| What is Sense of Place? It's the image of a scene's | | | | July sun bore down on him" could give the initial detail. |
| environment evoked by the writing. The author | | | | But it must be carried through the scene. Several |
| becomes an artist; the book page is the canvas, | | | | sentences later a sentence could read, "Robert looked |
| sentences and phrasing are the brushes; words give | | | | at his useless car." Add sense of place to this: "Robert |
| color. | | | | wiped sweat from his forehead and squinted toward |
| This element of a story is something most readers | | | | his useless car.wiped sweat (it's hot) squinted (it's |
| look for. They want to feel as if they are in the scene. | | | | bright) |
| Sense of place is vital to fact and fiction. | | | | Later: "He looked around for the closest house." |
| Some writers overuse adjectives with the mistaken | | | | This would work better as, "The surrounding fields of |
| belief that this will offer sense of place. But saying "the | | | | ripening wheat seemed unending, without a single |
| elegant house" isn't enough. That abstraction has little | | | | roofline or driveway in sight." |
| substance. "The well-landscaped house set on a knoll | | | | By adding these touches, the sense of place |
| overseeing the valley" might say more. | | | | enhances the story. |
| Another attempt is to list things. | | | | A good sense of place also engages most of the five |
| "Brenda looked around. The room had a brass coffee | | | | senses. Include colors, smells and textures in |
| table, and a bright sofa flanked by two Queen Anne | | | | descriptions. |
| chairs. Three prints were on one wall, with the sheer | | | | "The hot July sun bore down as Robert backed from |
| curtains hanging at the wide window. Two ornate | | | | the vehicle. Why now? he wondered. He wiped sweat |
| candlesticks set on the fireplace mantle." | | | | from his forehead and squinted at his useless car. He |
| Brenda has become a camera, with no emotion | | | | could smell hot metal from the engine. A puddle of |
| attached to the description. How about this: | | | | radiator fluid stained the gray asphalt a sickly green..." |
| "Brenda thought the bright sofa flanked by two Queen | | | | Robert walks along the road, thinking about what got |
| Anne chairs seemed cozy. She admired three prints, | | | | him here, then |
| and fingered one of the ornate candlesticks on the | | | | "His sigh was barely audible in the dry wind, and the |
| mantle as a breeze billowed the curtains. Scents of | | | | surrounding fields of ripening wheat seemed unending, |
| lilac wafted through the wide window. The books on | | | | without a single roofline or driveway in sight." |
| the brass coffee table caught her eye." | | | | Weather and nature can also establish a sense of |
| This second paragraph only uses eight more words | | | | place. In my historic novel KANSAS DREAMER: Fury |
| than the first, yet engages the character into the | | | | in Sumner County, the weather becomes a prominent |
| description of the room so that the reader learns | | | | plot element--almost a character. (That will be the topic |
| about the room and the character. | | | | of a future newsletter: "Non-Human Characters".) But |
| Sense of place is important in nonfiction, too. A manual | | | | for sense of place, a story based in the tropics could |
| might read: "When managing a large office setting, it's | | | | be rife with descriptions of humidity, vivid sunsets, |
| important to develop good interaction between | | | | blown sand, myriad scents and colors from vegetation; |
| employees." | | | | on the negative, these areas also have hurricanes, |
| "Large office setting" is rather vague, and so is "good | | | | riptides, mosquitoes, sink holes and sharks. |
| interaction." To give this sentence sense of place, it | | | | Weather can become a motivating factor for a |
| could be written: | | | | character; it can parallel a character's emotions or |
| "When faced with multiple workstations, harsh lighting | | | | trigger a memory; it can be an antithesis for the |
| and the continual background noises of telephones and | | | | actions, too. The bright day did nothing to relieve |
| copy machines, it's important to encourage dialogue | | | | Arthur's morbid thoughts. |
| with all employees." | | | | With a few well-placed phrases, a writer can |
| Sense of place should continue throughout a | | | | establishing a good sense of place. This will strengthen |
| paragraph or section. Here's a scene of a man | | | | characterizations and greatly add to a reader's |
| stranded on a stretch of Kansas back road. "The hot | | | | enjoyment of the final product. |