Have you ever been so into a story that it was a physical wrench when you had to leave? The setting for the story was so strong that you had travelled to another place or time. It had become more real to you than your own reality and, perhaps even more importantly, it had become real for your characters.
The truth is that the physical spaces in your story are not just empty places. They are populated by people. Without people they would not exist. People bring places alive. They smell espresso coffee machines, they hear the hum of conversation or the rumble of cannon. They see, hear, touch and feel afraid. It is through their feelings and reactions that atmosphereric backgrounds are communicated to the reader.
When a place is scary, it is a character that feels scared. A landscape looks beautiful because someone looks at it, experiences memories and feels enjoyment. To another character, the same landscape is threatening or merely of no interest.
The backgrounds to your short stories are an integral part of your character’s personalities and feelings.They are created primarily through their minds not yours. Imagine how they would feel about the locations in your stories. Would they ever want to come back?
‘Sarah had always loved the countryside, especially the early evening fragrance of the heather and the chirrup of sleepy birds.
But this Friday afternoon was different. The weekend ahead cast a gloom over her darker than the shadows between the hills. Her future like the coastline on the far side of the water was impenetrable through the haze.’
The main female character in my novel ‘Sarah’s Price’ stands on the summit of a beautiful countryside hill but the landscape is coloured not by the blazing heather all around but by her fears for the weekend ahead with the man at her side.
Finally, when you have your background, carry out an audit:
Is it convincing?
Has it got real atmosphere arising from the feelings of the characters?
Are you taking advantage of all the senses - lighting, smell, sound and emotions?
Background is where the characters go because they have to or because they want to. Create backgrounds your characters can react to and your readers will respond as well.
Magically, you will have made your readers part of the story line and seeing the background in which your characters live through their eyes will bring your story landscape to life.
