tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588376429247025873.post4797559571224202329..comments2024-02-23T05:16:12.783-05:00Comments on VOICES FROM THE HEART: Starting with the SettingMona Riskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14923883333893160794noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588376429247025873.post-30839710784244286182010-08-12T00:30:53.322-04:002010-08-12T00:30:53.322-04:00I love love love setting. My 2nd book received mor...I love love love setting. My 2nd book received more than one judge and reviewer comments about the setting being a character. :)Marilu Mannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10752433299917155419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588376429247025873.post-69835257668343925072010-08-12T00:05:26.248-04:002010-08-12T00:05:26.248-04:00Hi Clarissa:
I'm one of those who can have any...Hi Clarissa:<br />I'm one of those who can have anything spark a scene from a setting or an event or a joke I overhear. I just have to be open to everything. But it's usually my characters who tell me how my story should go.Mary McCallnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588376429247025873.post-82532082553506226152010-08-11T20:59:24.270-04:002010-08-11T20:59:24.270-04:00I'll be sure to tell you my process when I fig...I'll be sure to tell you my process when I figure it out, lol! To me, I guess the setting is a character, so it all kind of forms together... I think! Next time, I will really have to analyze how it goes :)Erin Knightleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09368123673970225476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588376429247025873.post-24042550839265715402010-08-11T19:26:28.651-04:002010-08-11T19:26:28.651-04:00Hi Clarissa, My first book started with a scene, m...Hi Clarissa, My first book started with a scene, my second with a single sentence, my third with the title. Setting is an important element that can't be overlooked. Great suggestions to get through a saggy middle.Joan Leacotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13931469692532851398noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588376429247025873.post-67339035528310597112010-08-11T14:52:49.483-04:002010-08-11T14:52:49.483-04:00Before I can really get into a book, I have to kno...Before I can really get into a book, I have to know who my hero and heroine are and a basic idea of plot. I'm sort of in the middle of a plotter and a pantzer LOL!Angelique Armaehttp://www.angeliquearmae.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588376429247025873.post-80678849988751637652010-08-11T14:51:04.788-04:002010-08-11T14:51:04.788-04:00I am a panster who has no idea where my stories co...I am a panster who has no idea where my stories come from. An idea pops into my head and as I write the story opens, the characters help to keep me on the right path and I end up where I want to be - except for my current story. I was 4000 words short and my CPs told me I didn't have enough conflict. I am halfway through revising and am stuck because it is no longer the story I pictured from the beginning. It feels fractured to me. Now I am avoiding it, waiting for my muse to kick me in the backside with a new idea to turn it around. :(Paisley Kirkpatrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06401039126457210324noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588376429247025873.post-74626142329213669032010-08-11T14:33:38.434-04:002010-08-11T14:33:38.434-04:00Clarissa, I get my inspiration from the setting, f...Clarissa, I get my inspiration from the setting, from places that I visited and then imagine a plot in it.Mona Riskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14923883333893160794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588376429247025873.post-49623260264105727592010-08-11T14:07:40.009-04:002010-08-11T14:07:40.009-04:00Clarissa,
I am very much a pantser, too. But if I...Clarissa,<br />I am very much a pantser, too. But if I think about it, and start to analyze, I would say characters always come first for me.Josiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05930730661273079224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588376429247025873.post-72979855188551027372010-08-11T13:04:39.261-04:002010-08-11T13:04:39.261-04:00Hi Clarrisa,
I am a plotter. I usually have char...Hi Clarrisa,<br /><br />I am a plotter. I usually have characters and conflicts and plot points in mind. <br /><br />However, setting is always very important to me, and I guess I never really thought about how important until I read your blog. I think, actually, I probably think about setting before I even get to the rest, especially if I'm working on a fantasy where world-building is important.<br /><br />Of course world building can be important in contemporary romance. My series of books coming out starting next year, are very setting specific. And the setting--a small town in South Carolina--is almost like a character in the book.Hope Ramsayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01156609252604997466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588376429247025873.post-64316697321107751392010-08-11T12:59:49.662-04:002010-08-11T12:59:49.662-04:00Wow. Thanks for all the fantastic comments. Who kn...Wow. Thanks for all the fantastic comments. Who knew there were so many pantsters out there? Now I have to go hunt for all those fantastic books you mentioned...Clarissa Southwickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07999713155443152791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588376429247025873.post-12215393677812713092010-08-11T11:46:51.875-04:002010-08-11T11:46:51.875-04:00>>>Pick a setting. Any setting. Choose th...>>>Pick a setting. Any setting. Choose the character who is the least adapted to live in that setting.<<<<br /><br />What a cool concept. For me, the opening scene comes to me and rarely changes. My current book I wrote myself into a corner three or four times...but that opening chapter never changed. It's always opening scene, name the characters, write chapter one, then figure out what's really going on.<br /><br />Strange how the mind works.<br />Pantzers Unite!!!<br /><br />~~AngiAngi Morganhttp://AngiMorgan.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588376429247025873.post-89887020141695900382010-08-11T11:44:06.136-04:002010-08-11T11:44:06.136-04:00I usually have a plot outline when I begin, but mo...I usually have a plot outline when I begin, but mostly I start with strong characters who have complex backstories and loads of emotional baggage. I put those characters in different situations and see how they react. Based on their reactions I may tweak their backstory or the plot points until I get the reaction and emotional development I want. Then I'm ready to write. Setting for me is just a part of the plot. For example, the book I just finished, <b>Minority of One</b> takes place in the winter, the snowy landscape became an integral part of the story and I could not rewrite it for a balmy summer setting if I had to without making it an entirely diffrent story. <b>Damaged Goods </b> takes a city boy back to his southern roots and wouldn't work anywhere else. And my debut novel, <b>PULL</b> is located around a big city high school, a cramped apartment, and a major construction site. The events simply couldn't happen anywhere else in the world or with any other two people than David and "The Dare."B. A. Binnshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07122617891116573672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588376429247025873.post-70622965946334363312010-08-11T11:04:37.729-04:002010-08-11T11:04:37.729-04:00Clarissa,
I think mine come from a variety of plac...Clarissa,<br />I think mine come from a variety of places, it can be a character, a setting, or a plot. So many things will trigger an idea for me, I've got a list a mile long of stories waiting to be told lol. Interesting theory on breaking out of a writers block is to change the setting. You know you may be right and I'm going to try that one day. Great post!Melissa Dawn Hartehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15575722705716071350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588376429247025873.post-46354151553724636012010-08-11T09:41:32.872-04:002010-08-11T09:41:32.872-04:00Clarissa, I love how the "what if" think...Clarissa, I love how the "what if" thinking got started -- that's what I find so fascinating about writing, how it just comes out of a random thought or observation.<br /><br />And whenever I think I have a handle on my "writing process" it morphs into something else for the next book. LOL I'm a total pantser, but this current WIP seems to be pantsing itself in a different fashion than usual. I just hold on and see where it takes me! LOLDonna Cummingshttp://www.AllAboutTheWriting.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588376429247025873.post-41497875655580526602010-08-11T09:21:42.035-04:002010-08-11T09:21:42.035-04:00Clarissa, I think it is fascinating that you start...Clarissa, I think it is fascinating that you start with the setting. For me, the setting sort of comes along as part of the plotting process. But then, I'm a plotter, not a pantser. I usually start with a scene, even sometimes just a tiny little scene, and then go to character.Catherine Gaylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05830640955594808304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588376429247025873.post-13430542669401348152010-08-11T09:18:51.366-04:002010-08-11T09:18:51.366-04:00Hi Clarissa, Enjoyed your post. I'm mostly a p...Hi Clarissa, Enjoyed your post. I'm mostly a pantser too. I get my inspiration from lots of different places. For my manuscript, <i> Just Beyond the Garden Gate, </i> I was traveling on business in Brussels and saw a whisky ad with a buff Highlander. The setting Scotland, the hero a Highland chief, the heroine a burned out business consultant. With <i> Sea Panther </i> I wanted to write a vampire story and was reading <i> The Republic of Pirates </i> by Colin Woodard so part of the story is set in Jamaica with pirates. :)Dawn Marie Hamilronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01366244357545585183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588376429247025873.post-32232812468117010762010-08-11T09:15:53.295-04:002010-08-11T09:15:53.295-04:00I have no idea, Clarissa! LOL! I think it varies -...I have no idea, Clarissa! LOL! I think it varies - sometimes it's a character. Maybe I've met someone who is such a personality that I need to base a character on them. Or I visit a place and know I need to have a story set there. Sometimes it's the story idea in its skeletal form, as Julie said. Like you, I'm a pantser, so everything is always different, always changing for me in my process.AvonLadyJerricahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14611705826419158520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588376429247025873.post-66272318739315630862010-08-11T09:15:01.200-04:002010-08-11T09:15:01.200-04:00Great post, Clarissa. I'm still developing my ...Great post, Clarissa. I'm still developing my process, but I think I usually start with one scene in my head and flesh the entire book out from there. :) SarahSarah Bakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07216846252237913830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588376429247025873.post-83627135836990299342010-08-11T09:09:48.961-04:002010-08-11T09:09:48.961-04:00I've never really thought about it Clarissa. ...I've never really thought about it Clarissa. But now that I am, I think the plot in its most skeletal form always comes first for me. I think of a situation, and then I come up with who I will throw into that conflict. I love your idea about putting the most unlikely person in a setting, though. I'm going to try this.Julie Johnstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02714565503799628340noreply@blogger.com