More Than Just a Room

Welcome to Worldbuilding Wednesday! As you might have seen on social media today, we’re introducing the heart of The Night Chronicles: a place called 'My Bar'. When we think of worldbuilding, we often think of maps, magic systems, or sprawling kingdoms. But sometimes, the most important piece of worldbuilding you can do is to make a single, confined setting feel like a living, breathing character.

'My Bar' isn't just a backdrop for the story; it is the story in many ways. It was born from a shared dream between Liz's parents, Margaret and Jack Mitchel. It was supposed to be a "neighborhood haven," a place of easy laughter¹⁴. After Margaret’s disappearance, however, its character changes. It becomes a "monument to a fractured family", a place saturated with secrets and permeated by an ache of absence that no amount of Saturday night bustle can fill.

So, how do you make a setting feel like a character?

1. Give it a History: The bar has scars. The wood is scarred, the vinyl on the booths is worn, and the floral wallpaper is faded. These aren't just descriptions; they are signs of life and the passage of time. The walls are covered in photos of past patrons, the "ghosts on the wall" who represent the community that existed before the tragedy. This history gives the place weight and memory.

2. Give it a Sensory Profile: A character has a voice, a scent. 'My Bar' has one too. It’s a layered scent of "stale beer from last night, the sharper tang of lemon-scented cleaning spray, and the underlying promise of onions soon to hit the deep fryer"¹⁹. This sensory detail grounds the reader and makes the place feel real and tangible.

3. Show How it Reflects the Protagonist: For the regulars, the bar is a refuge. For Liz, it’s different. It’s "saturated with secrets" and the "suffocating weight of unanswered questions". The setting’s meaning changes depending on whose eyes we are seeing it through. It is both a sanctuary and a prison, a duality that reflects Liz's own trapped existence.

   
   

When your setting has its own history, dreams, and wounds, it stops being a stage and becomes an active participant in your narrative. Take a look at your own work-in-progress. Is your primary setting just a place where things happen, or is it a character with a story of its own?

Thanks for joining me on Worldbuilding Wednesday,

June Skye