Note: I covered a high school baseball game on Saturday for Sauk Valley Media. Below is a bit on how doing so can translate to writing fiction. A link to my game story is also below.
Saturday’s Sectional Championship baseball game between
Newman and Dakota provided enough dramatics that I didn’t have space to discuss
one of the unique aspects of the host site in Pearl City. The baseball diamond
at Pearl City sits in the corner of the football field, which itself sits in an
earthen bowl.
To meet the required dimensions for postseason play, the
outfield fence extending from left field to center was placed atop the bowl, meaning
the last 10 feet or so of the outfield grass was a steep gradient, almost like
a wall before the fence. Once upon a time, I probably would have added a column
or side story about the challenges of this setting feature. Alas, space and publishing
realties don’t allow for that sort of expansion of coverage at SVM.
If this was a fictional story, it would have been a focus of
the setting with the point being that the story would hinge on this unusual
trait. It’s easy to get caught up when building a fictional world, that we
forget the point. You put characters in a place for a reason, and you give that
place characteristics, and when you marry the two together in the plot, that’s
when there is magic. A huge ice wall in Game of Thrones was unique and
served a purpose, and if the books progress like the TV show, a big point in
the story will be how the bad guys (the White Walkers) overcome the wall. Maybe
a more accessible setting feature is the yellow brick road. That’s a unique
thing about Oz, and following it becomes the driver of the plot.
Anyways, just a thought on settings from my observations
from my latest excursion to my old beat.
Story link:
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