The setting of my novel in progress is Prague – a city where I lived in the mid 1990s. It’s a dazzlingly gorgeous place, a jumble of architecture built over several centuries, physically (if not mentally) never destroyed over Europe’s many wars. In addition to its distinctive array of spires, Prague has a particular smell, taste, and sound,. Here’s is an excerpt on its scents from a piece I wrote:
“It was the mingled scents of a hundred spires, myrrh, hand-forged iron, roasted chestnuts, the Hapsburgs, war, Communism, good beer, and a hundred thousand souls.”
Beyond the basic five senses, Prague has its own heartbeat and a soul like a human, actually thousands of them, alive now and in the past, still somehow moving and buzzing just around the line of subconsciousness. I could sense the city’s soul on my first trip there in 1994 as a tourist and I came to understand its many layers better while I lived there. But still it remained elusive and mysterious. Which is why, for years, I’ve wanted to write the setting of my work in progress (WIP) as a character.
I came to study the craft of writing later in my adult life and when I first raised this notion to a writing teacher, he dismissed my question with, “No, you can’t do that.” So I let it go, assuming it was a dumb idea and the guy with the MFA and published works under his belt knew better than I. (Note to self: lesson learned there.) Later, I was pleased to hear the topic raised by an author or two, and then recently, my local writing school offered a workshop, “Setting as Character”.
Our first task as writers is to render a location so that it feels alive for the reader. When choosing a setting for a work of fiction, it should be relevant to the characters and their lives. The place should affect the characters and the characters can affect the place as well. One tip the writing teacher shared in my recent class is that each time that we describe the same location in our WIP, it should change somehow. Changes in a setting should reflect the changes in our characters lives, in how they perceive or react to the setting. In my WIP, my protagonist’s naive sense of wonderment at Prague’s multi-layered mystery certainly evolved throughout the story: through disillusionment, self-destructive behavior, and survival, with her fascination for the city prevailing after she decides to leave. My task is to render my protagonist and supporting characters in as layered, complex, and sometimes contradictory a manner, as Prague.
Where is your current work in progress set? Is the place important to your characters and plot? How do these elements affect each other?
Super topic! Can’t imagine why a writing teacher (a WRITING teacher, for heaven’s sake!!) would say that a setting can’t be a character!! A second opinion was definitely required. A story set in Prague has, and IS, a different character from the same one set in NYC or Mombassa or a city on a planet on the other side of the universe.
Prague is one of my favorite cities, too. It has such a medieval feel to it. My first visit was in 1973 when it, of course, was still a place hidden behind the Iron Curtain. It was full of mystery and a bit scary due to the Communist aura I’d never before experienced. Yes, I can well imagine it as a character in your novel.
Love this! My WIP is set in an imagined tropical island off the African mainland. I’m using my experiences in Uganda to inform the sense of place.
Very interesting piece Kimberly. Prague is a lovely city and I love your description of its smell. I’m not sure what the scent of the Habsburgs might be – Lipitzzaner horses and bad teeth (thinking of the Habsburg underbite) maybe – but the smell of Communism is for me forever a blend of boiled cabbage, body odor and cheap vodka.
Your writing teacher’s tip is inspiring: “each time that we describe the same location in our WIP, it should change somehow. Changes in a setting should reflect the changes in our characters lives, in how they perceive or react to the setting.” I find myself thinking, Yes! And, Why didn’t I think of that before!
Excellent and thought provoking piece. Looking forwards to the book.