Monday, June 28, 2010

Location is Everything

Location (setting) isn't necessarily the most important aspect of creating a new story but it can play a pretty vital role. I have used imaginary settings but I really prefer using the locations that are so ingrained in my memory that I can recall exact details.
Today, after doing a little more agent research, I will begin a scene in my next novel. It might not be the first scene in the final manuscript but it is where I need to begin. The setting is a small tropical island my husband and I have vacationed a couple times. Just thinking of it now, my sense are alive with colors, sounds, smells. I'll add to those memories, some imaginary characters, some research, some adventures, and lots of conflict. Hopefully I'll have a story that will not only make kids anxious to turn the next page, but will inspire an editor to snatch up my novel before anyone else takes it!

2 comments:

  1. If I am thinking correctly, I believe I have seen photos of the beautiful flowers, the trees, the ocean that surrounds this tropical paradise. What a fabulous start for a novel Aunt Helen; one that would bring back memories of a land that ignited the senses and excited the imagination. I'm sure your audience's imagination will leap from page to page with each new conflict and adventure!

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  2. I agree. Great sensory details can make all the difference. They can take your story from an empty room with four blank walls to a living breathing, place that readers can step into and move around in as they "see" the story in their mind.

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