How to Set the Scene: Choosing Words the Reader Can See
- Authors Aflame
- Jul 25, 2019
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 20, 2019
By Gen Gavel
The Importance of Setting the Scene
You’ve spent weeks creating a unique character (or perhaps she is based on someone you know). She has a defined jawline, perhaps. Red hair, brown eyes, skin that has tanned nearly to cinnamon-brown from five years straight in the Saharan desert.
You would not describe her as a woman of childbearing age, medium-toned coloration, generally healthy. You would take the time to make certain your reader is capable of visualizing her as nearly as possible to the way that you see her.
It is equally important to be specific when you are setting a new scene.
Words Are Not Created Equal
Wind coming through a window will simply not evoke the same image as a stiff breeze whistling between shutter cracks.
Coming is a weak word. A word is weak when it does not draw any specific image to mind.
Coming can be done quickly or slowly. It can be done with or without attitude (in the case of people.) A wind can come by surprise or as a constant force. In other words, the word coming almost always needs to be modified.
Words which need to be modified are inherently weak. They do not pull their own weight. In this way, through is also a weak word. Even wind and window are difficult to visualize simply because of the width of their variety. We need to know what kind of wind and what kind of window.
Happily, the English language is rich in synonyms.
Put The Thesaurus Away
Synonyms alone, however, are not the key to creating scenes you can see. It’s all about finding the right synonyms. New writers are infamous for using their newfound thesaurus to create sentences such as the gale flew wildly into the abode. Followed by the drapes hammered the casements.
Unique words are not the key. Specific words are the key.
What Exactly is Happening?
Is the wind bringing a winter storm? Is it from a helicopter? Is it twisting, spiraling, causing chaos, or is it a thief with long nails and a witch’s scream, attempting for hours to steal your calm?
Similarly, the window. Is it old or new, curtained or not? Choose a color, a texture, and definitely a sound. If you think about it, have you ever been anywhere near a window and not heard anything? It doesn’t even have to be the wind, just make it believable. Real.
You Do the Visualizing First
Just like your characters, your scenes need to be fully visualized by you first. This doesn’t mean the scene can’t surprise you as you go--after all, that’s half the fun of writing!—but when you see it, take the time to find the words that work best to bring the image to mind.
These will be:
📚 Words that do not need to be modified (wind that howls instead of comes howlingly)
📚 Sensory words (specific colors, textures, and sounds)
📚 Emotional words (whipping, screaming, violent, cruel, pesky)
Pro-Tip
Your reader’s mind is packed with images already. (They’re called memories.) Some of the most effective writers of dynamic scenes have simply become experts at appealing to their readers’ own histories.
Remind me of summer by describing the slap of bare feet on hot asphalt. No color needed, no fragrance, no detailed description of pebbles between toes. It’s all there.
Even if your scene is set in an unfamiliar world, you can still evoke powerful images in almost any reader’s mind by appealing to basic humanity. The young magician’s new quarters are austere, but the hearth in the center fights away the icy cold of the stone walls as easily as Mother’s bedside stories used to battle his fear of the night.
We see orange fighting blue, good fighting evil. We want to pull up to that fire. And that happens to be right where you want us.
Recap
In order to set a scene that your reader can easily visualize, you don’t need many words, and you don’t need unusual words, you simply need a carefully selected set of accurate words. This will make the difference between setting your next scene in a ramshackle house and setting it in an abandoned doll hoarder’s lair.
Gen Gavel — Editor, Havok Publishing
Lover of meaningful stories and powerful connections, Gen writes and edits with one goal: to draw people together by the power of fiction. She has had several short stories published online and in print, has co-edited a teen authors anthology, and enjoys editing flash fiction for Havok Publishing as well as full novels for her private clients.
www.facebook.com/Gen-Gavel-Editing
“The Art of Description in Storytelling” The Writing Cooperative. Accessed June 9, 2019
“The Art of Description” Writing-World. Accessed June 9, 2019
“Tips to Use Your Five Senses When Writing” Fuse Literary. Accessed June 9, 2019 https://www.fuseliterary.com/2017/03/17/tips-to-use-your-five-senses-when-writing/
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