5 W's & an H: Today WHERE

We have talked about the WHO and the WHAT, so today is about the WHERE. We're talking about setting.

This is one of those times where you as an author have to figure how much the setting is a part of your story.

I am thinking of the book (not the movie) of UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN. When she is writing, Cortona is a living and breathing part of the story. The restaurants, the stores, the streets and all of the setting is a part of the story. To fully understand what Mayes is going through, we have to get the full sense of the community.

Another great example of this would be many of the camera shots in the Kiera Knightley version of PRIDE AND PREDJUDICE. In the first scene is at the very beginning when we see her outside and then walking into the house. The camera walks us through the entire house so we get a true sense of the family and the importance of family. The second scene is at the party when the camera walks us through all of the conversations. We see the elegance of the party and we see the pettiness of many of the conversations.

On the other hand, there are times when simply describing the setting is not important. If the characters are having dinner at a restaurant and it is just about the conversation, we don't need to read about the wonderful basil in the pasta (a common phrase I see in almost every description of a small Italian restaurant).

Like the WHAT, this is just a matter of knowing if you have too much or too little. Immerse us in the scene when the scene is important. Immerse us in the conversation when the conversation is important and skip out on the scene.