​The story world deals with the passing of time, as well as a sense of place. There are the passing of the seasons, the wear and tear and age and decay of life. No storyworld is pristine and unmarked. There are births and marriages and death. There is the rubbish that litters the street and the wars that scar the landscape.

And within each of these moments there lies a story. It may not be the story you wish to tell, but all the same, it is there waiting to be told. The photographs on the mantlepiece, the pictures on the walls, the simple things like bowls, knives, forks, plates, bed linen. All these innocent objects were chosen not by you but by the characters who inhabit these worlds, bringing alive the blank canvas of your mind.

​What the character says reveals more than pages of description. She reveals herself through her words; her thoughts, feelings and influence.

When she says “Politicians! They should be cut into pieces and fed to the lions” you know her better than if you had just written ‘She had extreme opinions on politicians.’