How to Set the Scene

Maybe the most frequent comment I give when I edit "new" writers is at the beginning of a chapter or scene where I say, "You need to set the scene." The writer, who can already "see" the environment, takes off with dialogue or action and the reader has no idea what's really going on because there's no context. Many scenes read more like a radio script than a novel.

When you first "arrive" at a scene, stop and look around. Do not write a word until you visualize where your character is. The nature of it. The smell of it. The sound of it. The sight of it. Ask yourself how the character feels about it.

Are there other people there, even in the background? What do they look like? What are they doing? How do they affect your character?

Now begin your scene by letting your reader in on enough of what you see, hear, smell and feel to join you there. GROUND your reader in the reality of where your character is.

But DON'T just describe the picture. Make it active by seeing it through the eyes of your character and illustrate it through how he interacts with it. Rather than "clumps" of description, WEAVE threads of detail with threads of perception, feeling, sensations. Then, and only then, you can take off with your scene's action and dialogue.

Here's an example from the first draft of a novel I'm currently writing. A chapter opens with a new character in a new location. I knew about the character, and knew where he was in a general way—in a "caravan," a vehicle for traveling. I knew the outside was wooden, and that he was in a forest in wintertime. That was about it.

When I stopped and looked around my scene, I discovered that the caravan interior was paneled with oak, and that Oriental rugs covered the floor. Why? Because that's the way this character would want his living space—rich and opulent. On a closer look, I "discovered" that the oak paneling bore carvings of scenes from the history of the character's people. And so on. Taking a look around gave me the following narrative to open the chapter.

     Drago lifts a curtain aside and peers out his caravan window at barren trees and snow-covered forest floor. He would rather be in the south, basking in the sun, not hiding in a forest preserve on the outskirts of Chicago. But his task demands access to the library at Northwestern University for his research, so there is little choice. Although he is near a solution, he can feel it. Perhaps this day.
     Within view are the curved hulls of three of the twelve caravans in his clan, their glossy wooden flanks warm contrasts to the dull, gray-brown bark of forest trees. The clan's five children, from a teen to a toddler, romp in the snow, building a snowman-a snow troll, by the look of its gnarled nose and a single eye in its forehead.
     A soft whup-whup-whup invades the children's giggles. A helicopter. The caravans vanish behind illusions of snow-clad trees. Except for the toddler, not old enough to have the skill, the children disappear as well, becoming small trees. One new tree leans over and scoops up the toddler who, in the flicker of a thought, becomes a fat squirrel. The helicopter noise fades, and the children blink back into existence.
     Drago shivers and closes the curtain tight against the draft. Despite woolen oriental carpets and heavy oaken planks that panel the walls, it's unpleasantly cold in the caravan.
     He applies his palm to a board to test its chill. An elven master craftsman has carved each broad plank with a scene from elvish history. Drago traces his favorite with his fingertips, a portrait of his direct ancestor, Merlin, deep in conversation with King Arthur. Drago shakes his head; Merlin's was one of many brave but failed attempts to guide people to a sane civilization. Merlin's blood runs true, though; Drago has found his own solution, if he can just breach the last barrier... a shiver again shakes him.

And so on. Looking around gave me details about where the character was and I described it in terms of what it means to him, how it affects him. Without stopping to look around, I wouldn't have known about Merlin and what he meant to the character. The reader is not only grounded, he has learned something about my character and has become involved with him.

So, before you write a scene, make sure you stop, look around, and then create a picture—sight, sound, smell, feelings, perceptions—that puts your reader there.

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