Could the questions that unfold in Ernest Hemingway’s story “A Clean Well-Lighted Place,” have happened anywhere else but a café? Possibly, but not as surgically and eloquently. The café is as much an essential character as the old man and the two waiters. Could Fiver, the heroic rabbit of Watership Down be anywhere but Sandleford Warren in southern England where questions of hierarchy and safety are lived underground? Unlikely, given that a rabbit’s world is all about visibility and hiding.
Place matters. It’s not simply a backdrop to a character’s behavior; it is part of what makes a character who they are and what they do. Weather is certainly a contributing factor: The oppressive soggy heat of Venice that challenges Donna Leon’s Detective Brunetti, or the wind scraped ranch of Cormack McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses. But the weather happens because it occurs in a specific place. The storms that nearly kill Captain Ahab and his crew could only happen in a ferocious ocean expanse. Place is the architecture, the stage on/in which characters move. Landscape and environment act upon a character, perhaps from birth, perhaps as an outsider, perhaps as a force to confine, confuse, or comfort.
Placing a character clearly and firmly in a world where they not only exist but act and react gives depth and meaning to a character’s world view. Imagine your character in a rocky landscape, a sea of wheat fields, a maze of sidewalks overshadowed by skyscrapers, a tiny village, the inside of a submarine. Where do they fit? And what do they know or not know about their surroundings? How does their environment affect their mood and their decisions? What could only happen next because it happens within this precise space? Bring the presence of that space forward and the character will have more to work with and against. Give your characters a planet, a work room, a hive, a crow’s nest, a mountain range from which to enact their story. Let the place have its say.
Upcoming Events
Malibu Writing Retreat: Need a winter break? Need a time and place to set the world aside and immerse yourself in your words? It’s not too late to join me for a February Writing Retreat at Serra Retreat Center in Malibu, California! Beginning Monday, February 24th through Friday, February 28th. Writers of all genres and levels of experience are welcome. This retreat is tailored for those who do not love huge groups and who cherish the opportunity to develop their writing within a respectful structure. For more information: https://www.writingfulltilt.com/retreats/ or maureen@maureenbjones.com
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