187. Decode The Obsidian Tower's Setting

“By setting in this case, we are getting the scope of the world. We are learning the rules of magic in this story.” — Beth Barany

In this How To Write the Future podcast episode, titled “Decode The Obsidian Tower's Setting,” host Beth Barany analyzes The Obsidian Tower by Melissa Caruso, showing you exactly how she works as a developmental editor and coach. You'll discover how character voice hooks readers, how setting creates intrigue, and how to ground your story in your character's perspective. Plus, Beth throws down a challenge for you to try.

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Transcript

187. Decode The Obsidian Tower's Setting

BETH BARANY: Hello. Beth Barany here with How to Write The Future Podcast. One of the biggest challenges I see in my writers that I work with as a developmental editor and coach is, setting is missing. I don't know where I am. I don't know when I am.

And so I thought today I would do a short analysis of the first few paragraphs of The Obsidian Tower in the Rooks and Ruin series. So this is Book one in her series. And Melissa Caruso is the author. 

So I am just gonna read a sentence and then talk about a sentence, read a few sentences and talk about it for a few minutes, and let us analyze this because I think how she sets up her story at the very beginning is brilliant. I'm just gonna say it. It's brilliant. It hooked me as a reader and little caveat, I read widely.

I read romantasy, I read mysteries, Contemporary and Paranormal. I read Urban Fantasy. I read lots of nonfiction, and I write science fiction mysteries as well as young adult adventure fantasy, as well as paranormal romantic suspense epic adventure, and who knows what else I'll be writing. And I write novels, and I write scripts now too. I feel like I'm still a beginner with scripts, I've written a handful and revised one a dozen times. Story writing is story writing. 

I was just telling one of my friends recently, who's also a writer, I'm like, whatever form you write in, you are a storyteller, so let's embrace that, whether she's doing vertical storytelling. Really interesting. Anyway, sidebar. 

Okay, let me come back to The Obsidian Tower by Melissa Caruso in her Rooks and Ruin series. Book one. All right. 

[01:49] Line by Line Analysis

Here's the first sentence.

There are two kinds of magic.

I'm hooked. I love stories about magic. Why else pick up any kind of romantasy or fantasy romance. I'm hooked. And that invites us, every sentence invites us to the next sentence. That's a good book. 

So here we are: There are two kinds of magic.

And I want to know as a reader, Ooh. What are those two kinds of magic in this story world? 

And here we go:

There's the kind that lifts you up and fills you with wonder, saving you when all is lost or opening doors to new worlds of possibility. And there is the kind that wrecks you, that shatters you, bitter in your mouth and jagged in your hand, breaking everything you touch. Mine was the second kind.

I was just blown away by this opening because we learned about the stakes of the story. When we know things about wonder and all is lost, new worlds of possibility, and then we get this intensity of "wrecks you, shatters you, bitter in your mouth."

Oh my God. How visceral is that? 

" Jagged in your hand." 

It is so real. Nothing fru fru about this. No long words. We know we're in a fantasy world because we're talking about magic, but her language is so grounded.

 And this too:

" breaking everything you touch."

She's using second person. She's saying "you," but she's really talking about herself and then we find out that is true. 

" Mine was the second kind." 

Right away, I feel like I am in the psyche of the point of view character. I'm in a psyche that is very physical. And I have both awe, I'm filled with wonder because this is a wide scope from wonder to breaking everything you touch. And I don't know which way we're gonna go until this third paragraph. 

" Mine was the second kind." 

Right away, I feel bonded to her because, I know it's a her because I read the the description, and actually, we don't know. We can't actually tell who is our main character, male, female. We don't know. We don't even know if the person is, if the main character is, is human, but here we get a hint. 

" My father's magic could revive blighted fields, turning them lush and green again, and coax apples from barren boughs in the dead of winter. Grass withered beneath my footsteps. My cousins kept the flocks in their villages healthy and strong, and turned the wolves away to hunt elsewhere. I couldn't enter the stable of my own castle without bringing mortal danger to the horses."

When I read this the first time, I was a little bit blown away in that I didn't know what to think. Here was someone whose family was magical and brought life " lush and green" "coax apples from the barren boughs in the dead of winter."

And then we have her contrast: 

" Grass withered beneath my steps."

She's very matter-of-fact in her language.

[05:06] Character Voice

One thing I don't like as a reader is to read a story about someone who is saying, oh, poor me, poor me. But the voice in here is not a poor me voice. It is a factual voice. That also pulls me forward.

[05:20] Contrast

And then we have another contrast about the cousins who keep " the flocks healthy and strong," whereas she brings " mortal danger to the horses."

So I'm gonna stop here because I just wanted to give you a little bit of setting.

[05:35] Elements of Setting

By setting in this case, we are getting the scope of the world. We are learning the rules of magic in this story.

[05:43] Your Story's Magic or Tech Rules

So let's take it to your story now. If you're writing fantasy or science fiction, in fantasy, you need to establish the rules of the world, the magical rules. 

In science fiction, you need to establish the scope of the technology. What is running the technology? We can share that with our readers with guiding principles.

So I challenge you to think about writing in 1, 2, 3, 4 paragraphs, a little scope of your world.

[06:15] Copying

Now, I haven't really tried this overtly, but there is something called copying. A whole way of learning how to write is you just literally write down exactly what you see in this sentence. You know, "there are two kinds of magic."

[06:30] Challenge

But what I would challenge you to do, and this is something I have done from the start, is instead, instead of saying there are two kinds of magic, write it as it is true for your world. Maybe there's 10 kinds of magic. 

If I were writing a science fiction opening that was similar to this, I would say something like, I'm thinking of one of the settings in one of my current stories I'm working on, I would say something like:

The Sun powered everything on this space station.

And then to copy, uh, the second paragraph: 

What is the spectrum in your world?

What would happen in my story world if I talked about the space station, about the good things and the bad things of how the sun does that?

[07:10] Ground the story in your character's perspective

And then to make a story interesting, you really want to ground it in your point of view character.

So I'm actually curious. I'm gonna see if I can use this for what I'm working on right now.

And then how do you make it personal to your point of view character? 

And then in the fourth paragraph, she contrasts. She writes a sentence about her father's magic, and then she contrasts it with what happens in her case.

And also she has a long sentence and then a short sentence. And then we learn about the cousins, and then we have this sentence:

" I couldn't enter the stables of my own castle without bringing mortal danger to the horses."

That just stabs me right in the heart and makes me wonder, Well, why are we reading a story about someone who has that level of magic?

And that's an unspoken question pulling me forward.

All right, I'm gonna stop here for this week. 

[08:02] Experiment

Please experiment with stating the rules of your world, the range of it, and making it very visceral, tangible, uh, bringing in taste, bringing in touch, for example. And give us a little contrast, your main character with others. Enjoy. 

That's it for this week, everyone. 

Write long and prosper.