{"id":27,"date":"2020-10-26T03:43:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-26T09:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thecornerlotauthors.com\/GailLowe\/?p=27"},"modified":"2021-02-12T12:35:20","modified_gmt":"2021-02-12T19:35:20","slug":"the-magic-of-setting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecornerlotauthors.com\/GailLowe\/the-magic-of-setting\/","title":{"rendered":"The Magic of Setting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Gail Lowe<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have entered that time of year in which I become a set designer.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Thanksgiving gets me going.  The front step pumpkin patch grows with each trip to the store.  Scarecrows wave from piles of leaves in the sleepy flower garden.  Fall garland and orange twinkle lights twine the railings, offering a welcoming vibe to the changing season.  Halloween follows and I ramp up my efforts.  There is so much you can do with the darkness.  It\u2019s perfect for playing with the light.  My candles come out in full force, bolstered by strings of purple lights now entwined with the orange.  Pumpkins have been carved into wide-mouthed demons letting our little neighborhood monsters know that candy awaits if they brave the walk to the door. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Create the right setting and you can transport yourself and those travelling with you into a world that\u2019s\u2026well\u2026not ordinary.  Dinner is more fun with spider encased webs and crime scene tape covering the railings behind you.  Blue corn nachos become bat wings with gore.  Black cats perched on the shelf, witches and monsters watching you from the corners and insidiously large bugs just waiting to be discovered \u2013 why would you live any other way in the shadow of Halloween.  Movies are scarier, the dark seems more dangerous, and you may come face-to-face with a vampire on the way to the bathroom.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cross my threshold and you\u2019ll immediately pick up a flavor of where you are and what kind of world you have entered.  Which begs the question:  Have I done the same with my writing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Setting is a form of magic that translates well into story telling.  I remind myself of this as I put my characters through their paces.  What I see in my mind needs to be reflected on the page.  How rich in detail is the setting I have created so far?  Can I taste it, smell it, see it, hear it, feel it?  Have I devoted as much time and effort to creating my fictional world as I have decorating my home?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know what I want people to feel when they cross my threshold, whether in this setting or the one I create word by word.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Setting is my imagination made visible.  The world inside of me being shared with all the other dreamers, and more importantly, the non-dreamers. The ones who don\u2019t yet know how to visualize magic.  When I see them stop to look, to be present in the moment, a light goes on inside of them.  And for me, nothing beats that kind of satisfaction.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have entered that time of year in which I become a set designer. – Gail Lowe<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[6,12,7,4],"class_list":["post-27","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing","tag-gail-lowe","tag-setting","tag-the-corner-lot-authors","tag-writing","post-preview"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":25,"url":"https:\/\/thecornerlotauthors.com\/GailLowe\/writing-contest\/","url_meta":{"origin":27,"position":0},"title":"Writing Contest","author":"Gail Lowe","date":"August 4, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by\u00a0Gail Lowe I hope July treated you well.\u00a0 For me, it was a month of firsts.\u00a0 I entered my first short-story contest.\u00a0 Then I got my first rejection notice. The experience was a wild combination of excitement and disappointment that taught me a few things about my writerly self. Not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/thecornerlotauthors.com\/GailLowe\/category\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecornerlotauthors.com\/GailLowe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Gail_August2020.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":29,"url":"https:\/\/thecornerlotauthors.com\/GailLowe\/the-thing-about-stars\/","url_meta":{"origin":27,"position":1},"title":"The Thing About Stars","author":"Gail Lowe","date":"December 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The Winter Solstice, or Yule, will soon be upon us. December 21st will be a night of fire pushing back the cold. Flames dancing up from the fire pit to cast shadows over sleeping trees and snow-covered grass. Gravity-defying sparks breaking free from flame in a doomed attempt to join\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/thecornerlotauthors.com\/GailLowe\/category\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecornerlotauthors.com\/GailLowe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Gail_Dec2020.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecornerlotauthors.com\/GailLowe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Gail_Dec2020.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecornerlotauthors.com\/GailLowe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Gail_Dec2020.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecornerlotauthors.com\/GailLowe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Gail_Dec2020.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":21,"url":"https:\/\/thecornerlotauthors.com\/GailLowe\/writing-can-be-murder\/","url_meta":{"origin":27,"position":2},"title":"Writing Can Be Murder","author":"Gail Lowe","date":"April 27, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Gail Lowe \u201cHow to Commit the Perfect Murder was an old game in heaven. I always chose the icicle: the weapon melts away.\u201d\u2013 \u00a0Alice Sebold,\u00a0The Lovely Bones I\u2019m figuring out how to commit murder.\u00a0 The method and weapon still elude me although I have decided on the location and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/thecornerlotauthors.com\/GailLowe\/category\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"photo of a black bird","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecornerlotauthors.com\/GailLowe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/pexels-photo-3927600.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecornerlotauthors.com\/GailLowe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/pexels-photo-3927600.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecornerlotauthors.com\/GailLowe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/pexels-photo-3927600.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecornerlotauthors.com\/GailLowe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/pexels-photo-3927600.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecornerlotauthors.com\/GailLowe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/pexels-photo-3927600.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecornerlotauthors.com\/GailLowe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/pexels-photo-3927600.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":31,"url":"https:\/\/thecornerlotauthors.com\/GailLowe\/portals-in-your-home-and-how-to-use-them-properly\/","url_meta":{"origin":27,"position":3},"title":"Portals in Your Home, and How to Use Them Properly","author":"Gail Lowe","date":"January 25, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Dimensional travel has fascinated me ever since I watched the movie What the Bleep Do We Know. I was hooked by all the possible science scenarios I could use in my writing, especially the idea of travelling by portal. - Gail Lowe","rel":"","context":"In "Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/thecornerlotauthors.com\/GailLowe\/category\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecornerlotauthors.com\/GailLowe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Gail_Jan2020A.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecornerlotauthors.com\/GailLowe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Gail_Jan2020A.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecornerlotauthors.com\/GailLowe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Gail_Jan2020A.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":119,"url":"https:\/\/thecornerlotauthors.com\/GailLowe\/tame-the-dragon\/","url_meta":{"origin":27,"position":4},"title":"Tame The Dragon","author":"Gail Lowe","date":"May 24, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I am in the process of taming my dragon. I write while it\u2019s sleeping or preoccupied with some other dragon-worthy pursuit. But eventually, it pins its fiery gaze on my work and burns words to ash. Rubbish, it snorts, slinking back into its cave, leaving me to wonder why I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Inspiration"","block_context":{"text":"Inspiration","link":"https:\/\/thecornerlotauthors.com\/GailLowe\/category\/inspiration\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecornerlotauthors.com\/GailLowe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Blog_Gail_Dragon2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23,"url":"https:\/\/thecornerlotauthors.com\/GailLowe\/it-starts-with-an-idea\/","url_meta":{"origin":27,"position":5},"title":"It Starts with an Idea","author":"Gail Lowe","date":"June 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Gail Lowe Sometimes it drops into your mind complete with ribbon and bow. Sometimes you get a picture, a few words, and your mind has to chase the story down one sentence at a time. It doesn\u2019t matter how it arrives. It\u2019s what you do with it. 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