Halp! My setting went missing!!

[muselolita.livejournal.com]

Or at least I think it's about to go missing...

So here's my problem. My MC is being all broody and introspective (for two endless chapters) because his father has died and with all the getting into his head and dissecting it, I seem to have not made a single mention of my setting - which is Victorian London.

My question is, how do I bring out the personality of my very important setting with all that brooding in that way. Or do I just let my MC do his thinking and wait for the setting to reveal itself in time?

Comments

[sings-off-key.livejournal.com]

My setting is often very sketchy in the first draft. Me, I don't worry about it because I know that's one of the things I will have to go back later to fix. If I start getting bogged down in my story, then I stop and think about the surroundings. Sometimes a bit of description at that point will jog my imagination and I can get on with the tale.

[muselolita.livejournal.com]

I can be like that sometimes and other times the setting ends up being really intricately described. There's never a good balance between the two in a first draft.

[vialofzydrate.livejournal.com]

If it were me, I'd go back and add a few descriptive sentences throughout the passages. You know, a sentence here describing the window he's looking out of, the scenery, the furniture around him, his clothing (adjusting it to make him more comfortable, taking off shoes, jackets, women in corsets he passes on the street, that kind of thing), the technology and methods of transportation. I think you ought to reveal the setting that way instead of all of a sudden springing "Oh, we're in Victorian London, btw!" on he reader. But, that can all be done in December, so unless you need to pad your word count, I wouldn't worry about it too much right now.

[muselolita.livejournal.com]

Word count definitely needed padding this morning, now... Not so much, really. But yeah, if I need to do anything like that, going back and slipping in references to the setting will definitely be the route I go. Thanks!

[in_excelsis_dea.livejournal.com]

I'm fifteen pages in and haven't described any of my characters. There's also very little description, and my novel isn't introspective or anything. I figure that it's smoething I can use to up my word count later on by going mad and describing eveyer l every little detail, or I can fix it up during the second draft. At the moment my novel is full of sentences like: "I dont don't want to ;ea ;eave leave him and" because I'm just typing away like mad and refusing to fix things.

Plus, I like books where the setting comes as a rus surpsei r surprise. It kind of throws me at first but then it turns out to be a good thing.

[muselolita.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I guess the important thing at this point is just to write.

[dyserenity.livejournal.com]

You could have another character distract him, like a pickpocket, so he has to stop thinking about his dad and, to keep with the pickpocket example, chase him, which would give you a chance to describe the setting. e.g., he chased the picketpocket down the cobbled streets, past a taylor...etc, I have no clue about Victorian London. :P

[muselolita.livejournal.com]

This could definitely be a possibility. Thanks!

[muselolita.livejournal.com]

I've been watching stuff on Jack the Ripper, actually. It caused me to create a totally unexpected and awesome secondary character and added some scenes that I didn't expect to be in here. So yes! I've had Sweeney Todd on a loop. lol.

[taryn-tyler.livejournal.com]

ooh, this is a fun question. Guess what? you can do ultra moody introspective and setting at the same time. Brooding in Victorian London? It's perfect.
Here's an example of how I might do it.
Character steps outside. It's cold. The streets are bleak and dull as they have always been but somehow . . . and then his mind wonders to whatever it is he's brooding about. Insert a few pages of that and then . . . he realizes he's gone too far, he's not supposed to be on such and such street where such and such shop and such and such shop that will appear later in your plot will be but on such and such street where such and such shop is and he turns around. He can't believe how detached he has become from his surroundings, how much he doesn't even notice anymore . . . . insert a few more pages of introspective. . . Then he comes to the place he meant to come to (and it doesn't have to be imperative to the plot where that is, just some everyday kind of place for him to be so you can have him moving) Everything is so crowded and busy and you can describe some of that. So busy he can't hear his own thoughts. Except he really can because there is no escaping . . . insert more inner monologue
Of course this is just an example I don't know your plot or your character so I don't know what would really work but the point is to use the setting to your advantage rather than as some vague backdrop you know your characters are walking through. I've heard it said that setting is like a another character. You can use it to set the mood and emotion of a scene at the same time as setting up plot points you will use later on and if you have rich, engaging inner monologue linking your descriptions together all the better because the reader won't realize they are being set up and the action won't have to stop for them to be told the details of the scenery.
Anyways, I hope that helps.

[muselolita.livejournal.com]

This is kind of what I think I'm going to end up doing if I go back and add in references to the setting. Just have the two play off each other. I mean, one of my first scenes takes place in a cemetery, so there's SO much potential for that. But it's also a bright, sunny day (because I like being contrary), so no fog at the moment. lol.

[albreda.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm with Taryn - you couldn't do better than 'Victorian London' and 'brooding'!

I'll second everything he/she said, and add that you could use some nice metaphors and similes as well - 'his heart felt like the grimy cobblestones beneath his feet, trod under foot for ages, and starting to show signs of wear.' Preferably *without* the melodrama, but hey - that's why YOU are writing it instead of me!

BTW - EXCELLENT book for setting the scene of Victorian England (but in a non-broody sort of way) is Connie Willis' 'To Say Nothing Of The Dog'. :)

[muselolita.livejournal.com]

It just lends itself to deep, melodramatic thought, doesn't it? Especially in the time of consumption! And brooding is just so much fun to write (how's that for irony).

Thank you for the rec! I'll check it out.