A “How To” Guide for the Prospective Writer – Step Three on the Writing Journey
- Brainz Magazine
- 22 hours ago
- 6 min read
Written by Melissa Velasco, Accomplished Indie Writer
Melissa Velasco is an Indie author with a quick wit, edgy writing style, and bold willingness to take a flying leap into the unknown. She is the author of the Hollywood High Chronicles book series, a metaphysical thriller deep dive into the trials of a pack of metaphysically charged teen misfits growing up in gritty 1990's Hollywood.
We’ve made it through the first phases of writing. You’ve written until your fingers are sore and faced your shadow work as the truth of who you are pours out. Now that you’ve made it this far, what’s next?
Building a cohesive setting
This sounds easy enough. You know where your story takes place. There’s more to it than that, though. Your setting must include all the senses. Can your reader see, smell, hear, taste, and touch your setting?
Your setting must be rooted in detail
Imagine your most vivid happy memory. Got it? Perfect. Freeze the memory and ignore the emotion you felt. Instead, survey the setting. Can you see, smell, taste, and almost touch it? What does it sound like? Often, we spend the rest of our lives being reminded of life-changing moments like this because a certain scent wafts by. We’re carried away to that incredible event for a moment. A secret smile sneaks up. We don’t explain the moment to our companions in the present time because it holds such depth that it would be hard for others to understand. That moment is yours, deeply and with feeling. The same can be said of our harshest and most horrific experiences, but I won’t drag you to that place.
My goal as a writer is to create settings in my books that are so vibrant in their positive or negative aspects that the reader is in that place. They should be able to picture every detail, right down to the musty smell in the dank warehouse that the characters have no choice but to traverse deeper into. What they seek warrants facing their terror as they journey deeper into a daunting location. I want my readers to be in the group, venturing through the warehouse, as the sporadically hung overhead lights flicker. The reader should feel the tickle of the dust in their nose, hear the occasional drip of water from a neglected pipe somewhere ahead in the long, creepy hall. The air should feel forgotten in that underground-basement way that gives us the shivers.
An industrial warehouse doesn’t feel homey and warm. It’s a place where people don’t linger. It holds secrets and insecurity. It’s impersonal, with its cinder block walls and shadowed concrete ceilings lined with pipes that rattle. Can you picture it? The details offer emotion and foreshadowing.
It makes no difference where your setting is located, a fantasy land, another planet, a room your characters never leave, an existing location in real life, or the imagination of a character. Locations have descriptions, and you need to take the initiative to guide your readers there.
Why is this detailed attention to setting imperative?
I’ve received pushback from writers who felt that the depth of description I encouraged was a waste of page space and their readers’ time. My answer is harsh but comes from an honest place: if you don’t offer this level of description, then you’re the only reader of your book who truly experiences it the way you intend.
You see, you deeply experience your story’s setting because it’s in your head. You created it. The rest of us aren’t in your head. Humans are ethnocentric creatures by nature. We’re pre-programmed to believe that others experience the world through our eyes. They don’t.
If you want your readers to experience what you envision in the pages of your book, then you need to paint the picture with gusto. It may seem belaboring to drag them through what is so obvious to you, but trust me, it’s not.
One of my goals for my book series, The Hollywood High Chronicles, is for every moment to play in my readers’ heads like a movie. My team is so dedicated to this operating procedure that we refer to chapters as “scenes.”
While this cinematic approach isn’t for every writer, it offers an example of what your depth of description can accomplish. With the right detailed descriptions, your reader will forget they’re sitting on a couch reading and be surprised when they’re pulled from your story by an interrupting phone call in the real world.
That is the goal. You owe it to your readers to paint a picture that they disappear into.
Consider this deep setting creation to be the equivalent of a rock-solid foundation. If the foundation is sturdy, you can build a structure that lasts for the long haul. A weak foundation offers a constant struggle that will eventually destroy your structure. You can’t fight it, and pre-publication is the time to fix it. Root your setting in everything necessary to build your story from. Make it firm and unshakable.
Now, here’s the rub. (There’s always a catch.)
Your setting will both guide and limit you as a writer
Once you define your setting, particularly if your setting complies with the rules of reality, you must work within it. The parameters that you set either need to be worked within, be flexible enough to believably bend, or your characters must be so powerful that they can overcome the setting. My Hollywood High Chronicles book series is unique in that all the above is true, but I assure you that the amount of work that goes into crafting a setting that’s pliable is overwhelming.
To clarify, my series has sixteen books. The setting becomes pliable and overcome-able as my characters become more metaphysically formidable. It doesn’t start off that way, though. The first five books of the series are rooted in unbendable setting circumstances. I’ve spent more time focusing on setting, character, and storyline consistency than I choose to dwell on. Setting seemed like the easiest of those areas to consistently work within. It’s just a place, right? Wrong.
I lived in Southern California for many years, the setting of much of my series, but it has been a while. I’ve driven my husband mad with questions like, “Which street do you turn right on if you’re coming from Highland and Hollywood Boulevard and heading to the Observatory?” His answer always led to another twelve questions until I got it right. Add to it the need to overcome monumental traffic during a high-speed chase scene, and I was deep into pondering. I need this to be realistically believable, after all.
Another pitfall I fell into was a complicated warehouse location that has been converted into living quarters and a huge work venue. I had it rock-solid in my mind, or so I thought. With two books published that utilized the setting, known as Mama Mabel’s brothel, I was asked by my marketing manager to create a blueprint of the location for the book series website. I sat down to knock it out, and my brain nearly blew a gasket. What made sense in my head didn’t correlate to paper.
“Well, Melissa, you’ve done it now. What do I do?”
I got it worked out, but not without some serious assessment. Lucky for me, there were several rooms that could be shifted. I barely squeaked out of that situation unscathed. While far from a life-and-death issue, these details matter that much to me.
They need to matter, and I’ll tell you why.
Your most fanatical readers will know your story better than you do
As an author, you’re expected to explain your story and answer questions, particularly if your book becomes a bestseller. I watched an interview with an author who tells a story about a young fan who headed to the book signing table at a quick clip. While the young fan was there to get his books signed, he also arrived armed with a list of questions, a detailed written list.
The list focused on inconsistencies and curiosities the fan wanted clarification on. The author revealed in the interview that many of the questions had no explanation. The truth was that the author had no idea the books would be so popular when they were written, and the fan’s questioning enlightened the author to the issues. While the author had a great sense of humor about it, the moment was preventable.
None of the inconsistencies were series-threatening. It was all picky little details, BUT, and it’s a big but, it matters to fans because it disturbs their sense of equilibrium as they read.
Don’t discount your readers’ ability to be incredibly discerning. A true mega fan may have notes written in book margins, their own maps of the setting, fan fiction they write, and other such vehicles of adoration that will blow your mind. Don’t chance setting inconsistency because you got caught up in love scenes, friend squabbles, and big climactic battles on your written page.
The devil is in the details.
Stay tuned for the next step of the journey: Character and Writing Voice.
Melissa Velasco, Accomplished Indie Writer
With a quick wit, often edgy mouth, and loud laugh, Melissa exuberantly embraces life. Melissa Velasco is a true explorer of the arts. With a well-rounded background as a choreographer, professor, dance teacher, stage manager, and author, she thrives in creation. At her core, she believes that the arts save lives and provide a route for passion and connection. With five books currently published from her Hollywood High Chronicles metaphysical thriller books series, Melissa Velasco is an accomplished Indie writer.
