Bring a Sense of Place Into Your Writing

Several years ago, I listened to an editor of a travel magazine give a presentation on the sense of place in writing. I'd never given a great deal of thought to the topic, but ever since, it is something I watch for in my writing and others' work, as well. 

When we weave a sense of place into our short stories, books, and personal essays, we give the reader a clear picture. I recently read a book that left me wondering about the physical characteristics of one of the main characters. I wanted to 'see' her more clearly. It's possible that I could relate to her and the story better than I did. It's the same when we bring a sense of place into our work. We want the reader to feel like they were there, that they can see the place where the story happens very well.

Don't spend several paragraphs describing the place where the action occurs. That's telling and a bit boring. Show the place as you weave bits and pieces into your story.

Place does not always have to be a state, country, or land. It can be a block, a neighborhood, a house, a business, or even one small room. Place is what surrounds your characters. It may even make your characters act a certain way. 

I grew up in a 3-story apartment building that housed around 65 singles, couples, or families--mostly families. That building affected my life in many ways. Below are two paragraphs from one of my family stories that might illustrate this point. It's about a special lunch we always had at least once when my grandmother was visiting. 

(From Love on a Plate)

I lived furthest from school so traveled alone on the final two blocks. The sight of our large red-brick apartment building usually made my stomach growl with hunger. I'd walk a little faster, adding a hop, skip, and a jump now and then. Cars rumbled past on the brick street, and trains that ran parallel to the road often rolled and clattered by. Our vestibule doorway was one of seven entryways surrounding the formal grassy courtyard in the center of the U-shaped building. My degree of hunger set the pace as I scurried around the bushes and green area that led to our entrance.

I knew the day that  Grandma made a special lunch had arrived when the aroma of hot date muffins greeted me the moment I opened the vestibule door. At the first sniff, my heart skipped a beat, and I felt a flutter of excitement deep inside my stomach. My nose twitched with genuine pleasure as the scent of the hot muffins floated down all three flights of stairs. My feet slid quickly across the cold, tiled entryway door to the softer, carpeted stairs. My fingers touched the smooth stairway railing only once or twice as I flew up the steps to the third floor following that ever-stronger fragrance.

I wanted to show the reader the place where we lived as well as the joy of the day Grandma made date muffins for lunch. My home was different than many of my classmates who lived in single dweller homes. Some lived in what we called a 'two-flat' which had one apartment on the ground floor and one on the second. 

The place where you lived as a child has great bearing on your family stories. Whether it was a farm, a ranch, by the seashore, or in a big city makes a great deal of difference in those stories you tell about your growing-up years. 

Don't tell us that Ella walked through a forest. Give us a sense of what that forest was like. Show us how the forest affected Ella as she walked. If Phillip is running away from the bad guys in a tenement area of a major city, that place influences what he does, where he goes, and whether he escapes or not. 

Place can almost be considered another character when you are writing fiction or even a family story. Give place the importance it deserves.