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Settings, Backstory and Descriptions
One of the toughest things for writers to handle well hasto do with telling readers about settings, explaining backstory, andcommunicating personal descriptions. Many times, long passages of narration(exposition) are used to tackle this issue, but narration will actually slowdown your story. I encourage writers, whenever possible, to use dialogue toaccomplish these goals.
Let’s look at two ways of writing the same scene. In oneexample I’ll use exposition to describe the setting.
Sarah gazed aroundthe room. The walls were painted an awful shade of green, and the floors werecovered with chipped, pink linoleum. She pulled out a chair from one of thebroken tables and inspected it carefully. Deciding it was clean enough to risksitting on, she carefully lowered herself onto the cracked plastic. Bringingthe abandoned café back to life would take more work than she was willing to doalone. If the Breadbasket Café ever welcomed customers again, Roger would haveto roll up his sleeves and pitch in. Years ago, the Breadbasket had been themost successful business in the small town of Dunfield. But that was a long,long time ago. Sarah ran a finger down the middle of the dusty wooden table.Maybe this was a lost cause.
Now, let’s do the same thing with dialogue:
                “Wow. I had no idea this place was such amess,” Sarah said, gazing around.                “The Breadbasket closed a longtime ago, Sarah.” Roger frowned at her. “What did you expect?”                She shook her head. “I don’tknow. But not this.”                “The whole place needs to beredone. This awful green paint on the walls reminds me of mold.”                Sarah grinned. “But it looks sogood with the pink floor.”                Roger didn’t smile. “We’d haveto pull all of the linoleum up. Even if the color wasn’t disgusting, it’s badlychipped.”                Sarah pulled out a chair andafter inspecting it, sat down gingerly on the cracked plastic seat. “Look, thisplace used to be the most popular business in town. If we work hard, we canbring it back.”                Roger grunted and sat down onthe other side of the dusty wooden table. “Dunfield has a population of sixhundred people. Most of them farmers who live out of town. I’m afraid you’llnever get enough customers to make all the effort worthwhile.”                She looked at Roger throughnarrowed eyes. “But I want this.”                Roger stared back at her. “Idon’t.”
Through dialogue, we’ve brought two characters into thescene, and almost all the exposition detailing the setting has been replacedwith dialogue. The backstory about the café and the town of Dunfield was alsorevealed through dialogue. I also used Roger, a secondary character, to createconflict for Sarah. We know that Sarah needs Roger’s help, but Roger isn’t inagreement. The second example is much more active and interesting than thefirst. When you need to share setting, descriptions, back story or conflict,use dialogue!
Now, what about describing your characters? Paintingpictures of your characters can be much more interesting if you allow anothercharacter to do it instead of using narrative passages. Here’s an example:
Instead of:
Sarah had dark red hair, green eyes, and a dimple in herchin.
How about:
“I wish I looked like you,” Tonya said as Sarah stood infront of the mirror on her dresser, combing her hair.                 Sarahlaughed. “Don’t be silly. You have gorgeous blond hair and beautiful blue eyes.Why would you want to look like me?”                Tonyafell back on Sarah’s bed and stared up at the ceiling. “You don’t knowanything, do you? Blond hair is so out. Redheads are the rage. And your eyes.Wow. Green eyes and red hair. You’ve got it all.”                Sarahshook her head. “You’re goofy. I suppose you think this stupid hole in my chinlooks good.”                 “Anangel’s kiss.”                Sarahgiggled. “You’re losing it.”                Tonyasmiled dreamily. “My mom told me once that dimples mean you were kissed by anangel.”                Sarahfrowned. “But you don’t have any dimples.”                Tonyasat up and grinned at her friend. “Yes, I do. But you’ll never see them.”

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Two other important things to remember! Whether it’s yoursetting or your characters, don’t dump all your descriptions at once, even whenyou’re using dialogue. Weave these tidbits throughout your story. The onlyexception to this has to do with your lead character and his or her loveinterest. Readers want to get a clear picture of them early so they canconcentrate on their story.
Don’t over describe your characters! Give just enoughinformation so that your reader will be able to create their own images.Engaging a reader’s imagination will cause them to be more invested in yourstory.
Leave a comment to get your name in a drawing for a copy of Unbreakable~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nancy Mehl lives in Wichita, Kansas, with her husbandNorman and her very active puggle, Watson. She’s authored fourteen books and iscurrently at work on a new series for Bethany House Publishing. The first bookin her Road to Kingdom series, “Inescapable,” came out in July of 2012. Thesecond book, “Unbreakable” released in February of 2013.All of Nancy’s novels have an added touch – something foryour spirit as well as your soul. “I welcome the opportunity to share my faiththrough my writing,” Nancy says. “God is number one in my life. I wouldn’t bewriting at all if I didn’t believe that this is what He’s called me to do. Ihope everyone who reads my books will walk away with the most important messageI can give them: God is good, and He loves you more than you can imagine. Hehas a good plan for your life, and there is nothing you can’t overcome with Hishelp.”Readers can learn more about Nancy through her Web site: www.nancymehl.com or her blog www.suspensesisters.blogspot.com.She is also active on Facebook.