Scribbled
Setting and time have an advocate!
In response to my recent remarks on the elements of fiction, faithful commenter Bitty (who knows some stuff about writing) makes a case for giving bigger props to setting and time:
“A Family Supper” by Kazuo Ishiguro takes place in the span of time from afternoon through the early evening, as a family has what well may be their last supper. If it weren’t set in Japan, if it weren’t in the family home, if it weren’t ending as the sun goes down, the other elements of the story would be as useful as an apple stem is to a starving man. It’s one of the most cleverly crafted stories I’ve ever read. If I were teaching creative writing, I’d assign students to dismantle that one and learn from it. (That and Mona Simpson’s “Lawns.”)
Kate Chopin’s “Story of an Hour.” Nuff said.
The present action of “Personal Testimony” by Lynna Williams takes place at a Bible camp during the time it takes to conduct the evening worship service. Significant, significant, significant. More particularly, the action takes place in a tent on the grounds, a tent that used to be a circus tent. What eventually becomes obvious is that this Bible camp is one big circus. It ends with father and daughter kneeling at the altar, although not explicitly in worship. The adept reader makes connections, however. I could go on with this one, but it’s partially meaningless if you don’t know the story. However, without the Bible camp, the tent, the altar, there is no story.
In Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse, the house is literally a character.
An adept writer doesn’t just stick the protagonist in a Starbucks — unless perhaps the protagonist’s mother was gunned down while drinking coffee there.
Sometimes setting and time are less important than some other elements, but I always start with setting/time (yes, they’re Siamese twins), and narration when I begin a class discussion. Get that part straight and the other things fall into place.
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So are they back on the A list? ;)
S & T are certainly useless without the other elements and I can imagine a story without setting, I suppose, but why would I want to? (If a story had no discernable setting, the lack of setting would have to be significant; otherwise it would be, IMHO, an error or sloppy writing. Take your pick.)
It’s kinda nice to guest star at Waveflux.
You have given me cause to reconsider my fictional element invitation list. Two more chairs for the big table? Maybe, maybe. I have some readin’ to do.
I have indeed thought, more than once, that Waveflux ever became one of those cool multi-authored blogs the kids seem to like, you would be defintely be on the rather short list. Always meant to say so before. :-D
I have indeed thought, more than once, that Waveflux ever became one of those cool multi-authored blogs the kids seem to like, you would be defintely be on the rather short list. Always meant to say so before. :-D
Ok, now I’m blushing because I see myself as a bore of a blogger. Sometimes I get caught up in the self-consciousness of it all and say nothing for long periods of time. Then I get all hyper and post a bunch of blabbering nonsense (although some of my posts lately have been to inform friends of stuff so I don’t have to write it all out several times). For the record, yours was the first blog I ever knowingly read (might have read others not fully understanding what I had stumbled upon), and even that I didn’t fully understand at first. I’d come here by following a link from somewhere else, was amused by what I saw, and came back again to look at it the next day. Was I confused when I found more stuff to read, not just what I had liked the day before (yes, I was that blog-naive less than four years ago), but also thrilled because I liked what I was reading that day even more. And the rest is history.
It’s really all your fault that I spend all this time reading blogs.
And let’s just say that the me-on-the-short-list is a cool thing and one of those things in the category of let’s acknowledge it’s a great idea, and then forget about it. I will take the compliment and move on with my life and your blog will be all the better for it. ;)
I actually came here for a reason and now I’m almost out of blogging time. At Shakes, in the thread about your confession regarding fiction, one of the first “worthy” names to pop up came from Melissa and it was Kazuo Ishiguro. Now where have I heard that name recently? (I’m thinking about scanning the story and sending it to you, just to gauge your fiction temperature, although since I know you’re a Tobias Wolff fan, and I too think there are few people more talented than Wolff, I have at least a sense of it.)
Ok, I’ve figured out the archiving. I really need to send you that story, too.