As authors, we usually consider ourselves the masters of the crimes committed in our stories—not the victims. But, as Sherlock, Poirot, and Castle will tell you, the sneakiest crimes are always those in which the victim doesn’t even realize he’s been ripped off. Such is the Case of the Vanishing Setting.
This is one of the most common problems I encounter in unpublished manuscripts, and it’s one most authors don’t even realize they’ve fallen prey to. Mostly, this is because, as the authors, we have a crystalline image of our settings. We see everything so perfectly that we don’t always realize we’re not providing the reader the necessary details to allow him to see the setting. The result is White Wall Syndrome. Because readers have no visual clues to construct the setting, they visualize the characters in a hazy white space. To put it mildly, it’s confusing, frustrating, and unsatisfying.
Readers have no idea where the characters are. Are they at Marjolaine’s house? Are they at Annie’s office at the newspaper/magazine/station? Are they on the street or at a café?
Readers have no idea what this setting looks like. Even had I revealed that the exchange took place at Annie’s magazine office, readers still have no physical details around which to build the scene. How many chairs are there? Is there a window? Are they speaking in private, or are other people in the room or just outside the open door? Is the office that of an editor or just a lowly cubicle? We’re missing all kinds of opportunities to learn more about Annie and her job simply because we’re not able to see where she works.
Because we can’t see the setting, we also can’t visualize the characters’ interaction with the setting. How are they moving within this space? Are they both sitting down? Is Annie sitting while Marjolaine stands? Or is Annie scooping papers from the printer as she rushes to leave on assignment? Not only does this scene give the reader nothing but white walls, it also turns the characters into talking heads.
“So? You still stole it.” She plopped down in her big swivel chair and hitched it closer to the desk. She didn’t look up at Marjolaine as she pawed through the mess of papers and crushed soda cans to grab a thin leather briefcase.
See the difference? Suddenly, we have not just an animated discussion floating somewhere in the ether, but a visible and believable argument between two women in a concrete setting. Run an eye through your scenes and make sure you’ve given readers the clues they need to see your setting. They’ll thank you!
Tell me your opinion: Do your characters interact with the setting in your most recent scene?
Using bears interchangeably with furniture, huh? Piques my interest!
what a nice post and story! now I wanna read more about this discussion!
Oh Barf. Double knuckle sandwich to the forehead. I think this is my greatest weakness. Not just establishing a setting, but also in my descriptions of settings. By intent I’m a minimalist; as with anything, however, we can go to extremes without even realising it.
This is a fine reminder, Katie. Now to go back and re-revise the first 9 chapters of the WIP.
May I suggest as a future topic – ?
Thanks for this recommendation. I’ll have to do this with my next draft. I get caught up trying to record the dialogue (before it slips my mind) that I tend to skim over the setting stuff when drafting out my stories. And since they are in their own world, that makes it all the more confusing to those outside my mind.