Vista Library Is Sending Fiction Writers Back to the Scene |
Lisa M. Lane’s Sept. 12 workshop digs into the research that separates a believable world from some fog and a suspicious butler. |
A castle can have towers.
A street can have cobblestones.
A Victorian detective can own a very serious hat.
None of that guarantees readers will believe the place exists.
The details do the heavy lifting.
On Saturday, Sept. 12, historian and author Lisa M. Lane will lead a Vista Library workshop on using historical and local research to create immersive settings.
The session, “Being There: Creating Immersive Settings Through Research,” runs from 1 to 3 p.m.
It is an adult program, and registration is required.
As of Sept. 9, the library’s live calendar showed 18 spaces remaining.
Apparently, believable fictional worlds still have limited seating.
Scenery Is Cheap. Setting Takes Work.
The library’s event description asks how writers can give readers the feeling that they are traveling to another place and time.
Lane will discuss historical and local research while demonstrating methods for making setting a stronger element of a story.
That is more useful than telling writers to “add detail.”
Which detail?
A rattling window is scenery.
Knowing why the window rattles, who installed it, what passes outside and why the person inside refuses to open it—that begins to build a world.
Research can help writers escape generic castles, interchangeable towns and historical characters who somehow sound like they joined social media last Tuesday.
Meet the Historian Behind the Fiction
Lane identifies herself as a historian and author of historical fiction, literary fiction and nonfiction.
Her books include Before the Time Machine and four Tommy Jones Victorian mysteries:
Murder at the Gasworks, Murder at Old St. Thomas’s, Murder at an Exhibition and Murder on the Pneumatic Railway.
According to its Google Books description, Before the Time Machine follows two connected timelines.
In present-day California, a scholar studies the young H.G. Wells. In 19th-century England, Wells has experiences connected to the writer he will become. The two stories eventually converge.
Lane’s Google Books biography says she spent several decades teaching history. It describes her Victorian mysteries as incorporating authentic details and real historical figures.
That gives Saturday’s workshop a practical hook.
Lane is not merely discussing how writers imagine a place.
She is demonstrating how they can investigate one.
Keep the Mystery in the Manuscript
The workshop will be held at the Vista Library, 700 Eucalyptus Avenue.
The branch lists Wi-Fi, a community room and ADA accessibility among its amenities. Its regular Saturday hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The official event listing does not publish an admission price. It also does not say whether participants should bring a manuscript, laptop or notebook.
Anyone who needs those details can contact the library at 760-643-5100.
Mystery belongs in the story.
Not in the parking lot five minutes before class.
Questions You May Have About the Fiction Workshop:
When is Lisa M. Lane’s workshop?
Where is it?
What will the workshop cover?
Is registration required?
Is the workshop advertised as free? |
3 Comments
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Wish they’d say if it’s free or not. The library is usually good about that, but I’d like to know before signing up.
I’ve read Murder at Old St. Thomas's and you can tell Lane knows her stuff. Glad she’s sharing her methods. Hope there’s time for Q&A.
Appreciate that they mention local research. It's the small things from real places that make a story stick for me.