B&S #31: Review of Writing Vivid Settings by Rayne Hall
Bodacious
Many fiction writers can tell you that for years, there has been a major hindrance to getting better. Nearly all books on writing--and there are many good ones--are for beginning authors. Many teach specifics, such as dialogue, characterization, story structure, and more, but from an entry-level perspective.
Imagine mastering the basics of a discipline and finding no instructions for improving. Let's compare writing fiction with coding. What if the only C++ books out there taught just the basics of programming in that language? Programmers would have to read the code of others to learn any more. Studying how someone else programs can definitely help one improve, but it can only take one so far. These programmers could use books with advanced instructions.
Rayne Hall noticed that while there are plenty of books for beginning writers, there are few for more advanced writers. So, she deconstructed the elements of writing by reading the best authors out there and came up with concrete ways that any moderate to advanced level author can improve his prose.
With that knowledge, she created the Writer's Craft series. I have already reviewed two Writer's Craft books: Twitter for Writers and Getting Book Reviews. Those books cover marketing. Most of series covers the art of writing.
I've read several of these so far, and today, begin reviewing them for you, starting with the art of description.
Writing Vivid Settings
Describing environments is tricky. Many authors either provide too much description, listing everything a character sees or hears, or two little, putting said character in the literary equivalent of white space. How can you get your description just right?
In Writing Vivid Settings, Rayne gives examples and advice that will help bring your worlds to life while remaining true to your own style. Specific chapters titles include "Smells for Realism," "Weather for Intensity," "Detail for Realism," "Symbols for the Literary Touch," and others. You'll learn where in a scene to bring up which senses, how to make your characters more believable, your descriptions relevant to the story setting, and much more. You'll also learn why all this works.
Chapters include examples, and each has an assignment at the end so you can practice what you just learned. Apply the advice to a story or novel in progress, or write new scenes using her tips. Rayne also recommends keeping a Settings Description Bank, a book or computer file in which you note specific things about places you visit, so you can use them later.
Personally, I'm going to use Writing Vivid Settings and other books in the series as guides for when I get to the third draft of my current novel, Bodacious Creed. I recommend doing the same with your own works in progress to make your good books great.
Sundry
On to some personal notes for my readers. The last few months have been stressful for me. The time had come to move from one apartment, which meant finding a new place to live, getting money together for a deposit, and packing everything up from the old place and hauling it to the new. I did get some critical help on moving the big things, but I did 90% of the moving myself. I still have a bit to go, too, since I have many boxes full of books in storage.
My son and I are in our new apartment though, and wow, what a change! The place I found is larger than the last, with hardwood floors and great air conditioning. It's also a first floor apartment, while we were on the second floor at the last place. That means it stays cooler.
While working all this out, of course, I had to keep up with my day job and take care of my son, normal parts of being a responsible adult and parent. However, I had much less time to work on this blog, on the related podcast, and on my upcoming novel, Bodacious Creed: a Steampunk Zombie Western. With the moving out of the way (yes, except for a few trips I need to make to storage, no big deal though), and my stress levels much lower, I can now get back to my favorite activities (aside from spending time with my son): the blog, the podcast, and the fiction.
On the Episode 8 of The Wild Steampunk Podcast, the last one I did, I said I wouldn't be able to do another for a while because I need a new computer. While I still need a new computer, my current one is behaving better when it comes to recording for YouTube, so I can do the podcast again! I may do a new episode tonight. I will probably not use the green screen though until I'm able to get a more robust system.
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See y'all soon!
