Thursday, August 12, 2010

Settings

the view



I’m in the midst of my summer reading phase. This is something I look forward to all year and it has become a ritual out of necessity because I can’t write during the summer. Not that I can’t write physically but time wise. The kids are home and their friends come in droves. My friends come and the house is a hive of activity, brimming with dirty clothes, and  crowned by endless glorious summer evening meals that last forever... so not really ideal writing time. I look on it as resting time – hah, no really. I read, I watch people and I listen.

But yesterday I was thinking about setting…because I was in one of the most evocative places on earth – Frenchman’s Creek. Just the name produces images even if you have never been there or read the du Maurier book.

On a high bank at the mouth of creek a few Monterey pines stand guard bowing slightly toward the water from their towering height. Tucked in the trees is small wooden clapboard cottage which basks in the setting sun’s light. An old wreck peeks from below the green surface of the creek while the twisted oaks bend beyond the banks touching the high tide as a curlew cries in the distance….you get the picture.

So the setting screams romance, oozes history, magic and mystery. There are tales to be told. It’s almost tangible. Yet the reality of yesterday was more out of a sitcom. Biddy and I encased in wet suits had battled against the out going tide with a brisk wind blowing from the north west straight down the Helford River out to Falmouth Bay. No matter what we did the elements strived to keep us from entering the hallowed waterway. With the wind straight in our faces, it was a herculean effort to keep the kayak pointing straight. Each stroke sent us almost back on ourselves. When we finally reached the entrance, we were forced into the circles and couldn’t seem to cross the mystical barrier.

Of course being fierce determined romantic novelists with a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc to drink on Frenchman’s Creek we were not going to be barred. We fought on until Biddy paddled me straight into a waiting holly lining the bank. That was not enough – no next was a gorse. By the time we navigated under the cover of the majestic oak bowing over the river and tied onto a branch - frankly we were knackered and more than thirsty...but then the next challenge was upon us…opening the wine without overturning the kayak into the rather chilly water filled with circling grey mullet.

However we were rewarded with the sun breaking through lighting our little cave in the arms of the oak. The evening light turned the water from opaque green to glistening blue…peace had descended, the wine was cold and almost sweet to our salty lips…the romantic setting had arrived until some prat in a powerboat ignoring the 6 knot speed restriction came past at full throttle with wake that threatened to capsize us in nanosecond.

So all of this made me think - are certain places automatically romantic or frightening or …and if so what makes them that way? Yesterday Frenchman’s Creek wasn’t romantic – it was beautiful but in truth it was almost slapstick – two women absolutely shattered in wet neoprene trying to stay afloat in a lime green plastic banana drinking white wine. Yet in looking at my description above, I have described it in almost poetic terms.

So as writers do we pick setting to help the purpose of the scene? The gothic feel of a windswept moorland, the frenetic pace of a NYC street…then I asked myself how did we come to make these associations in the first place and would it be more effective to play against the setting rather than with it. Where do we get these feeling and associations – are they from literature and films or is it just our instinctive reactions to the environment? What do you think? How do you use settings? Will Frenchmen’s Creek be the location for the ultimate declaration of love or will it be more akin to my mother’s reaction of horror at the murky water filled with large grey fish and decaying tree branches? Or a comic scene of passion overturned in the frigid waters…..

A Challenge ...write a scene set in Frenchman's Creek and post the results on your blog and leave a link in the comments...

Please come back on Sunday when Biddy will be posting....

Biddy

30 comments:

  1. Sounds like a wonderful outing and I love the photos! You're right, setting is incredibly important and we all use it differently and have our own take on a place. To me, Frenchman's Creek would have to be romantic no matter what, and not just because of du Maurier. I search out the romance in most settings and everything else kind of fades into the background. I've always been fascinated by history so I guess I automatically look for that angle. Would be fun to get a group of authors to write a scene set in Frenchman's Creek and see the varying results!

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  2. Ahhhh the romance of Frenchman's Creek... ruined forever by the raucous laughter of two writers. And now I have been immortalised in neoprene!

    I think Christina's idea of a group of authors writing a scene set in Frenchman's Creek is excellent. Any takers?

    I think playing against the setting is always an intriguing thing. But then I could see not just the romance of the setting but how, in a different season, the gothic horror could take over.

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  3. Christine love the idea - maybe we should add the challenge and everyone post the result on their blogs, leave a link in the comments and we could all go and have a look!

    Biddy - our evening will remain one of the funniest in my life...

    lx

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  4. OMG, Liz - you've cut straight to the heart of my writer's soul! I'm incurably influenced by my environment, whatever I'm doing, and settings are very important to me (more crucially, important to my characters!) in writing a book.

    I think Christina's idea is great - I'm definitely up for it.

    And I've suddenly realised that I need to come up with a list of romantic or literary or historical places I want to go for a swim in. Not just for the swim itself, but for immersing myself - literally - in that sense of place.

    I am DEEPLY envious of your Frenchman's Creek trip - even with its diverse alarums and comedy! Fantastic!

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  5. Anna - knowing how you write your scenes i can't wait to read your Frenchman's one...and of course i await your visit here so you can swim there - my kids love it but it's not for me.
    lx

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  6. I'd love to come - maybe someday.... *happy daydreams*

    As for the Frenchman's scene....I'm looking forward to writing it already! Too much fun...

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  7. I can only imagine what your experience might have been had you two chosen to read "Jamaica Inn" instead of "Frenchman's Creek" for inspiration -- Bodmin Moor at nightfall, I shudder to think!

    But you're right, some settings seem to be intrinsically romantic. Wild moors, walled gardens, cloisters, cities like Venice.. I'm not sure why that is, but it does seem to be something we all share on a subconscious level.

    And I agree with Biddy that playing a scene *against* the setting can sometimes be interesting -- I've done it myself, in Sophia's Secret, when a moment of intense grief is played against a day of perfect sunshine on a windswept beach.

    But more often, I tend to use setting to create the mood, I think.

    And I'll wager your kayak trip up Frenchman's Creek will turn up as a hilarious episode in a future novel..

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  8. Anna - I have been mulling a scene over in my head so maybe tomorrow I can write...

    Susanna - yes Biddy and on Bodmin would be a worrying thing indeed :-)
    lx

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  9. 'Biddy on Bodmin' - it sounds... well a bit rude ;-)

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  10. On a more mundane note, having just devoured a box of chocs, I'm filled with envy for the calories you and Biddy must have lost in your Herculean effort to get into the Creek.

    Liz X

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  11. I had serious, sinful fun with this! Not at all what I EXPECTED to write for that setting....

    http://annalouiselucia.com/blog/

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  12. Making note to myself to never go wild swimming with Anna again. Great scene! I am going to have a go at one today.

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  13. I promise not to inflict that on you, Biddy! *g* Thank you - I had a lot of fun with it.

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  14. OK I have taken up the challenge!! http://biddycoady.blogspot.com/2010/08/frenchmans-creek.html

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  15. I LOVE it, Biddy! Absolutely LOVE it! *wiggle* Way, way too much fun, this. What a lot of inspiration from Liz's great post, both your adventure's and Christina's brilliant idea!

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  16. Ah - Liz the calories we lost we made up for in cashews and wine....

    Off to read Anna's and Biddy's scenes.....
    lx

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  17. Bl**dy hell - both stunning and amazingly different...Anna - I longed to know more and Biddy I was engrossed and deeply satisfied....

    Now feel guilty that I haven't written mine - Christina where is yours...Liz H are you game?

    lx

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  18. Beautiful post - and pictures - Liz.

    Even if I hadn't already read Daphne du Maurier's Frenchman's Creek, it is such a wonderfully evocative name, isn't it? I agree with Biddy, I think it's sometimes fun to play against setting and what you expect from it.

    Biddy's story was wonderful and gave me goosebumps. I could feel the branch on my cheek. *shivers*

    Anna's story was remarkable and I'm with Liz. I WANT TO KNOW MORE of their story!

    Such a fabulous idea to write your own pieces inspired by the setting or the dual prompts of Liz's description and pictures. Brilliant - and love the blog, ladies!

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  19. Thanks Kath....we await your offering. Let us know when you write it.

    lx

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  20. Okay, better late than never, right? Here's my take on it at http://christinacourtenay.com/?page_id=278

    Sorry to be so slow!

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  21. Oooo I like! Well worth the wait ;-)

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  22. Thanks, Biddy, but yours and Anna's were way better :) I definitely want to go there myself now though - you've all made me yearn for Cornwall!

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  23. Thank you Kath!

    And thanks, Liz!

    Christina, I LOVE that! I was going, "good man!" through it...

    I'm so.... IMPRESSED with us all, LOL!

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  24. OK so now we just have to get Julie and Susanna to take part ;-)

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  25. Hi everybody. I really enjoyed this section on settings. Biddy, Anna, and Christina your scenes were wonderful and inspiring. I hope you don't mind that I've taken up your challenge. You'll find it here: http://sofie-elusivemuse.blogspot.com

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  26. Wow, Sofie, that's brilliant! Great stuff!

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  27. Christina - i loved it and loved the the 'Frenchman' :-) might just have alook for him on my next walk!!!

    Sofie - a beautiful piece - loved the way you painted the scenery with words..

    I'm still struggling to find time to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard at the moment but will - promise

    lx

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  28. Lovely photo. Good luck to the Heroines!

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  29. Christina, Liz and Brigid - thanks for your kind words. I think I was a bit heavy on the description and a bit light on the romance, but it was written as an outtake from an imaginary novel. Thay's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. ;)

    I'm hoping to be able to read scenes by Julie, Liz and Susanna soon. Pretty please?

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