Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Setting





My daughter says that she'd set every scene in a nightclub if she could and that got me to wondering. Where do I like to set scenes? In short stories, a writer may only use a few scenes. I tend to set a lot of mine in cars.
In a car, either the protagonist is alone with her thoughts, or he is eyeball to eyeball with someone else, thus provoking discussion. This works well for me. (Even though I don't drive very often {if ever} and always see the scene from the passenger's POV).
Where do you set the most scenes? Where do you feel the most comfortable?

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

I prefer small places; cars,kitchens, front porches, but I usually make references to the larger place the story takes place in. And whenever I can I like to set scenes in the mountains of North Carolina. If I ever get enough dough I'll move there and sit on a front porch, drinking beer until I hear bagpipes.
John McAuley

pattinase (abbott) said...

I also like to set scenes in a small town I call Shelterville-sometimes ironically. That's where I live in my head.

Charles Gramlich said...

I wonder if you shouldn't set your scenes more where you are "uncomfortable" than comfortable? I set a lot of my scenes in claustraphobic environments, or in nighttime woods.

Maybe it depends on the genre.

pattinase (abbott) said...

great point, charles. it would certainl heighten tension but I wonder if my unfamiliarity with, say a junkyard, would throw it off.

Iren said...

I never really thought about where I set scenes... just off the top my last 3 short stories have had scenes set in:
A hosipital waiting room
A hosipital pediatric clinc room
a hut in the woods
a abandon stoarge shack
a monorail car
a on the way up, on the way down, on the way to the bargin bin; housing

pattinase (abbott) said...

Iren-you are uncommonly versatile-here are my last scenes: a cottage in the woods; a cottage in the woods; a road outside a cottage in the woods; a road outside a cottage in the woods; Staples. Do I see a rut here?

George said...

I love court room scenes. That's why I love PERRY MASON, both the books and the TV series. And BOSTON LEGAL, for all its silliness. There's something about confrontation and trying to find the truth that intrigues me.

pattinase (abbott) said...

I only wish I could pull those scenes off because I like to read them too. I think most of the writers that do them routinely were probably attorneys. My son is a prosecutor so I could watch him, but he only does appellate work and I don't think the Michigan Supreme Court allows vistors.

Paul D Brazill said...

I think the only stories I've written without pubs in them are on trains. Not exactly a stretch but I'm far to early in the game to dare to move stories to uncharted waters!

pattinase (abbott) said...

HA, Paul. I don't know if I've ever read a British novel without pub scenes-so you're amongst the best.

Paul D Brazill said...

I could do a sci-fi story with a pub in it.I went to a pub on the moon once, but it was terrible. No atmosphere ...

Dave Zeltserman said...

strip clubs

seedy bars

Also banks, mostly because I like writing bank robbery scenes

of course, my favorite setting is in the delusional minds of my protagonists

pattinase (abbott) said...

I wonder if I can find a strip club or seedy bar in Las Vegas.
Oh, yes the mind is the best setting.

Dave Zeltserman said...

Patti, you're joking, right? Outside of LA, Vegas probably has more strip clubs and seedy bars than anywhere!

Patrick Shawn Bagley said...

Trailers, old farm houses, dive bars, bottle clubs, cars, trucks, factory break rooms, diners, wood lots, barns, shacks...you know, nice places.

Clair D. said...

I don't really have a particular setting that I use. Aside from the general setting of suburban/ rural Livingston County. Houses, big houses, little houses, restaurants, outside, wherever the story takes me.

pattinase (abbott) said...

I was joking, Dave although Detroit might give it a run for its money right now.
Patrick, you live in the right place for those setting. I don't even know what a bottle club is.
Clair-we sure live in two different places though only an hour apart.
Paul-but some strange looking people in that pub right. I saw Star Wars.

Iren said...

To be fair, I was talking about major scenes, all of those stories had at least mention of other places, a diner, a bar, a clearing in the woods.... and each of the stories are really different. The first being a weird tale, the second two being crime stories, but the last of those has a very specific world attached to it. For me it is all about the kind of story I am trying to tell and my investment in the setting is often based on the mood I am trying to set. One thing that ties all three settings together is that in all three cases there is some form of waiting going on.

Patti: from your settings I am getting a mental image of cult activity in the woods with spill over to a staples, like the leader ran out of trapper keepers or paste?

Paul: Pubs, at least in europe, are much more of a social meeting place for people. In the USA they seem to be a place to; eat/drink with friends, pick up partners, get drunk, or see a band.

Bryon Quertermous said...

I'm with Dave Z, strip clubs are the best and I think I've written very few stories without a scene set in one.

Other than that, I tend to unconsciously set a staggering number of scenes in living rooms and I have no idea why.

Anonymous said...

I dig bars and pubs but I also love the naked, raw appeal of the street when people are caught off guard and vulnerable. Maybe it’s just me but I see the city street as the noir equivalent of the open savannah, instincts blazing. Cars are cool too.

Anonymous said...

I dig bars and pubs but I also love the naked, raw appeal of the street when people are caught off guard and vulnerable. Maybe it’s just me but I see the city street as the noir equivalent of the open savannah, instincts blazing. Cars are cool too.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Is that you, Bryon. Because we spend a lot of time in living rooms, I think. And we're comfortable with the routine there.
I can see now I'm writing in the wrong genre or frequenting the wrong places. In the bars I frequent, I am the least-well dressed person. Hardly leads to exciting scenes. Streets are great because they lead to the unexpected interlude.

sandra seamans said...

My go to place is a diner or a kitchen.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Detroit doesn't have diners-what they do have are Coneys and little Greek restaurants that sell some American, some Greek, some of anything. I guess they're pretty much like the diners in my chilhood come to think of it. Just not in a big, aluminum can.

Gary Dobbs/Jack Martin said...

I've never really thought about this but I think my favourite scenes takes place in the majestic outdoors.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Gary-I must have set a scene there once or twice but it's eluding me.

Unknown said...

I'm like Dave Z. there's no place like the dank minds of my characters. That and showers

laughingwolf said...

hmmm... usually don't give it much thought, guess i should

the walking man said...

I never considered where I set a scene...I always thought the scene should be where the character needs it to be. The players "comfort zone" so to speak.

Lois Karlin said...

Outdoors, as much as possible.

Barrie said...

As I'm writing I So Don't Do Makeup, I can see that I've got way too many scenes at the mall!!!

Barbara Martin said...

I have varied places for scenes: outdoors, libraries, highways, hotels, hospitals, churches, caverns, tunnels, stairwells, jails, bedrooms, burrows, grocery stores, pubs, cars, parking lots, houses, cemetery, outer space, laboratories, etc.