Places & Concepts in Our Stories
In my stories, I mention places, names, and concepts without always explaining them; I am driven by the belief that all places are equal, and that in them, life as it's known anywhere does happen. And if it's not familiar to some readers, it is still life in that story. I feel no obligation, therefore, to explain that Mazvihwa is a place near Zvishavane, which is a town in the Midlands of Zimbabwe. I will let a story about a Jakove, a Mukomberi, or a Sithole unfold, and expect the right reader to enjoy the story, or at least experience what Jakove experiences.
But, in several workshop environments in the United States, there have been some cases of readers failing to make sense of a story because it has a name like Chimanimani in the first sentence, or lately, "Why didn't we know in the first sentence that SRB means Strong Rural Background?" etc... oh, then I sometimes will give characters names like Mai Vanji, Mukoma Chakuti: "What's that?" Of course, most serious readers often understand that a writers need not give a glossary of Murehwa just as they don't have to define Conney Island; it's a setting,therefore it is....
What does all this mean? Imagine the person who is put off by a name of a setting or a person being an editor or an agent, or a reader for a potential publisher of your book? I feel that readers can do better than this....
In the meantime, let your stories shape themselves in the most natural way possible, unbidden by the unfamiliarity of some readers to the places, concepts, names in them. One day, such stories will find their readers, and that day can come sooner than you think.....
But, in several workshop environments in the United States, there have been some cases of readers failing to make sense of a story because it has a name like Chimanimani in the first sentence, or lately, "Why didn't we know in the first sentence that SRB means Strong Rural Background?" etc... oh, then I sometimes will give characters names like Mai Vanji, Mukoma Chakuti: "What's that?" Of course, most serious readers often understand that a writers need not give a glossary of Murehwa just as they don't have to define Conney Island; it's a setting,therefore it is....
What does all this mean? Imagine the person who is put off by a name of a setting or a person being an editor or an agent, or a reader for a potential publisher of your book? I feel that readers can do better than this....
In the meantime, let your stories shape themselves in the most natural way possible, unbidden by the unfamiliarity of some readers to the places, concepts, names in them. One day, such stories will find their readers, and that day can come sooner than you think.....
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