Description & Setting: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting a Believable World of People, Places, and Events (Write Great Fiction) [Paperback]

Ron Rozelle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 2005

Build a Believable World

How essential is setting to a story? How much description is too much? In what ways do details and setting tie into plot and character development? How can you use setting and description to add depth to your story?

You can find all the answers you need in Write Great Fiction: Description & Setting by author and instructor Ron Rozelle. This nuts-and-bolts guide - complete with practical exercises at the end of each chapter - gives you all the tips and techniques you need to:

• Establish a realistic sense of time and place
• Use description and setting to drive your story
• Craft effective description and setting for different genres
• Skillfully master showing vs. telling

With dozens of excerpts from some of today's most popular writers, Write Great Fiction: Description & Setting gives you all the information you need to create a sharp and believable world of people, places, events, and actions.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ron Rozelle is the author of three books and teaches creative writing at workshops and universities.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Writer's Digest Books (March 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158297327X
• ISBN-13: 978-1582973272
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.7 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,914 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

79 of 80 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good book June 28, 2008

By Christoph B

Format:Paperback

Like the other "Write Great Fiction" books, this one focuses on the elements listed on the title, description and setting. While the criticisms some others have had are sound, this is by no means a terrible book, and certainly it is not as awful as some would make it out to be. As for the criticism that there is "nothing new" in the book, that's easy. The author makes the assumption (as he should, seeing as how every other good author who has ever written a non-fiction work on any given subject would do the same) that the reader knows nothing, or little about how to write descriptive passages but wants to know more, so having "no new information" is an empty criticism. He isn't writing his book for people who already know the concepts, he is writing for those who don't know but want to learn them. The "nothing is new" criticism is like a math teacher being critical towards a new math book that comes out since it offers "nothing new." Obviously the math teacher already knows the concepts that are covered in the math book.

But I have spent more than enough time on that. This book will teach you how to describe aspects the reader can see, hear, feel, touch and smell, thus bringing them into the story. It will teach you how little description is too little, and how much is too much. It will teach you how to get the reader to paint a mental picture of the world you create in your story. It will teach you how to apply the other aspects of writing fiction, such as plot, dialogue and character development and how they relate to description. It will teach you how to create a single sentence that is chock full of information that the reader needs to know to understand the context of your story. That is what the author intended, that is what he does, and that is why this book is worth the money.

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Budding Author July 26, 2007

By Pheenix

Format:Paperback

After starting the journey of becoming a published author years ago, I've come across many "self-help" books on how to write a novel, and my experience is that 90% of them are a load of rubbish. This one fortunately for you and me, is not.

If you're serious about becoming a writer and you've already begun the journey, then this is one for the collection. I'm not positive that you will come back to it afterwards like Solutions for Writers by Sol Stein or your English Grammar reference book, but it will help you write/tell your story better.

Specifically it gives you examples of how to:
1. Show vs Tell (a common problem with most new authors)
2. Description (description for literature vs description for popular fiction)
3. Characters
4. Timing
5. Grammar (a very brief section that you'll probably already know if you've been writing for some time now)

There is other useful info as well, but these are just a few.

Lastly, unlike most authors in this genre, he does not solely reference his own books. He uses a wide range of writers encompassing literature as well as popular modern fiction.

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An Awesome Resource May 28, 2005

By Janie

Format:Paperback

As a creative writing teacher of an elementary gifted education class, I am always searching for ideas and suggestions that will prove helpful in assisting my students to become good writers. I'm so delighted to have found a book that actually offers clear techniques and specific exercises for my students. The exercises at the end of each chapter have proven to be helpful.

Reading is one of my greatest pleasures and it is truly the rich and colorful description of the setting that invites me into and to become a part of the book. Thank you, Ron, for such an informative resource and a clearer understanding of how to create what I consider to be one of the most important areas of the book, if not the most important. For me, the setting is definitely a "read or not to read decision."