A lot of the books I’ve read lately have taken me to places and times that I haven’t visited (physically or reading-wise). The setting was, in many cases, the reason I picked the book up. Visiting so many different places got me to thinking about the delicate balance authors have to make when it comes to describing where and when the story takes place. On the one hand, they need to provide enough detail for the reader to finish the job of creating the scene in their head. But they can’t go overboard without losing me in extraneous words. Setting has to be balanced with character development and plot.
Some of the things that I love in well described books go beyond visual detail. I want authors to engage all of my senses.
Scent. Smell is tricky. Most descriptions of scent that I’ve read reference well-known objects: pine, lemon, wet dog. (Blood is almost always described as coppery, for some reason.) If a reader has never smelled a particular scent, the reference is lost on them. When I read about China, for example, there are frequent descriptions of the food. But I’ve only had American Chinese food, which has a completely different smell. I have to guess. When a smell is fully evoked in my head, I get a new dimension of the setting.
Sound. After reading The Round House for the second time, I’ve started to play more attention to the use of silence and sound. In The Round House, there are three kinds of sound: silence; sudden, loud sounds; and peaceful hums. Silences indicate that something is wrong. The loud sounds are warnings. The peaceful hums restore normality after the loud and silent times. I’d never read anything like it. I think I’ve mostly read about sound as additional details in scene-setting. When an author strikes the right balance of detail with sound, I like to pause and just imagine the sounds for a moment before continuing.
Touch. I think this is another lost element of plot, unless a book takes place somewhere very hot or very cold. I’ve been fortunate enough to have traveled around a bit (if only in the United States). I have sense memories to call upon when I read about humid places (Wisconsin and Kansas in the summer); hot, dry places (New Mexico and southern Utah); windy places (taking the ferry from Bremerton to Seattle). As with scent, if a reader doesn’t have those sense memories, a reader has to guess again.
Taste. This one is hard. I don’t know how food writers do it. Writers can evoke taste with simple references: this tasted like cinnamon and that tasted like dirt. But how does one really describe what a meatball in marinara sauce tastes like on the tongue? Or how fresh, grilled pineapple is sweet, bitter, and tart all at the same time? I love reading books about food because, when they’re done well, it’s like I have at place at the table along with the characters.
Here’s wishing you all well-described settings in your future reading! Pause every now and then during a book to fully imagine the scenes authors have created for you. Let them do their magic.