In novel writing one of the single hardest things to get right is setting a scene. Making your characters feel alive, and physically in a world can be hard. Much less making it realistic enough that your reader isn’t lost without having to spend seven paragraphs explaining every single detail of the scene. Sometimes you only have a few sentences to set your reader in a scene, be that for a fight, a surprise, or simply to keep pace with the rest of your style. So here are five ways to help you set a scene quickly, precisely, and best of all easily.
1 : KNOW YOUR SCENE
Make a very basic floor plan with all the key elements. It may not be necessary to do this for every scene, but when you plan to have complicated moments or multiple scenes taking place in a particular setting having a physical map to look back on can be incredibly important. It helps to keep things consistent, as well, it can keep you grounded on where people would be in relation to different items in the room.
Example: Image of My Sketch for Nymue’s Shop from Hollows.
2 : KEEP IT TO KEY ELEMENTS
Only describe the things that matter. Think about what elements tell the reader just enough to see the scene. What is the staple of the room? What draws the eye? What is the general image you want the reader to have? Is it a bar? Is it trendy and new, or more tavern like? Think about what elements would explain that in as few words as possible. Sometimes just saying ‘the tavern’ is enough to already draw an idea of what it’s supposed to look like to a reader’s mind. Play off of that imagination.
3 : WORD CHOICE IS EVERYTHING
Use word choice to your advantage in describing these key elements. Descriptors have everything to do with how an atmosphere is set. Dark and gloomy, warm and homely, tender, bright, etc. Find a word choice that elicits the emotion you want the individual to feel when they enter. There is a world of difference between a : “Sunny, sweet forest set in the highlands.” and a “Dark, gloom ridden forest set in the highlands.” use what works for the atmosphere you want.
4 : ATMOSPHERE BEFORE DETAIL
Aim to set your atmosphere quickly. While descriptors can set a particular emotion to the detail, setting the atmosphere ensures there is no misinterpretation of what the reader is supposed to be feeling in the scene. One of the best ways to do this is pacing. A slow (relatively) drawn out entrance to the scene can elicit a more weary and suspenseful feeling, while a quick chirped explanation of the surroundings can show bubbliness, while cold quick ticks of information shows a character's drive to take too much information in at once as if in a hurry. Deciding what kind of atmosphere you want to set can determine if you give the reader one or two paragraphs of detail, just one or two items, or a list of important factors.
5 : READ IT OUT LOUD
One of the easily most overlooked methods of seeing if a scene, of any kind, is working is to read it aloud. See if it feels clucky. Pretend you don’t know the scene and see if you might be lost, and what would help you see the scene yourself. Reading aloud can help you catch odd wording that could be muddling the image, echoes which can take a reader out of the scene, and other issues that may pop up depending on the kind of scene you’re trying to set.
There are five tips to set a scene quickly! I hope you enjoyed this blog post, it's a bit of a break from my more informal blogs and a direction I’m going to be trying for a little while. If you enjoyed this blog, sign up for my newsletter to receive notifications via email whenever I post another. As well as : future event appearances, book news, and the like.
Writing Terms :
Descriptors : words, in this case adjectives, adverbs, and participles which help a reader picture what they are describing more vividly.
Echoes : the repetition of a word in a paragraph or adjoining paragraphs. (While certainly not a bad thing, and something that can be done intentionally, echoes can pull a reader out of a text if they happen too frequently, or clash with the flow such as using the word pink to describe someone's pink cheeks).
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