L is for Lock 'Em Up!

If you've ever read an Agatha Christie novel, you'd understand how important location is in suspense. Her books like the Orient Express utilize setting to the utmost as a tool for driving the story forward. When you think about it, the principle applies to all writing. I know that most writers like to concentrate on character and plot, but setting can make or break a story. The wrong setting can deflate the suspense or confuse the reader.

One thing that Agatha Christie often did was “L” is for Lock up her characters; whether on an island, or on a train, the characters were a captive audience. As a result, so was the reader. Riveted by the imminent, inescapable danger lurking in an enclosed area, I kept turning the pages into the wee hours. She never wasted the opportunity to turn her setting into a living, breathing member of the cast. Spooky, and suspenseful, Christie was a master of using setting like another character in her stories.

Think about novels that you remember well after reading. Chances are the author didn’t neglect the setting. Whether it was the steaming moors of a sweeping love story, or the gritty streets of a detective novel, the setting worked to set up the story. Great writers use setting as a way to move their story along a certain path.

Let’s say you set up your story in a stranded ship. It sets a creepy tone. The characters have to evade one another or pair up to keep safe from a killer. Throw in the fact that they are running out of food, or the ship is sinking and your setting creates natural conflicts for your characters to overcome. No let’s say that the ship is in the path of a storm, and that the only way to be rescued is to be out in the open on deck. Your setting just put your characters in danger, both from the impending storm, and from the killer.

I encourage you to take a look at how your setting plays a part in your work. Is it incidental, or instrumental? Could it be Anywhere, USA, or is the location a major factor? I’d love to know what you come up with.

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Until next time, Go Write!

Photograph by wili_hybrid, Uploaded on March 16, 2009. Photograph by ~MVI~, Uploaded on August 24, 2008