Strunk and White observed in The Elements of Style, that, “If those who have studied the art of writing are in accord on one point it is on this: the surest way to arouse and hold the reader is to be specific, definite and concrete. The greatest writers…are effective largely because they deal in particulars and report the details that matter.”  That specific, definite, concreteness grows in large part out of the author’s ability to give his reader a sense of time and place about which he’s writing. It’s a challenge in fiction, certainly, but it’s just as important in non-fiction, like memoir or family history.