By Lynne Gentry
Readers read for
a lot of reasons. Entertainment. Education. And escape. How can authors create
a world readers will hate to leave?
Pay attention to
the three crucial elements of building a story world:
1.
SETTING. Description of the sights, sounds, and
smells of your characters’ surroundings is crucial. I write historical romance
with a time travel twist. Hours of research goes into discovering the design
and texture of clothing, the construction materials used in the buildings, the
smells of the market, and even the seasonal changes and climate. Anything that
will build the story world. I envy authors who can pop over to the coast to
research their beach novel or troll through small southern towns for firsthand
details. Does that mean I can’t add layers of authenticity to my settings? No. Since
I can’t physically go to third-century Carthage, successful world building will
require a different kind of work. I study pictures, look for travel reviews or
blogs from people who’ve toured the ruins, and order every book I can find
about the history or culture.
2.
DIALOGUE. Keep the words your characters speak
true to their characters but also true to their world. For example, it drives
me crazy to hear Jesus speaking with a British accent. But Downton Abbey
wouldn’t have near the impact if those characters were speaking with a Texas
accent. In HEALER OF CARTHAGE, I created
a Down’s syndrome character with a slight lisp. His purpose in the story world?
Show how Romans believed imperfection was to be hidden or destroyed, which in
turn creates a feeling of danger in the world I’ve created because all the
characters fear their own imperfections might be discovered.
3.
NARRATIVE. These filler paragraphs, the ones
readers often skim, are delicious opportunities to slow them down and drag them
deeper into the world. How? Paint this world by combining sensory proofs of the
setting with the emotional needs of the characters. Here’s an example narrative
of a slave plotting her freedom in HEALER OF CARTHAGE:
Magdalena waded through the litter of
discarded tunics, robes, and half-written scrolls scattered over thick carpets
imported from Egypt. She hated how the disorder of Aspasius’s personal life
repeated itself in his erratic and spendthrift governing. Doing what she could
to bring his reign to an end would benefit more than just her. History would
thank her one day.
The
description of the bedchamber became more than filler, it became another layer
of the story world when it took on the chaos the character felt. Sensory proof
combined with emotional needs.
The writing tool
I keep beside my computer is Word Painting by Rebecca McClanahan. Read it and gain the skills to build worlds
a reader will never want to leave.
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