Let’s set the scene. A detective sits in a chair staring at the weeping widow. Tears tumble down her cheek and have turned the corner of her eyes red. But that is not the detective’s biggest concern. It is in fact the giant painting of the castle that catches his eye. The widow’s soft sobs become background noise to him as he turns to look at the painting. After handing the woman a handkerchief, he walks to the painting, his eyes fixed on the illuminated turret.
Now there’s nothing wrong with the language or the sentence structure or even the detective, the widow or the painting. So what is the problem? The setting. More importantly, the lack of proper description that helps the reader keep track of the actions taking place. The reader does not know where the detective and the widow are seated, what the room looks like or where the painting is. This creates a disconnect between the reader and the mystery the author wants to create. Thus, ending up with the White Room Syndrome.
What Is The White Room Syndrome?
This White Room Syndrome, as the author of this blog likes to call it, is a common phenomenon wherein a writer while describing characters and their interactions, fails to describe the setting, or rather establish the objects in the room and how the characters are placed around it.
The best way to understand this is by simply assuming that the characters are in an empty white room and they move in it with objects (vase, piano, frying pans, etc.) coming in and out of existence. This happens because the author does not describe where the objects are or even where the characters are walking, standing, sitting or any other movement. So, the reader is left going back and forth between pages to get some semblance of what is happening in the novel. In other words, the characters are performing actions but there are not enough details about the setting for the reader to know where certain objects are or where the characters are moving around.
How To Avoid It?
In any genre fiction, from sci-fi to fantasy to romance to murder mystery, establishing your setting is one of the essentials to ensure that the writer can get across the atmosphere they are trying to establish. Not just small details, but rather specific descriptions of the setting helps in creating a more nuanced and layered story for the reader to be immersed into. So how does an author avoid the doomed White Room Syndrome? There are certain things authors can do to ensure while writing or chalking up a scene to ensure that the setting doesn’t come as an after thought.
Firstly, make a rough outline of where the scene takes place, who are the characters present and what is going to happen in the particular scene. When you have that in place, decide whether you want to establish the setting in the beginning of the scene or disperse the details while the characters are interacting.
Let’s take the first idea. When we say establish the setting in the beginning, the author will describe the room, any specific objects, characters and the overall atmosphere of the room. This helps in building a sense of intrigue and establishes the tone of the book. More importantly, it tells the reader what to expect from the story and the characters. In a murder mystery, the eerieness and unease of a murder about to take place or a character finding a dead body is palpable and needs to create a sense of shock and intrigue in the reader.
As for dispersing the setting while the characters interact, although it might be a little tricky to ensure what to mention first. Usually, the before or after the dialogues is when the author describes the setting. For example, ‘Did you buy this painting?’ the detective asked, as he stood up from the armchair in front of the sofa where the woman sat. Slowly he made his way towards the painting hung behind the sofa. The detective’s footsteps echoed on the Persian carpet followed by the muffled cries of the woman.
While it may seem like a challenge to get the setting right, a little practice and clarity in what you want the reader to take from the scene helps in making the story more interesting and layered. In fact, authors use the setting as a leverage to add red herrings, symbolism, clues and subtext that makes the novel more nuanced.
Check out The Bombay Circle Press’ wide selection of novels and novellas to get a better understanding of how setting is an important factor in writing a book.