Over at Mary Victoria’s, I talk about Place as Person in the next installment of this great series; I also drink all the coffee and eat the last 2 chocolate biscuits.
You know me – just like the Dr, never let me talk.
An essential ingredient of story is the setting, the location, the place. It’s the first, best way to keep a reader anchored in the tale – to let them know very clearly where they are. And sometimes, if you do your job as a writer really, really well, the place becomes a character in its own right.
Whether you’re writing about your own back yard or Hobbiton, your reader needs to believe they are there; they are where you have put them. The world outside of the book must fade into the background – you want your reader to enter so fully into your story that they are anticipating the ripening of the apples in the orchard, or dreading the idea of the stench coming from the gutters of your gritty urban fantasy city.
The rest, t’is here.