How many of you
remember Northern Exposure? That show
could only have worked in a small town set in the middle of nowhere.
Specifically in Cicely, in the frontier-like atmosphere of Alaska. The place
limited the actions of the characters, exaggerated their quirks, and forced
them all to accommodate to each other in order to survive. In other words, place
acted the way a character would.
Or am I dating
myself? Okay, how about Downton Abbey? Great show. What’s the
first thing you think of when you picture it in your mind? Is it the lord of
the manor, the servants, the lovely costumes? I’ll bet the first image is that
great square pile of a house in its impeccable grounds. The entire show is
driven by the needs of the house, and the family is bent, constrained, and
molded by the idea of maintaining the estate. Remember that chilling line when
the eldest daughter gives birth to a son who will inherit it—“Downton is safe.”
Again, the place acts the way a character would, bending characters to its
will.
Where people
are affects the way people act. For instance, here in New Hampshire we don’t
worry a whole lot about earthquakes. The earth is pretty secure under our feet.
Folks in Haiti don’t have that luxury. How does that affect the way they feel
about their lives? Does it encourage a sense of fatalism? On the other hand,
Haitians don’t know a thing about driving in a snowstorm. Most New Englanders
have learned either to cope with it or to stay home. Does that give them
courage or make them feel like cowards? Desert peoples don’t carry umbrellas;
seaside peoples learn to watch the tides. Small towns are different from big
cities; those who live in the mountains see the world differently than those
who live on the plains; heavily industrialized places demand different
attitudes than agricultural ones.
To be true to
life, fiction must always take into account the way a place acts on its
characters. Place is more than an accent. What impact do local weather,
geography, ecology, population mix, job opportunities, and history have on the
people who live there? Place can have as great an influence as upbringing does
on a person’s outlook. If you don’t believe me, think about where you grew up.
Now try transplanting yourself into a different place. Say you grew up in NYC;
what would you be like if you were raised in the upper Midwest?
I don’t have to
imagine it. I was 13 when my family moved from a working class, largely
Catholic neighborhood of small houses, where a garage was a status symbol, to
an upper-middle class, largely Jewish area of spacious homes each accompanied
by a two-car garage. The differences in outlook between me and my younger sibs
(the youngest of whom was not even born when we moved) are enormous. Religion,
politics, the areas where we feel most confident--suffice it to say place has
made us so different we talk about the New Jersey family and the Pennsylvania
family. And those homes were only fifty miles apart.
When you take
place into account in your work, you add another layer of depth that enriches
the reader’s experience. It’s a powerful tool in your writer’s toolkit, so
don’t be afraid to use it.
Nikki Andrews
is a content editor at Champagne Books as well as a published author. Visit her
at www.nikkiandrewsbooks.com or at www.scrivenersriver.blogspot.com.
Nikki, you are so right.
ReplyDeleteLocation and settings form an important part of historicals but especially my favorite, the traditional Gothic romance. Where the heroine is, how the location and the setting effect her either make the novel work, or destroy the book. Imagine a modern Gothic romance taking place in a nice quiet, fun-loving, suburban subdivision. It sure doesn't work for me.... I need suspicious people, dark houses, dim alleys, moors in fog.
Absolutely, Allison. Gotta have those foggy moors. Miss Marple anyplace but her little English village? Stephanie Plum in Paris? Just wouldn't work.
DeleteGreat tip, Nikki. I completely agree that when the author immerses the characters in their setting, it adds depth and character to the story. And, being from the Pacific Northwest, I love the mention of Northern Exposure, which was filmed in a little town near where I live. :)
ReplyDeleteOne of my all-time faves, Laurie. The Pacific NW is on my bucket list. It looks so beautiful.
DeleteRemember Witness, with Harrison Ford? The opening sequence was filmed just down the road from where I lived at the time, and I knew many of the scenes. Never did see Harrison, though.
I loved Northern Exposure and it's certainly a wonderful example.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, Nikki. Thank you for reminding us to make our setting work for us. I love all the movies mentioned and have actually seen them. Uncommon for me as we rarely go to the movies. We wait until they come out on TV.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Nikki. Setting is important not only in contemporary and historical novels but in SciFi as well. Something set on a space station is unlikely to happen in a medieval castle of an imaginary kingdom. SciFi writers also face one additional problem: to maintain consistency of their made-up world. If I have two moons in the beginning of a novel, I damn well should have two moons in the end, or someone will notice.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up an important point, Olga--consistency in your setting. Anything you put in your setting has to work and have its place there. If you have two moons, do you also have tidal patterns to match? And if so, how does that affect the fishing on your fictional planet? Not to mention how houses are built on the shores!
ReplyDeleteVery true, Nikki. After we were married, we moved to 17 different locales. Each had its own personality and its own challenges.
ReplyDelete