I was recently invited to contribute a piece to the Scottish Book Trust’s ‘Five Things’ blog. The Scottish Book Trust is a fabulous organisation that promotes reading and writing as having the power to change lives—and that’s my kind of ‘mission statement’!
My piece is on creating a sense of place in fiction, and you can read it here.
looking up/looking down 
Bravo on a wonderful article, Amanda. Much to take away and dwell on. The sensory power of place in Elemental is something I love about the novel.
Thanks, Robyn. That means a lot, coming from you.
Lovely piece, Amanda. And I agree with Robyn: the sense of place(s) was so vivid in Elemental, you were the perfect author for this topic.
Thanks, Angela—much appreciated 🙂
Many thanks for these invaluable tips on how to create a sense of place, Amanda. And while your sense of place in —Elemental—l was magnificent, l I thought your sense of place in the short story – Dove – from your anthology of short stories—Inherited —was damn spooky. I’d never been to Bali, but after I read — Dove — I felt safe in saying that yes, I’ve been to Bali courtesy of Amanda Curtin. Did you go to Bali to research that particular short story? I love it, and think it’s one of the best short stories I’ve ever read.
That’s lovely to hear, Marlish—thank you so much. Dove was drawn from impressions of Bali from many years before.
‘Elemental’ is a brilliant example of how to evoke a sense of place. I’ve only briefly visited the north coast of Scotland—twenty-five years’ ago—but your descriptions in the novel took me right there. They also took me to the historical time period, through the dialogue and dialect. ‘Elemental’ used all of the techniques you discuss, and it made it very easy for the reader to immerse themselves in the story. In fact, you did it so brilliantly, I think ‘Elemental’ could be used to teach how to do it. (I’m serious!)
That’s very generous of you, Louise. Thank you 🙂