Time, Place and Space...

Don't flog me! I'm sorry this post is late! I wrote mine and posted early and only today just realized it didn't post.

There's a time and place for everything. The same holds true when writing a story. If the tone of your novel is dark you wouldn't want to set it in a park with bright happy clowns everywhere, now would you? Of course not.

Setting is so much more than where your characters interact. It sets the tone and time and can even serve as a sneak peek into your characters personality. Take Gyspy Moon for instance. Since it is a short novella, Ana and Howl are expected to carry out the story, but the isolated cabin, night, woods and thunderstorms set an atmosphere that is important to add the suspense and the bubble I wanted them to live in. The setting makes the story more intense.

Then there's Bite Me!, my vampire wip, that is set all over the place. Each of the Seven come from different continents, and in snips of backstory we see their homelands. Since their power is tied to the land those settings are very important. Most of Kail's story takes place in a near future city type setting, dark and dangerous like himself. He also has the power to fold time and travel backward, forward or just a different place within the time he is in.

Don't skimp on the world-building, even if it is the one you live in. Setting isn't everything, but its a great tool if you know how to use it.

Beth