Setting

[angela146]

One of our friendly and incredibly sexy author dudes PMed to remind me that a farm setting might make a good entry for the Earth Day contest.

I hadn't even though of Earth Day when writing the story but it fits perfectly. So, you will have to wait for my farm story until 3/24 plus 72 hours.

Perhaps some of the rest of you might wish to review our settings and see if you have a hidden Earth Day gem in your story pile.

You see, setting really does matter.

Edit to add the link:
http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=135600

 

[JenniferMidnight]

Setting (I'm guilty)

I got a chuckle as I sat in my dimly lit basement office reading this thread. (love the single lighting a computer monitor projects - makes me feel alone, private, secretive and high tech {giggle}).

My first and last editor to my huge complement of 2 erotic stories (and one poem - if you want to call it that) is my hubby. His biggest complaint of my writing is that I dedicate too many words to settings. <such a perv>

I think NOT. I agree that the entire feeling, no matter what you are trying to put across, can't be felt without a description and understanding of what your character is seeing, and therefore feeling. Setting affects most moods.
JM

Check out Only Whisper and let me know if it is overdone.

http://www.literoctica.com:81/stories/memberpage.php?uid=304195

 

[curious2c]

I don't think that every scene needs to have the setting done throughout. It does add to the story, and can be quite important to the forming of what is going on in the reader's mind...but too much and it does bog the story down. If one is writing a full length mainstream novel, then by all means...go for it. But for the most part, here at Literotica...a bit here and there should suffice. Unless of course it pertains directly to the story. Can't have two people cold and shivering from the snow-bound vehicle be as memorable if the reader is reading it in August.

 

[angela146]

Well, it's up and ready for reading.

"Homestead" is the story I was talking about earlier where the setting is essential to the eroticism and to the rest of the story.

Yes, this is a shameless plug.

http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=135600

 

[JenniferMidnight]

another one..

can newbies have shameless pluggs also ....?
MY SECOND STORY WAS POSTED HERE TODAY
biggest of big smiles

***'Love Those Traffic Jams'****

Being new at all this...I get so excited - had to share my enthusiasum with fellow writers.

Really would love to hear what you have to say....always

http://www.literotica.com:81/stories/memberpage.php?uid=304195

 

[JenniferMidnight]

revision

was too excited (sorry)

correction:

http://www.literotica.com:81/stories/memberpage.php?uid=304195

(shoots the typist -whoops! that's me)

 

[Wills]

I'm writing the first draft of a second novel, my first, started under NaNo is on hold until I complete further research, mostly Portugal 1970's, it is taking me much longer than I had anticipated.

The main character of the second novel is blind. I have taken the line that there will be very little setting description in the novel. There are descriptions in dialogue, of places, events etc. but where the novel is set is largely irrelevant to the main character. I'm not sure if I will be able to bring this off, but I'm five chapters in and one person who has read the first part thinks its a good read, so i will continue.

Incidentally, I found myself having to write a precis of the characters, their places of work, defining the tangible threads of the story. I have never had to do this before, whether it is the complexity of the tale or the fact that I am omitting settings, I cannot be sure.

PS It is non-erotic

 

[angela146]

...The main character of the second novel is blind. I have taken the line that there will be very little setting description in the novel. There are descriptions in dialogue, of places, events etc. but where the novel is set is largely irrelevant to the main character. ...

Setting is important for blind people, but in a different form: The sounds and smells of a place serve as a reminder of where he/she is. Also, it's important for him/her to know where things are in order to avoid being lost.

I have a friend who has no sight at all. I usually see him at a local pub where a group of us hang out. He always comes to the table our group sits at and heads for the same chair. We usually vacate that seat if possible to give him the frame of reference.

If we are at a different table for some reason, we it means the he has to navigate around a chaos of tables and other people. One of us usually guides him to us in that case.

The surroundings are very familiar. He knows where the bar, the mens room and the entrance/exit are and knows generally where the waitress will be coming from.

 

[Wills]

Angela

Couldn't agree with you more.

Just to clarify, what I meant by setting is every thing extraneous to the characters limited senses. Naturally, the senses of smell and hearing play significant parts in telling the story, however there is no description of 'place'. The colour of the walls, furnishings, external attributes are to a large degree irrelevant.

Without making the tale sound too morbid, the character is also wheelchair bound, a brilliant mind and memory are the attributes that create the momentum for the story.