You’re sick of hearing “Show, don’t tell.” Got it. But then you’re told to use vivid descriptions and detail-rich settings to enrich your story. So how do you describe the world your character inhabits without “telling” about it? This is a constant balancing act, whether you’re writing space operas, historical fiction, a beach-themed romance, or…
Tag: setting
Short Story Craft, Part 3: Setting
In preparation for the 2020 RMFW anthology, I’m doing a series of blog posts on short story craft. While plot and character are the two most important elements of your story, setting comes in a close third. In my opinion, setting is the fastest way to elevate a good story to a great one. A…
Say, Mack, what’s your secret?
There is a restaurant in Manitou Springs, CO, Adam’s Mountain Café, that has the best chicken salad ever. Just plain ol’ chicken salad, but with its one or two secret ingredients—wow. Fantasy and sci-fi author David Farland tells a story about an author he met at a writers conference. She admitted to him that she felt…
Crafting Unforgettable Atmosphere
Recently, I’ve been in the mood for a certain type of book—books like Coraline by Neil Gaiman, The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier, and the Lockwood & Co. series by Jonathan Stroud (all of which I highly recommend). They’re all dark, spooky, and supernatural. In other words, they all have a certain atmosphere. Atmosphere is…
Journal your way to rich settings
The wedding excitement of September 7th has subsided. We enjoyed a loving and entertaining weekend, and my daughter Jalena was the most beautiful bride in the world. Euphoric, I rode a hot air balloon of happiness over a sunny, Rockwellian world where all the men were handsomely dressed. The women were beautiful, their hair perfect,…