Why, why, why is JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series so popular? What is it about her stories that capture us so, that make us—and roughly 500 million other readers—stand in line for days to get their hands on the latest 800-page offering?
Aside from the depth of characterization, the twisting, detailed plot, the epic good versus evil theme, I think there is one thing that makes Rowling’s books (and other classics, such as Tolkien and C.S. Lewis) riveting and a story we can lose ourselves in for hours or days.
It’s . . . story world.
What do I mean?
It’s that world the reader enters into in the book. EVERY BOOK HAS A STORY WORLD. Whether it’s a fantasy book, a contemporary romance, a historical suspense. Every book must have a backdrop against which the readers engage in the story.
It’s more than time period. It’s more than scenery. How do we create story world that envelopes our readers?
My current Craft book is one I’ve read over and over: Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass. Maass says story world is “capturing not only place but environment, and the people interacting in that environment.”
Environment: It’s not just architecture or period fashion. It’s attitudes and cultural norms of the time. Colloquial speech and the spiritual mood. And not just in a broad sweep but in the finite details, as well.
Along with excellent ideas to creating story world, Maass suggests one in particular that resonated with me: details. “A setting can not live unless it is observed in it pieces and particulars.” In short, it’s in the five senses, the small things, that a person sees a scene.
That’s why, when we walk into a classroom at Hogwarts, Rowling takes the time to list the details of the room, including the obscure (and hilarious) names of the books on the shelves, or the headlines in the current issue of The Daily Prophet. She’s creating story world.
Try it! Find two or three rich details using the five senses to put into your scene today and see if it doesn’t make your scene deeper, your story world more compelling.
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