a new female character. That character grew to become the protagonist in my novel Beyond the Fifth Gate. Look what the latest review says about her:

Beyond the Fifth Gate has a strong female main character who reminded me of Xena without the long hair or possibly Seven-of-Nine without the spandex. Elita starts off a little weak in her fighting skills (but realistically, how hard would it be to practice when you live in a hive and are guarded day and night by big bugs?) but her first mystical gate provides two teachers who not only give her a crash course, but join her on her quest to freedom. There are plenty of plot twists along the way and the ending is a real shocker which truly caught me off guard just when I thought I had it all figured out.

You can read the entire review at Queen of Convolution.

Review written by:

Caprice Hokstad

Author of the fantasy novel, The Duke's Handmaid, and its sequel, Nor Iron Bars a Cage.

Website: www.Latoph.com

Five Senses in Your Writing - Part 2

The Five Senses

Incorporating all the senses provides familiarity and understanding for the reader. It helps the connect. This sensory information can be used to:

· Transition between the present and important back story

Example: The fresh scent of rain combined with a moist earthy aroma. I stared out at the wilted fields. A curtain of humidity wrapped around me. The rain had come too late.

In this case the sense of smell opens the door to the scene and allows a transition that could take the reader back to the struggle to keep the crops alive and the introduction to the lives of those who depended on those crops. On the other hand, these particular details could also propel the story forward. What will the character do now?

· Tie the beginning of the story to the end

Since you’ll want to weave this sensory information throughout your story, it is an effective way to tie the beginning of the story to the end.

Example: I couldn’t bear the sorrowful faces filling grandmother’s house. I stepped outside for a breath of fresh air and headed to the garden where we had talked so many years before. The light floral scent of lilacs drifted lazily on the summer breeze. I breathed deep and closed my eyes. Grandma stood with me just as she promised. I could feel her.

In this case, we could follow the character through life as an adolescent to adulthood and tie it back to the beginning when they had a life-changing conversation in that same garden. Who knows, maybe even another niece or nephew could walk out to join the character—the thing is that the scent is the trigger to tie the past to the present.

· Evoke emotional responses to create suspense, happiness, fear and more.

Humans are emotional creatures by our very nature. The world around us offers stimuli and we react to it.

Example: The lights blinked and darkness swallowed the room. A surreal coldness fell upon her like a shroud. A slight scent of garlic reminded her of something. A faint memory that tickled her mind like wind brushing leaves of a tree on a summer’s day. She rubbed her arms and stepped blindly forward, her foot tapping in front of her like a blind man’s cane.

This short example can evoke an uneasiness when the lights go out. The coldness kicks up the tension. A hint of garlic would add a bit of curiosity—how does it fit in—what is it? She seems to know, but for some reason has blocked it out. Now she moves forward and we are in her skin. How do you feel?

Nerve Network

Our bodies are designed with a network of nerves. This network sends information to our brains with no effort on our part. As a writer, you create that network from the story to the reader. If panic makes the hairs on the back of your protagonist's neck prickle, the reader should feel it. If they experience a touch of numbness in their index finger, it needs to be part of the information collected by the reader's brain—but the information must serve a purpose. If the reader knows of the numbness, they’ll know later on that the character can withstand an abnormal amount of pain using that finger. Sensory information needs to matter to the plot. The trick is to find the balance.

As writers, we need enough sensatory detail to make our fictional world real, but not so much that it bogs down the action. Think of it more like a trail of breadcrumbs; leading your reader down the path you want them to take. At times, it may even be a misleading trail. Such techniques can be used to create an unforeseen twist in the plot or action.

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If you enjoyed the information in this article, check out Pumping Your Muse. The prompts and insightful information included in this creative writing book challenge the imagination to take new direction and if followed to the conclusion of the book, provide a detailed outline along with completed scenes and developed characters for one novel, as well as a solid start for a second novel.

Five Senses in Your Writing - Part 1

By Donna Sundblad

In my book Pumping Your Muse, I challenge writers with exercises that reach deep into the imagination’s recesses where creative exercises carry the muse on a journey designed to force ideas in resourceful new directions of development. The goal is to pull together bits and pieces or reality and learn to blend them within the fiction-creating process. Adding subtle sensory details works like sensual brush strokes that craft multi-levels of dimension by engaging the reader’s senses.

In real life, details flood our senses on a subconscious level. A hint of smoke presented within the context of your story may warn the character of an electrical fire, or allow them to reminisce about a romantic interlude basking in the firelight, or could even remind them of the invigorating smell of burning of leaves on a crisp fall day.

Good writers furnish this minutia with three-dimensional realism. The trick is to learn to include this information without overpowering the story with overly descriptive passages which bog the story’s pace and sometimes lose the reader. Your goal as a writer is to make the world you portray a real experience. As your reader walks through the pages of your story, engaging the senses allows them to experience the veracity of the world you create.

Moving the Story Along

Sensory information plays an important part in moving your story along. A sound, a scent—such detail provides subtle clues for the reader to follow. Engaging the senses makes a fictional world more real by adding dimension and realism. Stop and take note of your current setting. What do you see, hear, smell, taste and feel? Our brains take in this information subconsciously most times and that’s how you need to present it in your writing. A natural but delicate flow of information.

Pay attention to sounds around you, but not just that—ask yourself what they make you think or feel. Reactions are based on input—sensory input. One goal as a writer is to engage readers so they feel the character’s reaction as if they live in the character’s skin. In my most recent novel, Beyond the Fifth Gate, when my protagonist, Elita, crosses through the portal into a new world to find herself on a narrow ledge overlooking lagoon, a waterfall crashes over head. Crashes is not a gentle sound and raises the tension (no way up). She hears large earth movers...but I don't say she hears...instead large large armored earthmovers rumble as they pile dirt like golden mounds of grain. It's a long way down, and the enemy awaits her there. Subtle details let the reader determine whether or not the character is making the wisest choice.

Here's another example: If your character hides in the woods and hears the crackling of twigs, the reader should feel fear or at least apprehension. A musky scent draws the character’s attention to a wild pig rooting in the moist earth. The character lets out a breath, and the reader relaxes—until gruff snorts and bristling hair on the back of the animal’s neck, and a flash of tusks sends the character rushing blindly through dense foliage. Readers see through the characters eyes when writers provide the right sensory information. It not only makes the story come alive, but it eliminates the need to tell the reader what’s going on or how a character is feeling. Instead, sensory input pulls them into the story to experience it first hand.

In real life, our thoughts wander, but even as they seem to meander from topic to topic, they do follow logic. Writers can create natural segues with the use of sensory details. If your character hears someone laugh and it reminds them of someone they once knew, it provides a natural transition to include backstory without dumping the information in an awkward or obtrusive way. In the same way, if your character smells a hint of electrical smoke it makes sense that they will look for the source. If they come to the laundry room door and it feels hot, many readers will know the character should not open the door—if they do, the reader will brace for the explosion of flame.

In my part two, we'll take a closer look at the five senses in writing.

Show Not Tell

As a new fantasy writer, I stared at the critique. My mentor's words struck me. Show this. I thought I was showing. What did she mean? As writers, it's important to know the difference between showing and telling. Today, as an author and editor, I regularly meet writers who confuse the issue. In this article, I present a quick checklist to activate your writing, moving it from passive telling to active showing. Use this list to test your manuscript and eliminate passive telling language.

Emotional Expression:

Show emotion. Whether it's a flushed face, or a slammed car door, body language and facial expressions show emotion. Passive language tells the reader what to think.

Tell: "I'm not putting up with it," he said angrily.

Show: He slammed his fist against the table. "I'm not putting up with it."

Avoid the use of modifiers like the word angrily that tell the reader what to think. Even the use of a word like hissed in the speech tag modify the dialog by telling the reader how it is said. Instead, use strong verbs or beats to show the reader the emotion.

Descriptions For Character and Setting:

Have you blended character description a little at a time like an ingredient to a favorite recipe? Or, have you heaped a load of description in one paragraph and created a lump of facts clumped in one place. Consider how you learn about things in life. If a person walks in a room, do you think: That woman wearing the green dress has eyes that match and long blond hair falling across her shoulders. She walks like a gazelle and everyone in the rooms seems to notice her.

No, that's not how we process information. When you add character and scenic description, too many details added at one time bog the story down and tend to tell rather than show like the example above. Description dumps do not follow the way we perceive information.

Readers want a forward moving tempo. Keep the pace active with verbiage that lures them to wonder what happens next. Incorporate detail naturally within the story. Notice the difference:

The woman's green dress shimmered under low canister lighting. She slipped through the crowded room with the grace of a gazelle and stopped at the rich mahogany desk. Her blond hair draped across her shoulders as she flipped her head, turned and looked at me. Her eyes reflected the color of her dress. I smiled. Everyone in the room stopped.

Telling description stops the action. Showing the description makes it part of the natural flow. Include description in dialog and action to make it real.

Dumping Background Information:

Much like heaping description in large portions, writers may be tempted to use dialog to include large doses of information and facts they want the reader to know. Do this sparingly. If details don't have relevance within the context of the conversation these facts tell the reader information that should be gleaned in a more natural way. When dialog becomes an unnatural information dump, it stops the action and the reader loses the feel of an exchange between characters. It removes the reader from the scene, and becomes an explanation of what the author wants the reader to know.

Long character speeches used to show off hours of research (including interesting facts) need to flow unpretentiously. If piles of content do nothing to move the story along, it's time to cut it.

Repeating What the Character Knows

Search dialog for repeated information. Sometimes in an effort to be sure the reader understands what's happening, writers repeat information. Two things need to be considered. First, if you wrote it right the first time, the reader understands. Second, if you repeat it as if the reader didn't understand, you're insulting their ability to grasp the details.

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Check out Pumping Your Muse. The prompts included in this creative writing book challenge the imagination to take new direction and if followed to the conclusion of the book, provide a detailed outline along with completed scenes and developed characters for one novel, as well as a solid start for a second novel.

Beyond the Fifth Gate by Donna Sundblad

I'm happy to announce that my second fantasy novel was released yesterday at Fictionwise and should be up at Amazon by the end of the month.

This book originated while I was writing Windwalker as I used the writing prompts and exercises found in Pumping Your Muse. The Flip Side exercise required me to take an existing scene and flip one or more details. As a result, my first female protagonist was born. Little did I know that she'd grow into such an interesting character who faces the challenge of not only traveling through five portals into strange worlds. Developing different world that are somehow connected challenged me, but as it came together I enjoyed the thrill of creation. To limit my time in these worlds, her quest had to be completed within seven days -- before the planets move out of alignment.

Here's a peek into her world and the circumstances that set her on the path to save her people.

Chapter 1

Elita sat at her father's feet among a small group of locals meeting within a tiny cottage nestled in the rolling foothills. His finger traced the words on the ancient scroll. "Did you hear me? Listen to these words," he repeated in his teaching voice. "It doesn't say we who live in the country will be exempt. It says, 'Every town and village,' and that means us. We can't hide from the widespread 'increase in evil propensities.' I've heard they've taken over the cities and it's just a matter of time ... We have to fight back while we have the chance."

* * * *

A few of the men and women who had gathered in the small room nodded. Others looked with blank expressions out the windows facing north as if studying the nearby mountains. Elita stifled a yawn. The other children no longer attended. She wanted to ask what propensities were, but from the looks on the adult faces now was not the time. Not everyone had patience for her questions, and some thought she was too young to participate at all at times like this.

Too young. The very words irked her. After all, at age 12 she was only three years from marrying. Not that she knew anybody who wanted to marry her. Things had changed so much since the mantids' arrival. Her father restricted her comings and goings. He believed the mantids were trying to take over the world. It was their fault she had to sit through these teaching times without a playmate. Her father insisted that the prophecies be handed to the next generation to prepare them to recognize and fight the evil presence.

"The Chosen One," he said looking up at an invisible presence with a hint of awe, "will save our world." He placed his hand on Elita's head and smiled.

Torkel, their closest neighbor, from a farm five miles down the road, shifted on his hard chair next to the fireplace. "How will we know who this Chosen One is? What is the sign so that we will not be misled?"

"Good question." Elita's father looked down into her eyes. "Elita, would you like to answer Torkel's question?"

Elita glanced at the floorboards and pulled in a deep breath, but nodded. She looked at the men and women gathered with them. Some were friends, others strangers. "We'll know by the alignment of the five planets." She glanced toward her father who tipped his head for her to go on. He knew this aspect of the prophecies fascinated her. "Kamali will appear in the east marking the first gate. The Chosen One will see his light and has one week to travel through all five mystical gates and return to our world. Upon their return, the Chosen will carry with them something from each gate. Something to save us..." She looked to her father for affirmation.

"Thank you, Elita."

Her chest swelled with pride, and he turned his attention back to his guests. "Those living in the time of the alignment will know who the Chosen One is. It's not important that we know now, unless..." He leaned and stared into the sky through the window. "No, I don't see anything other than our sun setting in the sky, and it tells me it's getting late."

A few of the people chuckled. Elita shifted her weight on the wooden floor and rubbed her knees through her trousers. Her mother walked into the room balancing a tray of crisp sweets and bent to offer one to her husband.

He plucked one of the honey-sweetened treats from the tray and while her mother served the others, her father snuck his crisp into his daughter's hand. She sat up a little straighter and sucked the golden treat. It lasted so much longer that way.

The people exchanged farewells at the door until the last of them left the small family to the peace Elita enjoyed. The size of the gatherings had diminished over the last couple of years. It hurt her father so she didn't talk about it. Many called him a fanatic.

"Elita, you did well this evening. Before our next meeting, I'd like you to make a list of the prophecies you know." Her father walked across the small square room to rekindle the fire in the fireplace.

Elita's heart dropped. Not another child in the province has to complete assignments like this. It's not fair. "Why can't I just tell you?"

He brushed soot from his hands and propped them on his thighs as he knelt before the growing fire. "Very well, what can you tell me?" He placed a log on the flame.

"Well..." She played with the dark braid draped over her shoulder. "There will be deceit, lying and criminal activity."

"Very good. And what do you think that means?"

She shrugged. "I guess it means by the time the conjunction of the planets happens this world won't be a very nice place to live. Is that why you want to fight back?"

Elita's mother looked at her father and swallowed hard. She wiped her hands on her apron out of nervous habit.

"Can I ask a question?" Elita asked.

"Of course, and please sit in the chair." He pointed.

She scurried to the chair and sat while searching for the right words. "It's ... well ... there's five planets and five gates, right?"

"That's correct."

"And there's seven days to complete the journey?"

"That's correct."

"Here's what I don't understand. Why is it seven days when there are only five gates?"

"That's a good question, a perfect example of how people misread the prophecy. It is true there are five gates and five planets. However, when the planets align it marks the fact that the Chosen One will have seven days to make it through all five gates. What if it takes three days to find the first gate? How many days are left?"

The realization of her father's words brought new understanding. "You mean if they don't see Kamali's light for the first three days they only have four days left to make it through all the gates?"

"That's right." He nodded. "And once the Chosen One enters that first gateway there is no turning back. The gate closes. It's a one-way journey."

"That's scary. The Chosen One will have to be brave."

"Another thing to realize is that if there isn't faith enough to see Kamali, the alignment of the planets will come and go without the journey taking place."

"Part of me hopes that none of this happens until I'm old."

Elita's mother chuckled. "I know what you mean." She patted the seat beside her and Elita moved to sit beside her mother, who started to unbraid her long hair.

Her father shook his head. "It's not about us. It's about all of mankind."

In her heart, Elita trusted the prophecies, but they also scared her.

"Why would people miss the coming of Kamali? He is to shine like a bright light in the east."

"Those who are not looking for him will not see him."

Her mother brushed her hair. "Go to the well and wash while I set dinner on the table."

Elita stepped into the twilight and wandered to the well at the back of the clearing. A cacophony of birds called to one another as the sun slid toward the horizon. I love this. She missed being outside, riding her horse freely and hunting with her bow. Even though she'd never seen a mantid, part of her already hated them. It was their fault she had to stay with her parents all the time.

The cool water refreshed her. She dried her face on her sleeve when an odd sense of foreboding stopped her. Silence. Not a bird or cricket sounded. She hurried toward the cottage, the crunch of long grass beneath her feet. Smoke scented the air. In the distance she saw the glow of a large fire. The village!

She turned the corner to the front of the cottage and skidded to a stop. Large ugly creatures hunched to fit through the door. They stepped outside dragging her parents with them. "Father!" she ran toward him when something cool and hard clamped her forearm and scraped her skin as she struggled to free herself.

The diminishing sun highlighted the horror on her mother's face. Her usually happy eyes widened with fear.

The mantid dragged Elita toward a cart without a horse or oxen hitched to draw it. A large cage filled with young people lay on the bed of the cart. She kicked and screamed, but to no avail. The monster threw her into the cage. She stumbled and landed face-to-face with a boy; his red-rimmed eyes stared at her blankly. Elita scrambled to her feet, pressed her face to the bars and stretched her arm toward her parents. "Mother! Father!"

Her mother broke free and ran to the cart; her fingers grasped Elita's and held tight. "Elita, do not forget..." Four mantids rushed toward them. One of them ripped her mother's hand from hers and yanked her mother to the ground where two others dragged her toward her father.

"What are they doing?" Elita's voice tore at her throat. "Father! Father help me! Don't let them take me!"

Her father struggled against the mantid, but they outnumbered him. They blocked his way like an armored wall. He shouted over them. "Elita, the oracle is the answer--" A sharp sickle-shaped mantid claw clamped around her father's bicep cutting his words short. His arm dropped to the earth with a sickening thud. Blood spewed across his shirt, shot into the mantid's face and sprayed her mother's tunic. Her father's eyes rolled, and he crumpled to the ground.

Stunned, Elita shrank to the floor of the cage. Evil propensities. The cage-cart moved under its own power further into the country. At each home, the mantids collected the young. Her eyes drifted from face to face in the dim light and then to the sky. She prayed to Kamali hoping to see the planets appear. Instead only the moon climbed into the sky. How could she get free and help her parents? For now, in her mind, she did the last assignment her father had given her. He'd be proud of her. Mentally she made a list of the prophecies she knew.

The sun melted into the horizon. An eerie twilight cast elongated shadows across the crying children. Elita looked away from the misery; an emptiness sought to fill her. She watched the sun disappear and wrapped her arm around the little girl beside her. Beyond the horizon dawns a new beginning. That was her mother's favorite prophecy and now she claimed it as hers. It gave her a little hope. The wheels of the mechanical cart churned up a cloud of dust. Elita closed her eyes and prayed to Kamali. Her father's words echoed in her mind. "It's not about us. It's about all of mankind."

Inspiration to Overcome Writer's Block - Part 1

People often ask me how I overcome writer's block. Working on several projects at one time helps, but when I'm looking for inspiration one of the best places to find it is to step away from the computer and go outdoors. In fact, that's where I found the idea for my creative writing book, Pumping Your Muse. (By the way, don't rush out at by it just yet. The revised edition should be out by the end of July).

Here's just a peek at the introduction from my book. It would never have come about if I didn't step outside to see that beautiful sunrise that inspired the one sentence rule. From that one idea, my imagination gave birth to Pumping Your Muse and the two novels that the exercise drew out. So if you're looking for a way to overcome writer's block, try stepping outdoors and practicing the one sentence rule.

Introduction

Write what you know. You'll find this recommendation echoed throughout literature on writing, but when it comes to fiction I wondered how 'what I know' pertains when creating a world that doesn't exist. Where do you find the inventive genius to build a world atom by atom and breathe life into it in such a way that the reader finds it entertaining and yet believable? How do writers use what they 'know' during this creative process?

Some writers naturally introduce minute particulars, offering tangible glimpses of the world in which their fictional characters live and breathe. The goal of Pumping Your Muse is to stretch your creativity beyond your norm by taking a daub of what you know and pushing your muse to carry it to new limits in a concise but descriptive manner. Challenging exercises reach deep into the recesses of your imagination forcing ideas in resourceful new directions of development. We'll take these creative bits and pieces gradually connecting them in sequence while painting verbal details with subtle brush strokes crafting a picture that engages the reader's senses.

I designed these exercises for myself because this process did not come quite so naturally. My character driven plots offered plenty of interaction between characters, but 'showed' little of the character's interaction with the world in which they lived. I'd walk them down the road to get from point A to point B while offering a detail or two, such as the position of the sun to provide a time of day or dust stirring around their feet. Yes, these details feed the reader information, but they paint an incomplete picture and generate questions. Are there clouds in the sky? What season of year is it? Is there a breeze or does the protagonist work up a sweat on a tranquil day? And dust ... why is there dust? Is the road paved? Narrow? Wide? Is drought a factor? Does the scene take place in the city or a rural area? The sad thing is I didn't know the answers to these questions. I only had a plot and a main character in mind. Creating the world to make the scene work with the plot, after the fact, produces work and increases the chance for 'bloopers' by fabricating a lack of continuity and believability.

I searched for a way to bring together world building and character development in a natural, organic manner. Much like God created Adam from the dust of the earth, I wanted characters forged within the world in which they existed instead of crafting a world to fit my characters. I desired to 'know' how to build a believable world no matter how unusual and searched for a way to give my muse a creative shove. The exercises introduced in this book started one day when I pushed away from the computer and went for a walk. Dawn brightened the sky. I marveled at the colors graduating from the horizon and considered how I would describe the scene in one sentence.

Why one sentence? Practice writing short condensed clips and it prepares you for the future. It trains you to see details once overlooked and to write what you want to say without excess verbiage. Much like adding colors to a painter's pallet, this mental gathering of descriptions builds a foundation of experience from which to draw. It becomes routine and part of what you know.