Place & location
We’ve all read books and seen movies where a location feels like an actual character. Creating a strong idea of place roots a story and makes it feel more real.
Ambient & environmental storytelling
Fetid water drips from the ceiling and runs down the stone walls. The air is thick and humid and uncomfortable. I shuffle forward with my fellow captives, through the bowels of the fortress, deeper and deeper into the darkness of the dungeons. Through the bars of cells I see my fate in the hanging skeletons, ragged clothes the only hints of their past lives. Torchlight splashes off surfaces, casting everything in a sickly yellow.
Creating a sense of place in fiction
Somewhere in the behind-the-scenes material of the first Black Panther film, director Ryan Coogler notes that he didn’t think people would believe in the fictional African nation of Wakanda until they shot a scene at a market, with people buying and eating food.
Being inspired by place
After several pandemic years, I now find myself in a different country. Leaving the UK after such a long period felt not a little intimidating, as well as freeing. After negotiating the (sensible-but-tricksy) bureaucratic complexities of international travel, I made it to Malta with the family.
Finding inspiration in a Covid world
I’m not an especially confident traveller. I’m the sort of person who obsesesses over when the plane is taking off and wants to arrive at the airport 48 hours earlier. I catastrophise about traffic jams and trains getting stuck due to a leaf on the track. When my wife drags me out of Norfolk, though, I always appreciate it and find the change of scenery refreshing, not least with regard to my writing.
I went to Porto
Hello! This is a Small Talk newsletter. That means it’s mostly off-topic and has very little to do with writing tips or my Tales from the Triverse serial. Sometimes I just can’t resist writing about something that’s grabbed my attention. You can adjust your notification preferences