Description
This week Leslie and Clark are taking a short break from recording, but don't worry—they'll be back soon! In the meantime, the subject of setting has been top of mind at Writership lately, so we're bringing you two great podcast episodes that discuss setting in story.
We're starting with last week's episode from the Story Grid Podcast by Shawn Coyne, author of Story Grid and a top editor for over twenty-five years, and Tim Grahl, struggling writer. Then we're rewinding to episode 78 of our own Writership Podcast to look at another aspect of setting.
Story Grid Podcast episode:
What is the Setting for your Novel?
Shawn Coyne and Tim Grahl discuss what the setting is (exactly) and the four questions you should ask yourself about the world your story inhabits.
The Writership Podcast Episode 78:
Me and My Bacon: YA Critique
One aspect of the setting that is sometimes overlooked is time, including duration. In episode 78, Clark and Leslie explored this this aspect of setting while discussing Ceanmohrlass’s YA novel Me and My Bacon.
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Show notes
“People are almost always aware of time in their daily lives—time of day or month or year; time in relation to a job or task that needs to be completed; time in terms of religious holidays or seasons; stages of life such as infancy or teenage years, school years, years of fertility, and old age; era, such as the Roaring Twenties or Regency England or the frontier years on Mordant Five; or time as it relates to anticipation of either a dreaded or an eagerly anticipated event. Readers stepping into a story world should also step into the time reality and expectations of that world, at least the reality of the major characters. At least of the viewpoint character.”
EDITORIAL MISSION - IT'S ABOUT TIME!
Think about the different aspects of time in your story. Consider the setting: the year, time of year, time of day in which your story is set. Is this clear to the reader at the outset? How could you make it more evident without telling? What details could you use? How much time passes over the course of your story? Within individual scenes? Have you conveyed this through your view point character? Track it on a calendar to be sure it all makes sense.
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Inline Critique
