USING SETTING TO DEEPEN YOUR CHARACTER

Hello Seekerville,

Sandra here.

Did everyone have a wonderful and blessed Easter?

I have Chocolate Velvet coffee in the pot ready to enjoy. I have a beautiful platter of spring fruit, sliced and ready to nibble on. Also, the baker here in the RV park I'm in, bakes the most delicious cinnamon rolls. I had him bake up a separate batch for us. 

photo from www.nellisgroup.com used with permission

Have you ever thought of setting to deepen your character? I tend to use setting a lot in my stories, but I didn't consciously think I was doing so to deepen character, until I went to Mary Buckham's workshop at the Desert Dreams conference earlier this month.  She did an excellent job in showing us how to do that with her examples and demonstrations.

I was so impressed, that I am giving away to a commenter today, a  Kindle copy of one of her craft books on how to deepen character with setting, Writing Active Setting.

Mary Buckham is a bestselling ABA author who writes Thrillers and Urban Fantasy so some of her examples could be graphic, but her method of showing you how to use setting is powerful and a must read.  


What she does is take a simple statement of description and then show you how she would write it to show character.

In LOVE'S PROMISES the setting of Lake Tahoe is not only important in the plot, but is a great setting to show characters as well.

Purchased by Stone Lily Design -  used with permission 

For example in LOVE’S PROMISES, I could write.

Monica stood on the deck watching the sailboat go by. She leaned over the rail and looked into the clear water of Lake Tahoe.  

In LOVE'S PROMISES the setting of Lake Tahoe is not only important in the plot, but is a great setting to show characters as well.  But look how we can involve that same setting to show Monica’s emotions and deepen her character.

Monica glanced at the sailboat skidding across the crystal blue water of Lake Tahoe and leaned against the railing of the redwood deck that hung over the cliff. Thirty feet below, water lapped against the granite stones, a rhythmic sound which normally would have soothed her. Not today. She tapped her foot impatiently and rolled her eyes. 

Can you see how using the five senses help use the setting to show deeper characterization? The sailboat is skidding across the water and the water lapped against the granite stones. The strong active verbs show her restless impatience. We hear the water lapping and the sailboat is skidding across the water.

Here is another example where we see Monica’s property:  We could simply write: Monica drove her Jeep Cherokee up the road. She saw his Bronco. Why was he here early? She saw him across the creek. 

However, if we add emotion and senses the setting of her property deepens the characters and we see their reaction to each other.

Shifting her Jeep Cherokee into gear, Monica worked her way up the steep road skirting her property. She needed to grade an easier drive into the place. She sighed. Another set of permits. 
She crested the hill and spotted a Bronco with government license plates parked at the end of the road. Her heart quickened. What was his motive for coming early? 
Automatically, she set the brakes, released her seat belt, and swung out of the high vehicle. Before her legs touched ground, she searched the area. Linsey wasn’t in the Bronco nor in the near vicinity. Biting her lip, Monica headed for the creek. “Morning.” His shout caught her up short.
She searched the dense brush downstream and saw movement on the other side of the gurgling water. He stepped from out of a clump of brush and crossed the stream looking like an ad from a sports magazine. Disconcerted by her reaction, Monica waited for him instead of meeting him halfway. 


The rough road brings frustration. We crest a hill and spot the Bronco. She asks what his motive for coming early. We see the dense brush and hear gurgling water as she looks for the direction of the sound of his voice. This setting shows off her reaction to seeing the handsome planner again.

In this scene Greg and his friend approach the famous Fanette Island, but instead of an elaborate description, we see the reactions to seeing Monica and her friends. Before this scene, Monica’s friends were in a speedboat showing Monica a beach and had almost ran into Greg and his friend on their sailboat. Sailboats have the right of way and Greg’s friend was rightfully annoyed.

“Do you see what I see?” Carl hollered from the bow where he was trimming the jib sail. 
Greg looked in the direction where Carl pointed. Docked at Fannette Island—or as the locals called it, the Tea House Island—was the boat that had almost run them down. Greg intended to sail past it until he spotted the redhead standing in the stern. His heart picked up speed. Monica Scott. 
“Hang on,” he shouted as he quickly came about. 
“You going to land there?” Anticipation sounded in Carl’s voice. 
Greg nodded. “Forget revenge, buddy. I’ve got other motives for landing.” 
Carl stared at Greg and then at the shore. He whistled through his teeth. 
Greg watched her hand an ice chest to the man on shore. Evidently he’d been piloting the boat. Were they involved with each other? Another woman appeared and, with relief, he recognized who they were. The couple he’d seen her with at the South Shore Club. 
He tacked closer to shore. Monica noticed him then. He waved and had to chuckle at the look of surprise on the faces of all three of them. Monica grinned. Good. She recognized the humor in the situation. 


I didn’t do this as well as Mary Buckham does, but I think you get the idea.  You can not only see the sailboat approaching Fannette Island, but you feel their emotions. You also see that a situation becomes a source of humor which is characteristic of our hero.

photo by Michael on wikimedia used with permission

Julie Lessman sent me a couple samples of her writing that uses setting to show character development.

Excitement pulsed in her veins like the bay beneath the keel. Heart swelling with pride, she watched Bram straddle the tiller, so incredibly solid and male and tall. He emanated a strength that swirled heat in her belly as much as the wind swirled the waves, and when he tossed a grin over his shoulder, her heart soared along with the sea gulls overhead. “Alcatraz at your service, milady,” he shouted, sandy hair lashing in the breeze like a tawny-haired pirate who had truly pirated her heart. She clapped her hands in delight as the island loomed with its Cape Cod lighthouse, rising from the sea like some sinister presence growing before their eyes.

Can you see the ship, the San Francisco Bay and the island of Alcatraz? But you are also seeing the hero and learning some of his characteristics as she compares them to the setting.

 —Surprised by Love, by Julie Lessman

In another scene, Julie shows character in the setting.


Marcy stood at Mrs. Gerson’s kitchen window, in bleak harmony with the rivulets of water that slithered down the pane. It was a slow and steady rain, endless weeping from a gray and dismal sky, and Marcy felt a kinship with it. It showed no signs of letting up, much like the grief in her heart over the loss of her husband. A silent mourning over a spouse who was still very much alive, but whose love was as cold and dead as any corpse.

Can’t you feel Marcy’s  grief as the rivulets of water slither down the pane?

 — A Passion Denied, by Julie Lessman

We also have some great articles in our archives with more examples of how to use setting to deepen your story.  Scroll down  the list on the right to the word Settings and several posts will appear.

The first article that appears is written by me and describes how I used setting in LOVE'S REFUGE and other books I wrote.

Janet Dean  wrote Setting Isn't Just Time and Place.  Janet does an excellent job in using her settings in her historical novels. She explains many examples in Courting the Doctors Daughter.

Can any of you give examples of how you used the setting to deepen your character? Please put it in the comments and you'll be in for a drawing to win Mary Buckham's book.

The craft book is obviously for writers. I know we have a lot of readers aboard also, so I have a surprise for you also.  Kindle version of LOVE'S PROMISES is free today on Amazon.

And please all of you join me on my blog tour.  It has been so much fun. The bloggers have been excited about featuring LOVE'S PROMISES and have asked some really fun and interesting questions.   If you are just starting the tour today, no worries, it isn't too late to check them out.  Just click on the button below and travel with us on a fun blog tour.