The Muse & the Marketplace 2017

How does setting shape our fiction, especially when we are writing about countries and places not frequently represented in English-language fiction? Location is not just a backdrop - it often dictates the choices our characters make. In this session, we will examine the importance of setting and how a specific place can drive our narrative. We will learn how to energize our writing with sensory details without leaning into stereotypes of the “foreign” or “ethnic” or even the “familiar” setting. Through close reading of scenes where setting powers memory and action, we will learn how to use a specific geographical space to best have our character’s voices, choices, and stories play out.