Location Location Location by Elizabeth Clements

LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION by Elizabeth Clements

A sense of setting is as essential to a story as dialogue, conflict, and pacing. Without it we have talking heads in a pea-soup fog. Artists and singers and movies have the advantage over writers by giving instant visual or oral gratification…like all these years later I’ve never forgotten the vista of the sweeping western frontier that greeted Lt Dunbar in Dances With Wolves. In a smaller dimension, our Cypress Hills reminds me of North Dakota and I can see those hills from where I live and it’s the setting for my trilogy.

Years ago, I became hooked on Mary Stewart’s romantic suspense mysteries. I read every book of hers available in our town library. She was excellent at painting word pictures and to this day there’s a scene that remains imprinted on my mind. I don’t recall the title, but the book may have been Airs Above The Ground, about the Austrian Lipizzaner horses. I’m fairly sure the setting was mountains and Austria, which makes me think of that title. She describes the scene beautifully, romantically, even perhaps with an air of mystery, her trademark, then ends that descriptive paragraph with a thud—"and the odor of pigs” (or something like that). Funny how that little snippet has stayed with me for decades and now I want to find and read that book again.

Dr. Zhivago has some of the most unforgettable scenery ever: springtime in the Urals, with the breeze dancing through a field of yellow daffodils, accompanied by that incredible soundtrack; or the snow-encrusted summer house nestled like a miniature ice palace amidst the snowdrifts, the windows covered in delicate patterns of frost and lit by a single candle. Another brief but unforgettable wintery image from the movie that packed a powerful visual punch for me was the boxcar crowded with people fleeing from Moscow—and when the straw was scooped and tossed out the open doorway, I flinched seeing all that mold staining the floor. A stark picture of the miserable, war-time conditions of all those gray-clad occupants who were crammed like chickens onto tiered bunks that reached to the ceiling of that frigid boxcar. The camera shot lasted only a few seconds, but it spoke volumes in my mind of the misery endured by these desperate victims of war. Here’s a clip from the movie that shows Yuri and Lara’s arrival at the ice-crusted summerhouse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXtFRl1nSs4

Dances with Wolves also made a succinct but powerful ecological statement with just a quick shot of an empty tin can of beans tossed carelessly onto the prairie by the wonderfully disgusting muleskinner who played a small but important part in the movie. Perhaps it was the director’s not-too subtle jab at littering, which is so prevalent in today’s throwaway society?

And who can forget the stunning visual in Gone With The Wind’s famous railway scene with its hundreds of wounded and dying soldiers lined along the tracks? And Atlanta burning around them as Rhett and Scarlett flee to the safety of Tara?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us6LpxSkKYo

I cite these movies in particular because I’d read Dances and Zhivago just a few days before seeing each movie. I was gratified by how closely and satisfyingly the director had followed each book (although the film’s ending differed from the Zhivago book). I know there are lots of other movies that come to mind, that have fabulous imagery, especially Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings or the new worlds created in the Marvel sci-fi movies. And don’t get me started on the fabulous settings for many western movies: Utah, the iconic Monument Valley, Bryce Canyon, New Mexico and the magnificent Grand Canyon, to name a few western settings.

The weather can be an important element in a book or movie. It’s been probably twenty-five years since I read one of Linda Lael Miller’s books, which was set in the Pacific North-West. I’ve forgotten the book title and the characters’ names, and sadly, even the plot, but what vividly remains in my mind of that dreary, sodden mining town is the incredible impression she gave the reader of the misery of sullen skies, day-after-day rain, and mud. And what a scintillating day when the sun stopped sulking and came out to play. Everything was gray: the skies, the rain, the buildings and even the clothes. The weather became a unique character in that book because it dominated so many scenes. 

The movie, Paint Your Wagon, is another wonderful example of rain and mud creating atmosphere—and you can almost smell all those unwashed bodies mining for gold. Clip from the movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTymtAbaG08&list=RDNTymtAbaG08

For us to create unforgettable scenes for our readers, we have to help them inside our vision. Telling is easy but showing takes more words, hence the advantage movies and paintings have over books. Sometimes we can spend hours perfecting what we see in our minds. Years ago, I did a workshop on imagery for a romance writers’ group in Calgary and used three songs for the exercise of stimulating imagery. It was interesting to see some writers scribbled several pages, while others wrote just a paragraph or two, and others gazed thoughtfully into space.  Some willingly read what they’d written; it was interesting how the impressions varied amongst the group members from the same stimulation. After one of those songs, I said I was going to write a book about “What if the hero comes back?”, thus inspiring Beneath A Horse-Thief Moon. What if has always been my favorite writing inspiration. I’m sure I’m not alone!

One show vs telling exercise I like to use to create a visual in a reader’s mind is this simple sentence: He was walking angrily into the room. That’s telling us, but three people can immediately form a picture in their mind and they are all different. How was he walking? Limping, stomping, dashing? How did he look?  Red-faced, scowling, sneering? However, if you write: He strode into the room, kicked the cat out of the way and slammed the door so hard the windows rattled—we form a pretty good impression of him and we also have a much stronger use of verbs. We still don’t know what his face looked like, or his hair color, but we sure know he’s mad about something and he’s not a very nice person (poor kitty). Also, we don’t have to tell he was mean because the writer showed he was a nasty person or at least in a foul mood.

I like to start my books with action to (hopefully) hook the reader, and when the action slows a bit, then toss in some more of the setting, description or a bit of backstory. Snippets of the character’s personality can filter in via the action. Your reader should be too busy wondering what’s going to happen next that hair and eye color is the least of her must know now concerns.  Besides, she’s possibly already seen the cover and knows those details.  

Here is a brief excerpt from the beginning of Beneath A Horse-Thief Moon to give a sense of setting:

Someone’s behind me.

Chase Reynolds dipped his head to block the campfire with his hat brim while inching his hands toward his holsters. Better to die fighting than be shot in the back by a yellow-bellied bushwhacker.

 “Touch ’em and yer dead,” snarled a guttural voice.

 Chase froze. He risked a glance over his shoulder. Moonlight outlined a rifle aimed at his back. Teeth clenched, Chase raised his hands.

 “Git up.”

Chase rose slowly, turned and took satisfaction in towering over the bastard, who scooted back three steps. 

The man whistled. “Fang,” he called out. A wolf-like dog materialized from the darkness. Firelight gleamed on its shaggy gray fur and glittered in its pale eyes. The creature stopped in front of Chase and growled.

“Aptly named,” Chase muttered, his gaze riveted on the animal's sharp teeth. 

The outlaw jerked his rifle at the flames. “Douse it.” 

Warily, Chase bent and dumped his coffee pot. The fire sizzled, sputtered, and died. A plume of acrid smoke spiraled into the air, lighting a spark in the dry grass. The man stomped it into the ground.

Interesting. Most outlaws wouldn’t give a damn. 

www.elizabethclements.com

https://www.amazon.com/Beneath-Horse-Thief-Moon-Prairie-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B07BHQNBDW/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1521556636&sr=1-1&keywords=BENEATH+A+HORSE-THIEF+MOON&linkCode=sl1&tag=httpliviajwac-20&linkId=eda8601d5e33245a7bf486b6eb0c838c

The other thing I’d like to share about settings is that I’ve been fortunate to visit the areas where my books are set. This isn’t always possible, and many writers rely on research, videos, movies and biographies to color their stories. However, nothing can replace being there: to see the flora and fauna indigenous to the area, breathe in the prairie sage or salt-laden sea breeze, experience the desert heat or damp chill and appreciate the vastness of the setting. The photo below is an overview of the Cypress Hills. From this, one sees how easily the heroine’s ranch can be hidden in the coulees and trees.

Cypress Hills and Reesor Lake in south-east Alberta, spreading for miles eastward into Saskatchewan

When I began my first book, a contemporary, the history part of it was from the Yukon Gold Rush and that’s the only place I haven’t been, but the modern-day action was set in Edmonton, Alberta, a city I’ve visited several times. Two more books are set right here in Medicine Hat. My first historical was inspired by a month-long visit to New Brunswick and the famous “flower pots” of Hopewell Cape. We spent an entire afternoon wandering through a working pioneer village. Thus, I’ve tried to incorporate into my novel all the sights and sounds and scents of southern New Brunswick’s famous Bay of Fundy area.

Years later, on a research trip to southern Saskatchewan, I visited the wolf caves situated a few yards from the International Boundary. Standing in that enlarged wolf cave, breathing in the dirt and imagining a couple of horse thieves camped there, waiting for a safe moment to run with their stolen horses hidden in a second wolf cave—well, I just knew I had to incorporate that experience into a book. Then more magic happened—my secondary characters demanded their own story and thus the Prairie Moon Trilogy was born, lol, all set in the lush, historic Cypress Hills of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

We’ve all heard the advice write about what you know. That is true, but I’ll go one step further…write about what you love, what you feel passionate about! It will resonate in your story. Research is great and necessary, but get the passion down first, then polish it with research. As lovers of history, we writers can get caught up in research, often gathering far more than what we actually need. This way we can narrow our research to what’s pertinent to the story instead of wallowing in it then having to edit much of it out. However, in defense of necessary research, it can unearth some terrific nuggets that will enrich our story even more.

When I first began writing, I was advised to stick to American settings. I strongly resisted. I felt and still feel Canada has fabulous scenery and interesting history that should be shared with readers. In my late teens and twenties, I’d read hundreds of romances, historical and contemporary, always set in the U.S.A. or England or France, etc., but never in Canada. When I finished writing my first book in 1982 (yes, that far back), I finally came across one book—a Harlequin Presents—that was set in Canada—Calgary, to be precise. When I saw that pocketbook in the bookstore, with the Calgary Tower on the cover, I was devastated because my book was set in Calgary; I didn’t want the editor to think I had copied the book (even though I’d already sent my manuscript off to Harlequin before I even began reading that romance).

Well, when I read it, this writing novice learned something very useful. Good, accurate research is imperative. That published author had obviously never been to Calgary (that’s all right) and knew nothing about the city other than the fact that English friends had been to the Calgary Stampede and she thought that would make an interesting setting. There was not one single landmark mentioned in the book, not any mention of the cowboys and the arena events, not even a note about the mountains or prairies or foothills or Calgary’s fabulous western history. 

Readers love to identify with a place they’ve visited while reading a book. It gives them a much more intimate enjoyment of the story. However, this British author failed to do that for me. For a while, she put out a book a month or every other month and had an irritating habit of plunking in a paragraph describing the heroine that read like a paint-by-number list.

Am I being over-critical? I don’t know; I just go by what I like and don’t like and try not to make mistakes that I’ve perceived in books or at least things that annoyed me in a book. By the way, I stopped buying that author’s books years ago. She was new and refreshingly different, initially, but after five or six books of the same…. That’s a death knell for an author’s books.

I don’t wish to end my blog on a negative note—everything I’ve written here is simply my humble opinion. There are a lot of fabulous writers and books out there, many I have yet to read, including PRP authors, but I simply wanted to share my writing experiences with you, what I’ve learned to do and not do. And if anything I’ve said helps someone at their stage of writing, then these words are all worth the effort. I’m far from perfect and I’m learning all the time.  I feel the day I ever think I don’t need to learn anything more is the day I must dig deeper.  Also, I must remind myself not to compare my writing with others who write much better than I, but rather just dwell on the love of creating my own stories the best way I can. I do believe in following my instincts, and they’ve never led me astray when it comes to the way I feel about books.

Thank you for visiting the PRP blog and have a wonderful day, no matter what you set out to do today. Please visit my website to view the many photographs my son took for me of the Cypress Hills and historic Fort Walsh.