Wednesday, April 2, 2014

A Book and its Setting

I like talking about writing characters, it's no secret. If you've read any of my blog, you'll know how much time I spend with my characters, coming up with them, fine tuning them, and stressing about them. Characters might be my strong point or just my downfall because I worry about them too much. Besides the characters, the setting of a story is REALLY important!

My stories always seem to take place in a small town. It's not like I agonize over the setting and decide to put it there or like I even live in a small town. I live in a county with upwards of nine hundred thousand people. I was talking with my sister about it one day and I realized part of my attraction to writing about small towns is because I have a relatively small social circle I spend time with and not having a job outside of the house or going to high school, my life does exist in a small town type setting.

In Only Human even if Abby had lived in a big town, she lived in a small town in her head. I like the idea of the local gossips to avoid, seeing the same people a the local diner, etc. In my novella, the small town emphasis is much more in the story as the stories about Cameron have spread around to everyone and Maggie being sick effects everyone Alex knows. I've decided along with a book being written in third person, I need to write a book without a small town emphasis.

In the Partials Sequence, Dan Wells paints a very good picture of our world in ruins. It was fascinating and often scary when he described places that had been abandoned and destroyed; places that we frequent today. I thought he did a great job in world building in his book and definitely would like his talent for doing so. I often wonder if my settings feel forced or like an afterthought. His book though is a great example to me of how a setting can really give a book life. His characters are good too which always makes things better :)

I had a great day today in my book history. I got my first review from a stranger, a girl named Alyanna who runs a blog where she reads and reviews books. It was funny reading her review and thinking about the fact that someone in the Philippines is reading my book. The internet is an amazing thing. 'http://bookbuddiesph.blogspot.com/2014/04/book-review-only-human-by-anna-tuckfield.html 

Write again soon!

Anna Leigh

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