Writing Tip Wednesday: Set the Scene

Shortly after I wrote my first book, Sour Lemon and Sweet Tea, I was asked to speak to my friend’s sixth grade class. My friend told me how the use of figurative language throughout the book paired perfectly with her current unit. I stared blankly, and admitted I didn’t remember the definition of figurative language. I simply tried to set the scene to allow my reader to visualize the location, season, and time period. Figurative language compares two things in a non-literal form, such as a simile, metaphor, or alliteration. It makes your writing more effective, persuasive, and impactful.

Location and Season

In chapter one, I set the scene for both location and season. The protagonist, eleven-year-old Lillie Mae Liles, lives on a chicken farm in Georgia. If you live in South, you know how hot and dry it is in the summer. We get very little rain which leads to humid air. The ground dries up and red dirt roads are quite common. But if you live in the Pacific Northwest, you may not be able to visualize the impact that kind of heat has on one’s appearance. The scene would be quite different if snow were on the ground and the kids were bundled in coats, gloves, and boots. Here, Lillie Mae allows the reader to “see” her farm…

A truck the color of cherry tomatoes tears down our driveway stirring up red dirt. When the door opens, a tall man with dark hair and piercing blue eyes steps out. He wears a black, three-piece suit with a tie that matches his eyes. He stares at me, so I stare back, neither one of us speaking. It reminds me of the old Wild West movies I’ve seen on TV with the dust flying in the air and a man standing with his hands on his hips. I can almost hear music playing in the background as we yank our guns from their holsters.

When a girl steps around the hood, I’m jolted back into the present. Violet—my arch nemesis. She scans the yard, her nose pointed to the sky, when she spots my brother, Jesse. Her ugly frowns turns upside down. “Oh hi, Jesse.” Violet fiddles with her curls and bats her eyelashes. I think I’m going to be sick.  “You here to play baseball?” Jesses asks. “You’re awfully dressed up.” She looks ridiculous. Plus, it’s ninety-five degrees out here. Violet’s got to be sweating like a sinner in church. “I don’t play baseball. That’s a boy’s sport.” She gawks at me. Shuffling my feet in the dirt, I kick dust onto Violet’s white sandals.

Time period

Another way to help the reader visualize the scene is to describe the time period. You can include TV shows, music, movies, and political events of the period. My favorite way to do this was describing the clothing of the period, including a once popular clothing store.

Violet Holt and her sidekick, Della Grayson, stand in the doorway. Violet wears a light blue dress with white daisies embroidered on the sleeves. Her parents probably bought it at Rich’s Department Store. There’s one in downtown Atlanta, or so it says on the TV commercial. Her blond curls hang in ringlets, and a white ribbon sits on tip of her head holding her hair away from her face. She’s dressed like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, but she reminds me of the Wicked Witch of the West.

What are some ways you set the scene in your writing? Let me know in the comments!