If you are writing fiction you have a responsibility to do
more than just tell a story — you have to invite your reader INTO the world of
your book. Write about 18th century England and the reader should
feel as if they are right there with the characters; if it’s winter let them
feel the cold, or if your setting is in the future your reader should be, too.
Your characters need to become personal acquaintances, if not friends, with
your readers.
It’s easy to engage your reader when you open with an action.
Sprinkle enough description to give the scene the right flavor, use period
pieces and things that are important to the story. Never give so much
description that you don’t allow your reader some room for imagination, give
the description that sets the scene and is pertinent to your story. If you back
your reader into a corner, so to speak, and make them uncomfortable with the
setting, they will seek an escape. Getting them invested in your story after
that may not happen again.
Study the time period and its terminology, look at pictures
of period furniture, the style of life and common customs. If there is a
foreign language involved (other than what the book is written in) you can
mildly pepper the character’s speech with an occasional word but not so much
that your reader would have to look up the words in order to understand. An
example of this would be something like, “Oh mon Dieu, what can I do? This is
terrible.” Would most probably work better than “Oh mon Dieu, que puis-je
faire? C'est terrible.” Unless part of the story includes a translator that can
let the reader know what was said, you stand the chance of losing your reader
to an online translator.
Use your careful discretion with substitutes and try to
remain as authentic as possible. If you are writing a WW2 battle scene with a
mortally wounded soldier, the use of Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation as we know
it today would not be appropriate for the medic to do; however mouth to mouth
resuscitation was used and a skilled doctor might even have used a closed chest
massage in an attempt to revive a patient. There would be ways to write some
lifesaving attempt into the scene and still keep the story authentic without
talking about compressions, while SOME readers may not realize the faux-pas,
there are some who will. Do your research and keep as much as possible vague.
Writing
Exercise: Write a short romantic dinner scene
for a couple as if it was 2017, 1900, 1800 and 2125. Change the menu, table
setting and/or restaurant, and anything that might interrupt the romance (cell
phone, etc.)
Writing
Prompt: (1) Make a list of kitchen items your mother or
father (or guardian) used during your childhood that no one uses anymore. (2)
Make a list of clothing items that were a big fad during your teen years that
are no longer in style. (3) Describe the family car and the differences to the
vehicle you now own.
Challenge
Assignment: Write a brief essay about what your
life might have been like in your favorite (not contemporary) time period
and/or location.
