Becky Dean is a fan of adventures both real and fictional. She writes contemporary stories of teens finding themselves and falling in love in fun, far-off places and science fiction stories about young people traveling to new planets (and also falling in love). She’s the author of two published and two upcoming YA romance novels and, under the name B.L. Dean, the four-book Shades of Starlight series. When she’s not writing or traveling, she can be found drinking tea, watching science fiction shows, or quoting the Lord of the Rings.

We’ve all read books that transported us to a different place. That made us say “I felt like I was there.” That immersed us so fully that we lost track of the real world as a fictional place sucked us in. So how, as writers, do we accomplish that for our readers?

Many writers fall into a trap known as “white room syndrome,” where characters might as well be sitting in a plain, blank box for all that we can imagine where they are. But setting plays such a big role, not only in the telling of our stories, but also in creating that sense for the reader that they’ve truly been transported. Let’s look at some ways to get our characters out of the boring box and make our settings come to life!

Use All Five Senses

It might sound obvious, but many writers forget that there are senses beyond sight! One of the best ways to immerse your reader is to include the others. What a character hears, from loud sounds to background noises. What they feel, whether it’s temperature or wind or tactile things they’re touching. What does the setting smell like? Can the character taste anything? If you need help with this, the Urban and Rural Setting Thesauruses by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi are a great resource.

You don’t need to use all five senses in every scene, but you should stop to think about them for each location. Figure out which ones apply, which ones would make that setting pop. Vary the ones you use, so every scene doesn’t have a laundry list of only scents or sounds. And whenever possible, have the character interact with the setting—touch things, move through the space, stop to listen or taste.

Only Include What’s Needed

Some books contain huge blocks of text that list every detail of a room or place. Can I make a confession? I skim those paragraphs! So how do you know what to include? Use the ones you need: something the character interacts with, one or two details that stand out, elements that will matter to the plot. You don’t need to over-describe. One or two vivid, specific details actually have more impact than a lengthy paragraph because they stick with the reader.

But! If it helps you, feel free to write that long paragraph of description in the rough draft. Get all the possibilities down. Then later, edit it down to the essentials. Sometimes I include nothing at all in the rough draft (hello, white room), then I add half a page in the first revision, then I edit that down to two or three sentences in future rounds of revising. You don’t have to get it right the first time!

It can also help to sprinkle details throughout a scene. While it is good to establish a location early in the scene so the reader can picture it, you don’t have to dump all the description in the first paragraph. Add it as you go, as it matters or becomes relevant.

Remember, and Utilize, the Point of View

Like everything else in the novel, setting descriptions should be filtered through your POV character. What would this particular person notice about this particular place?

For settings that are familiar to the character, think about how many details in your house or neighborhood or school that you don’t even see anymore. Your eyes skim right past, don’t they? Unless something is different or you have a reason to notice, you probably won’t spend much time thinking about the setting if you know it well, and the same goes for your characters. Bare basics work here, or change something so the character is forced to notice with fresh eyes.

For a new setting, try tailoring what the character notices to their specific interests. For example, an artist might see paintings on the walls, a reader might look straight to a bookshelf, or a chef might note the smells coming from the kitchen. You could also tailor it to the character’s physical or emoti0onal situation. Someone who’s exhausted might look for a chair while a spy or a criminal might note all the exits in the room.

The reader’s emotional connection to the main character is essential, and setting can help with this. Make it personal. Focus on feelings or memories or comparison. How does the setting affect them? Does it remind them of anything in their past or bring up old feelings? How does the setting impact the mood of the scene? There’s the obvious example of a funeral happening in the rain, but what if it’s bright and sunny instead and doesn’t seem fitting for the somber mood? How does that make your POV character feel?

A Few Thoughts on Real Worlds Versus Made-Up Places

Some of us write about real-world locations, while some make up new ones. Writing in the real world can be easier in certain ways, especially if it’s a place you know well or can visit. But you do need to be careful to do a good job, or someone familiar with the setting might find mistakes. Real places can also change over time. One solution to this is made-up places inspired by real ones, like a small town that doesn’t really exist but is based on one you know.

There are ways to learn about a place if you want to include a real one (no airplane ticket required!). The internet is your friend: travel blogs, YouTube videos, Yelp reviews, Google Street View, and online photos are a great help. You can also talk to people who have been there.

Who doesn’t love a totally new fantasy or science fiction world, straight from the author’s imagination? For these places, it can help to use a similar place from our world to inspire you and get you started, then build and make your own changes from there. Look into a similar setting like a forest or mountain, or study foreign cities, or read about historical places—anything you can do to make yourself feel like you’re there, so you can transfer that feeling to the reader as well!

One reason I love settings so much is that I love to travel, and visiting new places in a book is certainly cheaper than actually going somewhere! Ensuring your setting is well developed and well described is a powerful tool that will elevate your story and transport your readers to the world you’ve created. And after all, isn’t that one of the reasons we love to read?

What are some memorable books settings that made you feel like you were there (or like you wanted to go there)? Share your favorite places from fiction!

Becky has generously offered to give away a copy of her book Picture Perfect Boyfriend to one Go Teen Writers reader. Enter on the Rafflecopter form below. Here’s the story:

Aspiring nature photographer Kenzie Reed just can’t get her straitlaced family of optometrists to take her art seriously. She’s resigned to putting aside her dreams and accepting the depressing life that awaits her at the family business. She even makes up a fake, boring boyfriend—Jacob—to get her parents off her back. 

But when the Reeds arrive in Hawaii for spring break, Kenzie is shocked that “Jacob” shows up at the airport—and joins their vacation. Kenzie can’t reveal him as a fraud without confessing her lie, so she’s stuck playing along while trying to find out who he really is. 

No way is she going to actually fall for him—because even though he’s funny, nice, smart, and cute, he’s also a liar. Isn’t he?  

Filled with warm summer breezes and salty sea air, Becky Dean’s Picture-Perfect Boyfriend will sweep you off your feet into a tropical paradise, sun on your shoulders—where love is just around a palm tree.