tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755502616289652010.post3017043652597311425..comments2024-03-07T04:13:36.330-06:00Comments on The Storyteller's Inkpot: Introducing East-Coast-CherylUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755502616289652010.post-75170530853641928432011-09-03T13:15:47.596-05:002011-09-03T13:15:47.596-05:00What a great dialog going here. Marsha Chall and I...What a great dialog going here. Marsha Chall and I have a running joke about how I am always calling myself a "Daughter of the West." One of these residencies I may show up in a cowboy hat and boots. But I think of that often as I write, having only lived in the West and great North west - Alaska where the inspiration for my first ten books came from. Happy holiday week to all.Claire Rudolf Murphyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11520445613916601377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755502616289652010.post-19617812788362596642011-09-03T10:23:51.564-05:002011-09-03T10:23:51.564-05:00In the scene I wrote this morning, a large iguana ...In the scene I wrote this morning, a large iguana showed up at an outdoor wedding reception. (Or maybe it should be a monitor lizard in the revision... hmmm.) A lot of interesting things can happen in real-life Florida. If you don't believe me, visit Rebecca Stanborough's Facebook page.<br /><br />Happy writing East-Coast-Cheryl!Danettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00267400410101887031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755502616289652010.post-44975310785220747452011-09-02T13:47:53.216-05:002011-09-02T13:47:53.216-05:00I wonder if for others stories come with setting a...I wonder if for others stories come with setting attached. Sometimes that's true for me. When I began The Water Gift and the Pig of the Pig, I knew it would be set on the coast of Maine. <br /><br />Though dowsing can happen in many places, and kids can have pet pigs in any rural setting (or urban maybe), the characters in this story were, from the beginning, Maine characters.Jackie Briggs Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11600355884645018088noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755502616289652010.post-79888258561134964842011-09-02T09:36:53.130-05:002011-09-02T09:36:53.130-05:00I seem to be ready-made setting addicted. Tucson ...I seem to be ready-made setting addicted. Tucson (grad school) for a couple of books, L.A. for sure, and South Pasadena (where I live now) for "S&S" and others. That piece about Jesus I read at the residency is set in my hometown-as-a-child. Probably I just hate to make up stuff when I've got it right off the rack.Ron Koertgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05007470685805649302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755502616289652010.post-25893077571134013072011-09-01T18:42:30.216-05:002011-09-01T18:42:30.216-05:00I think the film maker John Sayles is a brilliant ...I think the film maker John Sayles is a brilliant example of someone whose stories rise out so much from setting that i have often wondered what came first the setting or the characters. As an East Coaster (a mid-Atlantic East Coaster) I feel for Cheryl during her move to New England. I went through similar emotions. It's a foreign land for so many of us and yet, it's kind of addictive for all the reasons you've just listed. It's complicated and confusing. That's kind of compelling. Personally I hate that I have to wear a sweater in August but that's just me.molly b. burnhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03244578003834630167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755502616289652010.post-79825225210499475002011-09-01T16:54:09.442-05:002011-09-01T16:54:09.442-05:00Dear East-Coast-Cheryl,
Welcome to the land of hu...Dear East-Coast-Cheryl,<br /><br />Welcome to the land of hurricanes, accents, and at least two versions of the Real Housewives show! <br /><br />Setting and character must feel interconnected for me--as if the character aspirated from the soil--especially when the setting is in a small, fictional town in a southern state. I know the land, the dialects, the stories, the food, and all of it makes its way into the story. And what I don't know, I extrapolate from what I know [which is way more fun and all part of the fiction high].<br /><br /> If a character lives in another place, like NYC [a YA character resides here], I don't "feel" the place as I write. She might as well have live in any major city with a Fashion Week. Yet, the small town, for me, informs the main character's decisions--it guides him, and shows up on the page far more. But sometimes, by knowing a small town well, I assume everybody else does. So, one of my MANY hair-pulling revision issues is filling in the gaps where the setting is clear in my head but unclear to a reader.<br /><br />Place seeps into our skin and courses through our veins. The more time spent in a place, the clearer it becomes. Then again, I'm slow. What's your experience with this?<br /><br />Great post, Cheryl!Mellisa Dempseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14350597062105039404noreply@blogger.com