Environment can be more than just a setting for your characters. It can trigger emotional and physical responses and influence your characters. Ultimately this can add conflict and drive your story.
Environmental Trigger
Each environment we interact with changes our behavior. It’s much like that cartoon showing Goofy as a pedestrian, carefree and happy. But the moment he gets behind the wheel of a car, he turns vicious and impatient.
Each of us has a behavioral persona that we adopt in different situations. Your characters are no different. They will adopt and put on different personas, depending on where they are at and who they are talking to.
Irritate Your Characters
Make the environment the devil that constantly tempts and torments your characters. Are your characters too comfortable in the setting? Changing one factor can turn a setting from ideal to a disaster.
Maybe the room is too warm. Not life-threateningly hot. Just warm. This can be incredibly frustrating. Sweat rolls down your forehead. Gets in your eyes. This takes a mundane situation and amps it up to frustration level.
Or maybe the ambient temperature is just a little bit too cold. Just enough to make your character uncomfortable. They will shiver and their movements will be hampered. I experienced all the time when I forget to bring a light jacket, and then my entire demeanor is shifted by a cold snap of wind.
What Vibe Are You Sending Out?
Think about the difference of when characters are in a comfortable environment, like their home, versus a competitive environment at a workplace. The competitive setting will put them more on edge. Consider where to set a scene and the emotional effect that this will have on the character.
Environment can also change with the people around you. If you have an aggressive or pessimistic person in the room, this would drain your character’s vitality and make it harder for them to think clearly. It might also make them snappy and defensive when they don’t really want to be.
The same person who can leisurely make breakfast at home and get in the car, ready to head to work, is not the same person who has to walk into an important meeting at work. At home, this person is in charge and their environment supports their needs. In the other situation, this person must be deferential to hire authorities and will fine-tune their behavior to match the situation.
Throw Legos on the Floor
We want to throw obstacles in our character’s path. Make it hard for them to get through the scene. Instead of a clean floor, why not throw some Legos down there and make it harder for them to step.
Think about how a casino or even an online realtor site is designed. People have spent hours crafting these environments to trigger us to spend money. We as authors can create similar environments to trigger our characters.
Tim Kane
