Environmental storytelling is an aspect of descriptive writing that often gets overlooked by many writers. Done well, it can be the secret weapon that lifts your descriptive writing to the next level for a reader. It’s a technique that builds greater immersion and engagement with your story. And let’s face it, we all like five-star reviews.

What is environmental storytelling?

Not to be confused with eco-fiction, which is a genre focused on environmental themes, environmental storytelling is a method of adding depth to your story through the environment which the characters inhabit or explore. It’s commonly used in visual arts and video games, which rely on telling stories with rich visuals rather than exposition and plot development.

To put it another way, environmental storytelling shapes and defines the world in your story. It establishes why the world is the way it is. It’s a more detailed version of world-building and will help you to write more compelling descriptions.

Ask yourself how many times have you read a scene that takes place in an empty room? If your wizard is called before the council of wizards in the ancient tower of wizardry, you’d expect there to be more than a table and chairs occupying the main audience chamber. I have read a very successful epic fantasy novel where this was the scene described. As a reader, I felt cheated.

J.R.R. Tolkien is an excellent example of a writer who considers environmental storytelling in great detail. In The Lord of The Rings, every place visited by the characters has been shaped by events spanning thousands of years. Every environment has a reason for being and, in many cases, it drives the plot. Consider the Mines of Moria. The fellowship goes there as an absolute last resort because of the story that shaped the Mines as an environment; the fact the dwarves dug too deep in their pursuit of wealth, releasing an ancient evil.

H.P. Lovecraft is another writer who uses environmental storytelling to craft entire plots. At The Mountains of Madness is essentially a novel about characters exploring an environment. There are very few action scenes and quite sparse dialogue for a book its size, yet the story moves along at a good pace and builds tension as the characters piece together the story behind the environment they’ve discovered.

Although this technique should be a fundamental practice for fantasy and science fiction writers, it can be applied to any genre. Any environment in a story is essentially a magical place, a make-believe or conceptual construct translated into words from the author’s imagination. This includes environments taken from the real world. Considering environmental storytelling as you write will add richness and depth to every scene.

How to bring environmental storytelling into your writing

1. Consider each environment as you write a scene. Ask yourself how your characters respond to, engage with, and feel about the environment.

2. Consider each environment as having its own backstory. It’s not necessary to include this information in your book, but simply to allow it to shape and define each space.

3. If your characters are walking into empty spaces, use visual aids, or look at images to help bring your environments to life.