A Sense of Place

Saturday, October 19, 2013

10:30 - 12:30

Please Join us for A Craft Workshop

Creating A Sense of Place

          Period, locale, time of day, weather, these elements are all central to locating a reader in your story. But creating a sense of place is about more than setting. It is about developing mood and atmosphere. Without atmosphere, as Jane Burroway observed, “…your characters will be unable to breathe.” Atmosphere, like meaning, is a construct between writer and reader, essentially a sensory and emotional reaction to the furnishings of the fictional (or non-fictional) world.

          What role do the senses play in creating atmosphere? What is tone in fiction, and how does it contribute to sense of place? What is the role of language in locating the reader in the world of the story?

          With readings, discussion, and hands-on exercises, this two-hour workshop will explore the ways in which the writer constructs vivid, complex, evocative story worlds, worlds that expand beyond the page, in the hearts and minds of the reader.

          Your own work is the best teacher. If possible, bring an excerpt that focuses on your story’s time and place. 

Facilitator:  Hollis Shore