{"id":1783,"date":"2014-09-09T13:00:25","date_gmt":"2014-09-09T20:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/?p=1783"},"modified":"2019-04-17T07:48:40","modified_gmt":"2019-04-17T14:48:40","slug":"setting-the-stage-in-fiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2014\/writing\/setting-the-stage-in-fiction\/","title":{"rendered":"Setting the Stage in Fiction"},"content":{"rendered":"

How do you write the scenes in fiction? I spent quite a few years honing the craft of writing screenplays, which is useful in setting the stage in fiction. It\u2019s natural for me to think visually when I write. I see the scenes\u2014the rooms or outdoor spaces with people and objects in them.<\/p>\n

\"Painting\"

Me painting a landscape from a photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

However, I also know that too much detail can bore the reader. I used to read James Michener<\/a><\/strong>, loved his tales, but skipped over his lengthy descriptions of places.<\/p>\n

Because of my own taste in reading, I try to paint the scene with just enough words to give the reader a sense of the place, but just like painting with real paint, I don’t want to overdo it. Picasso said, not only is it hard to start a painting (substitute novel), it\u2019s also hard to know when to stop. I want the reader to see what I see, but I don\u2019t want to give them so much that their eyes glaze over, or they lose track of the story.<\/p>\n

In my debut novel, A CRY FROM THE DEEP<\/a><\/strong>, I used my imagination but I also used photos to inspire me to set the stage. Fortunately, it wasn\u2019t a big stretch, as my husband, Robert, and I have traveled extensively and to most of the places in my novel\u2014Provence, Miami, New York city, and Ireland.<\/p>\n

\"Killybegs,<\/a>

Killybegs,County Donegal, Ireland at an earlier time<\/p><\/div>\n

Though we toured Ireland, both the north and the Republic, the one place we didn’t get to was the town of Killybegs<\/a><\/strong>, which figures largely in my story.<\/strong> For that, I relied on the internet, both photos and tourist information.<\/p>\n

In fact, I discovered that a couple of celebrities, Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker<\/strong>,\u00a0share the same love of the place. That information sidetracked me a bit, as any research in any area can.<\/p>\n

Because of these visual aids and added informational nuggets, I felt at times that I was walking and driving down the Irish roads in my novel along with my characters. That is one of the joys of writing, to go wherever the people in my story take me. It\u2019s what keeps me in my seat at the computer.<\/p>\n

What do you do to set the stage in fiction?<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0Is your imagination enough? Or d<\/em><\/strong>o<\/strong> you use photos from your travels or otherwise? Do you tear articles or pictures out of magazines or newspapers? Or use the internet as a tool? How about sketching? Anyone try that?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How do you write the scenes in fiction? I spent quite a few years honing the craft of writing screenplays, which is useful in setting the stage in fiction. It\u2019s… <\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1789,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[609,78,19,648,649,644,645,9,227,646,647],"class_list":["post-1783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-writing","tag-a-cry-from-the-deep","tag-diana-stevan","tag-fiction","tag-ireland","tag-james-michener","tag-killybegs","tag-matthew-broderick","tag-novel","tag-picasso","tag-sarah-jessica-parker","tag-setting-the-stage"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Killybegs.jpg?fit=500%2C376&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1LuVB-sL","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3015,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2017\/uncategorized\/writing-the-setting\/","url_meta":{"origin":1783,"position":0},"title":"Writing Settings For A Novel That Engages The Reader","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"18 \u0421\u0456\u0447\u043d\u044f, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Writing the settings for a novel is one feature of a Novel Writing Workshop I'll be giving at the North Vancouver library.\u00a0In thinking about my presentation, I thought I'd share a few things I've learned over time. Setting is the world of our characters. Without a backdrop, characters would have\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"writing the setting","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/different-nationalities-1743392_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C793&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/different-nationalities-1743392_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C793&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/different-nationalities-1743392_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C793&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/different-nationalities-1743392_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C793&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/different-nationalities-1743392_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C793&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":296,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2011\/writing\/more-thoughts-on-writing-rules-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":1783,"position":1},"title":"More thoughts on writing rules","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"5 \u041a\u0432\u0456\u0442\u043d\u044f, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Paula Renaye, author of The Hardlines Self-Help Handbook www.hardlineselfhelp.com had an interesting response to my earlier post on writing rules. As she said I could post her thoughts, here they are: \"It's funny, we all approach a topic from our experiences and our own lens. When I first started writing,\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":224,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2011\/writing\/ramping-up-the-tension\/","url_meta":{"origin":1783,"position":2},"title":"Ramping up the tension","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"28 \u0411\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0437\u043d\u044f, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm just about finished reading The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest. I find it fascinating to see how Stieg Larsson ramps up the tension as he progresses through his story. 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The writers of these books created characters that are real\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Dinner-194x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3442,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2017\/writing\/10-writing-tips-from-the-surrey-international-writers-conference\/","url_meta":{"origin":1783,"position":4},"title":"10 Writing Tips From The Surrey International Writers Conference","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"27 \u0416\u043e\u0432\u0442\u043d\u044f, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I jotted down some excellent writing tips at the recent Surrey International Writers Conference, (SIWC) even though this is my fifth time there, three as an attendee and the last two as a volunteer. 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Drawing on Family Stories My third\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Documentary"","block_context":{"text":"Documentary","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/film-2\/documentary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"if the dead could only talk","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/do-not-say-we-have-nothing2-199x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1783\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}