It’s incredibly exciting to have a new story idea. The characters develop in our mind and seem to be itching to plunge right in and share their story. All the important parts of the setting are complete in our imagination and will flow onto the page. After all, the setting is simply the stuff surrounding the characters. All the author has to do is establish a time and a place.
Sounds simple, right?
It’s not always so.
As writers, we are often immersed in our own story world before we create it. We take familiar elements and weave them in, using past experiences to provide a backdrop for novels.
Because we’re so familiar with certain environments, we risk making the unconscious assumption that our reader knows exactly what we’re talking about. We forget to add little details that bring the story world to life for readers who may not have previous knowledge of our chosen setting.
This can be a particular challenge for authors of young adult fiction, because it’s tempting to skip over details for the sake of word count, but without a firm setting readers can’t get oriented.
Put It On the Page
Make sure there is enough description and detail of the surroundings, the clothing, and the items in your setting to evoke a sense of time and place. Just not so much that the reader will become bogged down and lose interest. At the same time, give enough of the necessary descriptions, pertinent details, and explanations to ground the reader firmly in the story world.
I told you it wasn’t as simple as it sounds!
Why Time Markers Aren’t Enough
Often in novels, a date is indicated at the beginning of a chapter. This is a good starting place to help orient your reader, but the author needs to go a little bit further. Readers expect an immersive experience that walks them through the story, and unless a date has events attached to it, it can be quickly forgotten.
Unfamiliar Settings
Sometimes a story comes into being in a setting completely new to the author. If the region, country, or environment is one the writer isn’t familiar with, it’s best to do the required research, and then have fact checkers go over your manuscript for inaccuracies, both large and small.
Many readers won’t like stories that play fast and loose with inaccuracies vital to the plot of a story, but even little things can be an issue, such as having a species of trees growing in an area that they would never grow, using figures of speech incorrectly, not understanding the customs of the culture, and so on.
Dialogue as Part of Setting
Use dialogue and sayings consistent with the time or the region where your story is set, but without going overboard! Nothing screams “I don’t know what I’m talking about” as much as misused dialogue and obvious mistakes with commonly known details of the region.
Vocabulary
Language is constantly changing. Along with dialogue and how your characters speak, the author’s word choices help establish setting. Words like “ridicule” and “rotund” evoke certain eras, and probably wouldn’t find their way into contemporary, but would be perfect for a story set in the 1800s. The opposite is true. Contemporary vocabulary shouldn’t show up in historical fiction.
As always, there are exceptions. For instance, unusual word choices can work for a quirky character.
Update Your Info
An author may have the utmost confidence they understand their setting. Perhaps their novel is set in another country, and they have lived in that country. Personal experience lends authenticity to the narrative, but make sure you’re working with updated information. In certain settings and fields, things change quickly.
Start With Research
Misplaced details stick out like a sore thumb. The easiest way to ferret out these types of mistakes before they end up in a published book is to get a few readers who can fact check for you. That’s not to say that fact checkers are a substitution for research. Fact checkers are your last line of defense, and like proofreading, they may not catch everything, especially if the gaffes are excessive.
So how much setting detail does a story need?
Whatever it takes to keep the reader grounded, interested, and reading!
Donna Jo Stone writes YA contemporary novels about tough issues but always ends the stories with a note of hope. She blogs at donnajostone.com.
How do you know if you’ve written a young adult novel or an adult coming of age? What about books that have dual timelines with both a teen point of view and an adult point of view? Finding your genre can be a difficult task. Here’s a few things to look at that might help an author determine what genre their work lands in.
Age of the Protagonist
The age of the protagonist does not determine whether or not a book is young adult, but the age of the protagonist can eliminate some books from the young adult market. If the main storyline is not about how a teen character is dealing with their story world, than it’s not young adult.
The protagonist in a book written for adults can be of any age.
Topics Explored
All young adult fiction is coming of age, but not all coming of age is young adult fiction.
Coming of age written for the adult market tends to be grittier. In these books, the protagonist may be young, but is dealing with adult issues.
In young adult fiction, the teenage protagonist could be dealing with unusual circumstances, but the material is typically less graphic than fiction written for adults.
Word Count
A young adult generally sticks to a prescribed word count, whereas a coming-of-age written for the adult market with a teenage protagonist can have a wide range of word count and can be literary, upmarket, or commercial.
Point of View
Young Adult fiction can be in one point of view or more, in either first person or third person, as can an adult coming of age. The current trend is to write YA in first person, but it’s not a defining rule.
Voice and Tone
Deep point of view is common in YA, as is an angsty bent. Teenagers are going through a myriad of changes and are focused on their feelings, more inward looking, and young adult is inclined to be written that way.
In adult fiction featuring a younger protagonist, the person is often operating as an adult, dealing with adult issues.
Vocabulary and Style
Novels written for the young adult market may use different vocabulary and language style than novels written for the adult market. Even if it’s historical young adult, the language would be slightly different to make it accessible to the targeted reader.
Romance
In most YA Historicals I’ve read, romance is often a secondary storyline. Love triangles seem to abound, and I think readers accept that more in YA because young people are experiencing a lot of those first love emotions for the first time. Young people are often still discovering the contrasts between between a crush, an infatuation, or a possible real love, which may lead to developing feelings in two different directions.
Setting for Historical YA
The historical era is a backdrop for the issues that the mc is working through. Description and historical details will be a natural part of how the character interacts with it.
Historical for adults allows for a few short historical tidbits to be inserted into the narrative to give understanding.
In YA, this tends to only matter if it directly affects the main character in some way. Even though there will be history inserted, it only goes as far as to how the main character has to use this information to forward her own story.
Hopefully, examining these different elements of a story will help authors decide what genre their historical fiction with a teen protagonist belongs in.
Can you think of any other differences between historical YA and historical coming of age for adults?
Leave a comment below.
Stephanie Daniels writes Christian historical fiction for young adults and the young at heart. Her debut novel, The Uncertainty of Fire, first appeared on Amazon’s Kindle Vella platform where it was a top faved Christian story. It is now available in paperback and kindle format online at Amazon and Barnes&Noble.
The Uncertainty of Fire
Sixteen-year-old Whimsy Greathart would rather fight against Chicago’s child labor practices than attend her privileged family’s high society events. On the night of the Great Chicago Fire, her world turned to ash, she must rely on the mercy of poor relations to rebuild her future and is forced into the very labor system she wished to fight against.
Donna Jo Stone writes YA contemporary novels about tough issues but always ends the stories with a note of hope. She blogs at donnajostone.com.
Time travel is a stable in science fiction. Countless books, comics, movies, and TV shows have used it as their main plot device. Even more have incorporated it into a key moment of the story. Over the years, eight major types of time travel logic emerged. Recently, YouTubers Eric Voss and Héctor Navarro examined all eight types, and looked at which one gets it most correct in term of the real world science behind science fiction.
Type 1 Anything goes
Definition: Characters travel back and forth within their historical timeline.
This approach frees you to have fun and not get lost in the minutiae of how time travel works. Usually, there’s a magical Maguffin that to quote the great Dr. Ememett Brown, “makes time travel possible”. Writers have used a car, a phone booth, and a hot tub, among other options. This approach leads to inconsistent limits on the logic of the time travel, but this doesn’t mean the story is poorly plotted, won’t be enjoyable or won’t be an enormous hit. This approach is more science fantasy than science fiction with no basis in real-world science.
Examples: Back to the Future, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Hot Tube Time Machine, Frequency, Austin Powers, Men In Black 3, Deadpool 2, The Simpsons, Galaxy Quest, Star Trek TOS, Doctor Who, 11/22/63 by Stephen King.
Type 2 Branch Reality
Definition: Changes to the past don’t rewrite history. They split the timeline into an alternate branch timeline. This action does not change or erase the original timeline.
As authors got more familiar with the science behind time travel in theoretical physics, this type, based upon the many worlds theory in quantum mechanics, emerged. When the character travels back into the past and changes events, they create a new reality. Their original reality is unchanged. Branches themselves can branch leading to a multiverse of possibilities.
Examples: The Disney Plus series, Loki, used this extensively. See also: Back to the Future Part II, Avenger’s Endgame, the DC Comics multiverse, the Marvel Comics multiverse, Rick and Morty, Star Trek (2009), A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle.
Type 3 Time Dilation
Definition: Characters traveling off-world experience time moving more slowly than elsewhere in the universe, allowing them to move forward in time (but not backward).
This type is the based upon our scientific understanding of how time slows down as you approach the speed of the light. This is a forward-only type of time travel. There’s no going backwards.
Examples: Planet of the Apes, Ender’s Game, Flight of the Navigator, Interstellar, Buck Rodgers.
Type 4 This Always Happened
Definition: All of time is fixed on a predestined loop in which the very act of time travel itself sets the events of the story into motion.
This one can confuse and delves closer to the realm of theology than science. It feels gimmicky, and has become something of a trope making it hard to pull this off in a satisfying way for your audience. This type also invites the audience to question if your protagonist ever had free will or agency in the story.
Examples: Terminator, Terminator 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Game of Thrones-Season 6, Twelve Monkeys, Interstellar, Kate and Leopold, The Butterfly Effect, Predestination, Ricky and Morty-Season 5, Looper.
Type 5 Seeing the Future
Definition: After seeing a vision of their fate, characters choose to change their destiny or embrace their lot.
We’re stretching to call this time travel, but it provides your story with built-in conflict and stakes. Will the hero choose to walk the path knowing how it will end, or will they choose a different path?
Examples: Oedipus Rex, A Christmas Carol, Minority Report, Arrival, Next (Nicolas Cage), Rick and Morty-Season Four. Star Trek:Discovery-Season 2, Avenger’s EndGame with Dr. Strange and the Mind Stone.
Type 6 Time Loop / Groundhog Day
Definition: Characters relive the same day over and over, resetting back to a respawn point once they die or become incapacitated.
This type gained popularity after the movie, Groundhog Day, became a tremendous hit. Most of the other examples take the Groundhog Day idea and put a slight twist on it. Like Type 4 “This Always Happened”, the popularity of this type can make it harder to pull off in a fresh and innovative way.
Examples: Obviously, Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. Edge of Tomorrow, Doctor Strange in the ending battle with Dormammu, Russian Dolls (Netflix), Palm Springs, Star Trek TNG.
Type 7 Unstuck Mind
Definition: Characters consciousness transport through time within his body to his life at different ages.
Nostalgia for the past and dreaming of the future are core parts of the human experience. This type runs more metaphorically than scientific.
Examples:Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Desmond in the series Lost.
Type 8 Unstuck Body
Definition: A character’s body or object becomes physically detached from the flow of time within the surrounding universe, becoming inverted or younger. Only certain objects or bodies are unstuck from time. Also called Inverted Entropy.
This one will blow your mind if you think about it for too long. Like Type 2 “Branch Reality”, this one comes from the realm of quantum mechanics and theoretical physics. Scientists and mathematicians have all the formulas worked out to make this de-aging a reality, but currently lack the technology to control all the variables in the ways needed. It would like scientists working out than an object could break the speed of the sound in 1890. It would look inconceivable, given the technology of the day, but I wouldn’t put limits on human ingenuity.
Examples:Dr. Strange (the Hong Kong battle). Tenet, briefly in Endgame with Scott Lang and Bruce, Primer.
If you’re writing a time travel story, you’ll need to decide which one of these types you want to deploy. They all have their advantages and disadvantages. In many ways, its similar to designing your magic system, especially if you go with a Type 1 time travel story. The most important thing remains to have relatable characters and to tell a great story while being internally consistent with the rules and logic of your story world.
Ted Atchley is a freelance writer and professional computer programmer. Whether it’s words or code, he’s always writing. Ted’s love for speculative fiction started early on with Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, and the Star Wars movies. This led to reading Marvel comics and eventually losing himself in Asimov’s Apprentice Adept and the world of Krynn (Dragonlance Chronicles).
After blogging on his own for several years, Blizzard Watch (blizzardwatch.com) hired Ted to be a regular columnist in 2016. When the site dropped many of its columns two years later, they retained Ted as a staff writer.
He lives in beautiful Charleston, SC with his wife and children. When not writing, you’ll find him spending time with his family, and cheering on his beloved Carolina Panthers. He’s currently revising his work-in-progress portal fantasy novel before preparing to query.
Ted has a quarterly newsletter which you can join here. You’ll get the latest on his writing and publishing as well as links about writing, Star Wars, and/or Marvel.
The story setting in literature describes the where and when of a character and action. The setting of a story establishes the fictional environment built in the reader’s mind while they read the novel. However, it is not easy to flesh out or describe your setting.
As a novel writer, it’s tempting to want to go straight to the plot and describe your character in detail. However, your story and the character news need to coexist within a space – the story’s setting. Being able to describe your story setting correctly adds vibrancy to your love and keeps the audience engaged.
Learning to describe the surroundings and setting of a story is, therefore, an essential skill that authors need to have. The descriptive words that you use are capable of showing character, mood, and appearance. A well-described setting will draw the readers in and keep their rapt attention inside the scene.
A good setting uses different elements to create a picture that’s clear in the readers’ minds. It also provides a good background for character and plot development. It is the framework for different narrative elements to come into play.
How to write a good setting or describe the surroundings in a novel?
With an understanding of what a good setting is and its role in writing a novel, we will now discuss how to write one.
In writing your setting, you’re descriptive, so you will use descriptive words that you can combine in different ways to create the vision for your story’s environment. However, there are several tips that you should use to make it more descriptive without boring your audience.
Start early
You shouldn’t go too deep into your story without describing the setting. It would be best if you did it from the very beginning of the scene. Once you launch into the scene without describing the setting, it becomes too late when you need to do it later on in the action. You would have lost your readers at that point already. If you don’t describe the environment from the start, you will have characters talking and acting in space, and it becomes difficult to place it later on.
Include specific details
In describing your setting, it’s not enough to start early: you need to be specific in your description. Using generic words will fail to engage the readers, and you will end up with a bland and unfocused description of your setting.
Including specific details adds some spice to the setting, makes it more exciting for the readers to flow along with, and helps you create a unique fictional environment.
Incorporate sensory details
Your description will be more effective if you are able to use sensory details. You must be able to use the five senses when describing the environment or settings to your readers. This will help them to become more immersed in the fictional environment that you’ve created. Those seemingly small details about the smell of the wood in the old house, the chirping sound of the crickets at night, etc., all go a long way in making your setting more exciting and immersive for your readers. This will make it more straightforward for them and open them to the plot you’re building within the setting.
Build your description with the story
Building on your descriptions gradually gives you more descriptive power. You can’t and shouldn’t take a whole page to describe the background. A paragraph is enough to introduce the setting and give the readers an idea of where they are, and then continue to build the story’s description.
If you mention that the character was outside a building that looks abandoned, don’t forget to build on that with more abandonment signs once they walk into the building. The setting description doesn’t stop at the start of the scene: you carry it along as you build the story in that scene.
Show the setting, don’t just say it.
You have to do more than list off the description for the readers. You must show it to them. If the characters are in a hostile environment, make the readers see how the environment interacts with them. Be more descriptive. If the set includes a factory, show how the factory affects the environment. Show how it smells, the gas it emits, how it makes the sky look, etc. Rather than say there’s a factory around, show how it affects the story and its relevance in the setting. Or even better, show your setting through the viewpoint of your characters!
Get inspiration from a real setting.
If you are looking for inspiration to describe your fictional setting, then you should look at the nonfictional world around you. You’re trying to describe an old church in your novel; while it might not be the same as the old church down your street, you should take a stroll to the church. You’re likely to see things in real-life locations that could trigger ideas and give you inspiration for your fictional environment. It’s the same way that you draw the behavior of your character from examples in real life. You can get inspiration from places that you visit in real life, too.
Select the details to describe
One thing about describing a setting is that there are more things that you would not mention than the ones you’ll tell. Don’t be tempted to mention every detail. Be selective about what you share. Describe only details that are relevant to the story or help make the setting clearer. You could give accurate descriptions while sharing many unnecessary details. Being accurate doesn’t make it necessary or exciting. You could end up with a very bland description of the setting that doesn’t win over the readers. The fact is, your readers don’t care about the information. They want the mood and the atmosphere.
Conclusion
Writing a good setting description is essential to creating the story, plot, and character within that scene. So if your setting description is bland, it will affect the story that you are creating altogether. It also determines if the readers go on with reading the novel or they close the book. So knowing how to write your setting is of utmost importance as an author.
Leon Collier is a blogger from the UK, and assignment writer at dissertation service the UK. He loves to write about everything: pop-culture, history, travel, self-development, education, and marketing. When not writing, you can find him behind a book or playing tabletop games with his friends. Follow him on Twitter @LeonCollier12.
While falling in love can happen anywhere, the choice of your setting sets a tone.
If you can take your romance and put it in any setting, you need to take a good look at your story.
A story that takes place in a city can’t be changed to a small town. Nor can a small-town story be moved to the country or on a ranch. The same is true if you need mountains, lakes, or an ocean for your romance setting. Or a story that takes place in a tourist town versus a non-tourist destination.
There is a distinct difference in the feel of each setting and its impact on your story.
The setting becomes a minor or major character; therefore, it is essential to have done your research on the place. Go there if you can. Explore the region where your romance takes place. Meet the people because where your story takes place will affect how the other characters react, speak, and what expectations they may have.
In his book Setting, Jack M. Bickham states, “Setting – in real life as well as in fiction – tends to form character in ways you can analyze and use in your work.” It’s true, no matter what period you are writing. In the same book, Bickham suggests after visiting the location and talking to the people, draw up a “setting list” for your desired character.
No matter whether your setting changes during the story or stays the same, it can cause your character to change their perceptions, feelings, thoughts, motivations, and actions. Your characters live in the physical world of the setting and are subject to impressions that enter their consciousness.
Mr. Bickham goes on to say that “No mention of setting in fiction can be said to be wholly objective. Selection of viewpoint, as well as selection of the emotional lens through which the described place or event is seen, must be made with constant reference to the desired emotional feel of the story, its present plot situation, and the characters at the time of description.”
It matters where you set your romance so much that you need to carefully consider where you want your story to take place before you begin writing. Some authors will draw a map of a fictional location to keep it accurate within their manuscript. Others use real places and do extensive research to get the names of streets and landmarks correct.
So, yes, setting matters a great deal and should be treated as another character of your story.
If you want to learn more about your setting’s impact on your story, I highly recommend Setting by Jack M. Bickham as a resource for your writing library.
Award-winning writer, Rose Gardner’s journey toward publication has come in two phases. During the early years, she was a finalist in thirteen contests and won her category in seven, was a 2007 RWA Golden Heart finalist in the Long Contemporary Category, and 2nd runner up in the 2008 Harlequin Super Romance Conflict of Interest Contest. After a break from writing, she returned to writing with a renewed focus on clean, contemporary heartwarming stories about love, hope, healing, and the power of forgiveness. She has won or placed in several contests for unpublished writers since 2017 as she works toward publication. You can find out more about Rose at her website mrosegardner.com or on social media at Facebook at MRoseGardner/, Twitter MaryGardner6, Instagram mrosegardner/
Some writers are blessed with a vivid visual imagination. Just by willing it, they can render scenes in their mind’s eye with the pixel-perfect fidelity of CGI. They see their characters with photographic precision, from the slope of their shoulders to the snarled ends of their hair. Their settings have the texture and specificity of real asphalt and dirt.
I’ve always envied this ability, but I can’t say I’ve ever enjoyed it myself. In fact, I’ve been cursed with an incredibly impoverished visual imagination. Even as a reader, I never instinctually convert the sentences I encounter into pictures in my head. Learning that a character is “blonde”, or a farmhouse “weathered” just gives me an abstract bit of info to file away— no different than being told that she’s a Sagittarius or that it was built in 1897.
Despite my inability to conjure up mental images, however, I’ve never been told that my writing comes across as excessively abstract. In fact, I’ve been praised for the precision and evocativeness of my descriptions. I’m determined not to let my lack of visual imagination prevent pictorially gifted readers from connecting with my work. That’s why I’ve learned to work around my inability to see pictures inside my head.
What’s my secret for faking it until I make it? I think of it as a spin on the ancient technique of ekphrasis, from the Greek for “calling an inanimate object by name”. The etymology makes it sound incredibly poetic, and it’s true that ekphrasis has been used to greatest effect in verse. But at its core, this rhetorical device just means to describe a work of visual art in detail. As an example, you might look at John Keats’s “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” possibly the most famous instance of ekphrastic poetry in the Anglophone tradition. But I prefer John Ashberry’s “Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror,” based on a 16th-century painting by Parmigianino. It opens with the following lines:
As Parmigianino did it, the right hand
Bigger than the head, thrust at the viewer
And swerving easily away, as though to protect
What it advertises. A few leaden panes, old beams,
Fur, pleated muslin, a coral ring run together
In a movement supporting the face, which swims
Toward and away like the hand
Except that it is in repose….
I’ve never written ekphrastic poetry myself. But to work around my lack of visual imagination, I use a trick that feels analogous to ekphrasis: I write using reference images, much the way an artist might consult them when they sketch. You see, my problem lies in mentally conjuring up images from the blank canvas inside my head — not in translating extant images into language. That means that, if I want to describe something accurately, I need to be looking at it, the way an artist might consult a photo to get a pose just right.
Sometimes I do write about a work of visual art, in the traditional ekphrastic mode: I might model a bit of scenery off a landscape painting, or give a character the face of a marble bust. Most of the time, though, I just use a photo from the internet to get a detail like the right texture of driftwood, the exact shape of a snarl.
Even if you’re not cursed with my particular brand of imaginative inability, give this spin on ekphrasis a try: it’ll make your visual descriptions that much sharper. And if you find yourself wading deeper into the art historical archive in search of references, you just might find yourself inspired to write a whole story — or a poem — based on a painting.
Lucia Tang is a writer for Reedsy, a marketplace that connects self-publishing authors with the book industry’s best editors, designers, and marketers. To work on the site’s free historical character name generators, she draws on her knowledge of Chinese, Latin, and Old Irish — learned as a PhD candidate in history at UC Berkeley. You can read more of her work on the Reedsy Discovery blog, or follow her on Twitter at @lqtang.
It’s not always easy creating a whole world from scratch. Amy C. Blake agreed to give a few words of writing advice about building story worlds.
What is a common pitfall fantasy writers fall into when building their story world?
It’s easy for fantasy writers to forget they have to follow the “rules” they created for their story world. If they choose to break a rule, they have to explain why. Otherwise, readers get frustrated. For instance, in the first book of my Levi Prince YA fantasy series, I established that people can only enter Terracaelum (an invisible land suspended above Lake Superior) from Castle Island when the prince or princess lowers the drawbridge and admits them. In subsequent books, I couldn’t simply ignore my rule when I needed to allow access without the prince or princess being present. I had to not only create an alternate way in, but also to provide a logical reason why the exception was made.
What essential ingredients do readers expect from a story world?
Besides clear rules, readers expect to be given the proper amount of details to let them experience the story world. Too many specifics can bog down the flow of the story, but too few can make readers feel unmoored. Sprinkling sensory details throughout the dialogue and narrative tends to work best. Of course, in fantasy stories, readers expect something outside of their ordinary worlds—superhuman abilities, time jumping, mythical creatures, etc.—and they can best enjoy those elements when given the right particulars at the right moments.
How can writers make sure they balance their novel in regards to world building, character development, and the other elements needed?
Again, it’s a matter of dispensing information at the optimal time. Authors shouldn’t do an information dump about their character’s backstory any more than they should pile on too much minutiae about the story world. They don’t want to overuse dialogue, internal monologue, or narrative in any one spot; instead, they want to use the appropriate amounts of each at the appropriate times. It’s all a matter of finding the proper pacing to allow the story to unfold to maximize the reader’s delight.
Where do you find inspiration for creating a story world?
I’m an avid reader, and my family enjoys exploring museums and historical sites. I’m also an avid daydreamer, so I tend to find inspiration during quiet moments—sometimes while on a long car ride or when I can’t sleep. During those quiet moments, ideas blend with the information I’ve gleaned, and my story world expands. I just have to remember to jot down my daydreams so I can flesh them out later.
Great advice!
Thank you so much for stopping by, Amy.
Award-winning author Amy C. Blake is a pastor’s wife and homeschooling mother of four. She has an M.A. in English from Mississippi College and has written articles, devotionals, and short stories for a number of publications. She’s also writing two series for the Christian market, her On the Brink Christian suspense trilogy and her Levi Prince YA fantasy series.
Have you ever walked into someone’s house as a first-time dinner guest and felt out of place? Ten other people are there and it’s a laid back, serve yourself kind of dinner.
You grab your food, spilling some ketchup on the counter in the process, and clean it up with a napkin. You don’t know where the garbage is although you know they have to have one. Dessert comes around and you want a clean fork but you don’t know which drawer to open and don’t want to look through every one.
By the time you leave you’re flustered. You KNEW there was a garbage can and a drawer full of forks, but because you didn’t know the layout of the house you couldn’t find them.
If you’re reading this post it’s because you’re writing fantasy or science fiction, which means by default, you have other-worldly elements in your writing.
When readers open to page one you want them to feel at home, not confused as they figure out how the world is set up and what goes where.
A simple, reader-friendly way to do so this by dropping in elements humanity relates to no matter where they’re from.
Just as ever house is designed in a different way but with similar features, every world has certain elements that are similar and will feel grounding for the reader.
You might be writing science fiction but the protagonist still can feel lonely. That’s relatable. You might write fantasy but your characters still eat. In The Lord of the Rings Tolkien makes meal time a very important part of hobbit lifestyle. This is something we can all relate to, even though his books are about dragons, magic, and rings of power.
Here are some questions to ask that will help your reader feel at home when plunging into a world they’ve never been to:
Where do my characters sleep?
Do they eat food from the ground? How is it grown?
How many seasons are there?
What does personal hygiene look like for my characters?
How are friendships made?
As you answer these questions you may feel like you’re brainstorming, and to an extent, you are. However, including personal, daily occurrences like eating and sleeping will ground your reader and make them feel more comfortable as they dive into your hero’s journey.
Remember, the more your reader can relate to your world, the more believable your fantastical elements will be. The more believable your story, the more memorable.
Happy writing!
Sarah Rexford is a Marketing Content Creator and writer. She helps authors build their platform through branding and copywriting. With a BA in Strategic Communications, Sarah equips writers to learn how to communicate their message through personal branding. She writes fiction and nonfiction and offers writers behind-the-scenes tips on the publishing industry through her blog itssarahrexford.com. She is represented by the C.Y.L.E Young Agency.
As we continue this editing series how we can develop a great story, I hope you’re able to see that the elements of storytelling hinges on more than concept and characters.
By having all the layers in place before actually writing, you can have a clearer idea of where your story is going. Or if you’ve already written your book, how to make sure all the layers are in place so that you give
your readers a delightful reading experience.
The fifth layer in developing a great story is developing the setting within your story, whether nonfiction or fiction.
The settings within your story link the moods and viewpoints of your characters and plot together like a colorful construction paper chain link that can be as short or as long as you want them to be.
How to Edit the Setting
What does the setting say about your character?
What is the most important dominant impression in this scene?
How does the setting enhance your story’s plot?
What does the setting say about your character?
As you know, in storytelling, it’s really all about what’s at stake for the main character. And the best way to show that is to show the character interacting with the scene.
We’re not going to talk about the character right now, but more how the elements in the scene help the character.
A well-written setting will describe your character’s mood without telling readers your character’s mood. A well-written setting will affect your character’s mood
without telling your readers. A well-written setting will also enhance the scene and the actions and reactions of the other characters interaction with each other. Or the overall effect and observation of the landscape.
We must ask ourselves the following potential questions (not exhaustive, by any means):
Does the setting describe the visual space, or does the setting describe the character’s motivations and actions, pulling the reader into the story?
Does the setting open with intrigue and action, or does it open slow and monotone?
What is the end result of the setting?
What does this setting tie back to?
What is the driving emotion and motivation for the character?
Are any of the five senses represented here, and how to incorporate them?
What setting details would enhance the character actions?
What is the takeaway or suspense for your readers?
If it seems that every aspect of storytelling is comprised of asking lots of questions, you’re right. It is. As writers, we must don our analytical hats and comb every journalist-style
question as we map out the story basics. For in asking those deeper questions, we will be able to craft a compelling scene that dazzles and engages readers.
Here’s a piece of my draft scene for the story I’m writing:
Footsteps echoed on the hardwood floor. The door swung open, and Dad retreated to his desk. A bulky L. C. Smith and Corona sat on the desk. Sunlight pushed through a filmy window from
behind and glared across the desktop.
Footsteps echoed on the hardwood floor. The door swung open, and Dad retreated to his desk. A bulky L. C. Smith and Corona sat on the desk. Sunlight pushed through a filmy window
from behind and glared across the desktop.
“What are you doing?” She settled on the wingback chair catty-corner the desk.
Dad pulled a clean sheet through the feeder. “Taking care of business.”
She scanned the desk for bills or business letters but only found heavily edited typed sheets of paper. “Oh. What kind of business?”
The return key dinged, and his fingers arched above the keys. “Not quite finished with it yet.”
She sighed, resigned to live in her father’s abrupt world, but wishing she didn’t have to be affected by it.
He hit a few keys and squinted at what he’d typed. “Oh, Paul and Kate said they’d help you get registered for school.”
He didn’t want to help her register for school? Fighting tears, she slammed her hands into her lap where he couldn’t see them. “You’re okay with that?”
“Why not?” A steady slap of keys followed.
Two crumpled sheets rested against a bookshelf across from her and the desk. Rejects. Why did she feel like joining them? She cleared her throat. “I don’t know, but maybe
I’m not ready to walk all around school.”
“Rie, Paul says you’re doing well. Susan too.” He looked up, smiling. “That’s good enough for me.”
She rubbed the chair’s fraying arm. If this was his way of approving, then she’d take it, but she didn’t have to like it. “I’m glad you think so. I’m
going to sit on Cherish today.”
He thumbed through half of the stack and set a portion aside. “Honey, I need to keep working. Do you mind if we talk later?” He picked up his pen and circled some words
on a sheet from the middle of the stack.
Staring at the pile, she made out the word draft across the top of one page. What was he writing, and why was it more important than her? He’d hardly talked with her since she’d come back from the hospital. She grabbed her crutches and locked her knees.
Why did she think he would ever change now?
Like it? It’s not perfect, and will change, but it’s a start. Can you picture the setting as if you were right there? Do you notice words that invoke reactions like impatience,
dismissiveness, striving, sad patience? Do you feel the rush of disappointment as Rie tries to talk with her father? Do you feel the anticipation, the hope, then the dejection settling in the pit of your stomach?
Think about your own story, and what your character wants. Got it? Now what kind of things would need to be in your setting that would set up the mood that describes your character’s
feelings without saying what your character is feeling?
“She felt tired.” No! Rather, “The chair sagged in the corner, and she sank into it” shows you the character is tired. Exhausted. Beat. Done in.
What is the most important dominant impression in this scene?
The dominant impression is what stands out most in the setting that gives credence to the character’s mood and the scene’s mood.
In my draft scene example, the dominant impression was two things: the typewriter and scattered paper, and I used words and descriptions and motivations that described the office
and the father’s actions, while bringing focus to what my character was feeling—and what she wanted. These dominant impressions also describe the mood of everything and everyone else in the room, and how the main
character is affected.
In short, the dominant impression centers around the setting and helps bring focus and emotion to the scene and whatever happens in it. And often, the dominant impression affects
your character’s emotions greatly.
How does the setting propel the plot forward?
Propelling the plot forward is tough. Not gonna lie. It’s that delicate balance between stop, listen to the birdsong, and go, race through the sun-splashed woods.
In making the scene move forward, whether slower paced or break-neck speed, it’s crucial to set certain actions, thoughts, motivations, descriptions in such a way that the setting
builds to a crescendo. If you’ve ever listened to Handle’s Messiah, you know the rush of emotion you get when that last stanza is played. And you know the feelings that overwhelm you. Same for your writing because
readers will be able to experience all those emotions with your characters at those levels, and then when you raise the stakes, then that emotion only grows.
For example, in my scene, the various propellers are in different places throughout that scene:
#1 “Why not?” A steady slap of keys followed.
#2 She rubbed the chair’s fraying arm. If this was his way of approving, then she’d take it, but she didn’t have to like it. “I’m glad you think so. I’m going to sit on Cherish today.”
He thumbed through half of the stack and set a portion aside. “Honey, I need to keep working. Do you mind if we talk later?”
As if Laurie’s been jerked out of that office, right?
Secret Sauce to the Best Setting. Ever.
“Places are never just places in a piece of writing. If they are, the author has failed. Setting is not inert. It is activated by point of view.”
And let that be true of your manuscript, however you choose to set up the setting in your story, whether you choose to ease in, ramp up, create waves, let it ebb and flow, or go off
the deep end. No. No. Don’t do that. But do make your readers anticipate every moment of every element of each and every setting.
Each writer and author benefits from exploring their characters and setting inside and out, while asking “what if?” at every turn when crafting their novel’s plot
because it’s really the secret sauce to writing a great story that captivates people, agents, editors, readers, marketers, and the person who wouldn’t necessarily pick up a book and read it.
Questions? Comments? I’d love to engage in the conversation with you! Drop your question or comment in the chat below, and I’ll look forward to responding!
Your Turn!
What is the dominant impression in your setting?
Which of the five senses will you use in your scene, and how?
How is your character viewing the scene by the setting, or how are they feeling / reacting?
Tisha Martin writes historical fiction and nonfiction but edits full time for beginning and best-selling writers and publishing houses. Since 2017 she has worked on over 250 books, including Planned from the Start, the devotional companion to Unplanned the movie, and serves as contest judge for Writer’s Digest. She puts her bachelors in Professional Writing, masters in English Education, and editing certificate from the PEN Institute to delightful good use. Her nonfiction essay “The Meaning of an Heirloom” in The Horse of My Dreams: True Stories of the Horses We Love is available from Revell. She enjoys speaking at writer’s conferences and coaching writers in the self-editing process. Learn more at www.tishamartin.com.
When I first visited upstate New York several years ago, I
kept getting the feeling I’d been there before, but that was impossible. I
finally realized that I’d visited the area through the pages of a book. Several
books, actually. Julia Spencer-Fleming’s Claire Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne
series is set in that area. I’ve read them all and they take place in icy
winters, muggy summers, and fiery-leafed autumns. So of course I recognized the
hills with orange-tipped trees and houses with screened in porches and
pumpkins.
Location is said to be the three most important rules in real estate. Although often overlooked in fiction, it’s pretty important there too.
The locations in our romance novels need to be such that the reader can’t imagine that story taking place anywhere else.
J.D. Robb’s In Death series could not be set anywhere except
New York City in the near future. The urban grittiness of the series is a
perfect match to Lt. Eve Dallas’s voice and the tone of the books overall.
Not strictly a romance, but I recently read Miss Julia
Speaks Her Mind, set in North Carolina. The southern voice and idioms make
it the perfect location. Ann B. Ross set her series in a specific time and
place, and the hot humid summer weather rose from the pages of the paperback
and frizzed my hair. Margaret Maron’s Deborah Knott series does the same.
How do we make our location into a character in our stories?
Let’s look at the examples I’ve already mentioned.
Specificity. Spencer-Fleming talked about the crunch of ice underfoot, the slipperiness of the roads, the bone-numbing chill. And colors, like the flame-colored trees in the fall. Nora Roberts, writing as J.D. Robb adds aromas and noises to make the future New York come alive. She describes the smell of a chemi-head as he passes her in the booking department, and what a soy dog smells like being grilled by a street vendor, and the sound of a bus belching smoke as it rumbles by her.
Voice and Tone. For books set in the south or areas with distinctive speaking cadences, capturing those patterns are essential. But beware of trying to write accents and particularly showing ethnicity by speech. In a Sue Grafton book. Kinsey Milhone was interviewing someone over the phone and at one point she realized they were African American and let her surprise show. The interviewee was (rightly) offended, and put on an elaborate “black,” accent, asking, “Yo, dis better fo yo?” (Grafton was making an effective point.) Use patois and jargon sparingly. Some parts of the United States refer to a soft drink as “pop,” others as “soda,” still others call them all “coke,” or “coca-cola.” If you’re writing about an area you’re unfamiliar with, find out those little idioms and differences.
Use location to strengthen your characters. Could Scarlett O’Hara be from Missouri? No, she can only be from the South. She has a particularly genteel determination that’s bred into southern gentlewomen. Can Gidget be from Maine? Nope. She’s a beach girl with sand between her toes and sun-kissed cheeks.
In romance, location can be so much more than a setting for
sunsets and picnics and first kisses. Those are nice, but with a bit of detail,
your location will become a full character. One your reader can’t imagine your
other characters and plot without.
Carrie Padgett lives in Central California, close to
Yosemite, but far from Hollywood, the beach, and the Golden Gate Bridge. She
believes in faith, families, fun, and happily ever after. She writes
contemporary fiction with romance. Carrie and her Stud Muffin live
in Central California with their cat and dog and within driving distance of
their six grandchildren.
There’s
something immersive about opening a fantasy or sci-fi book and feeling like
there were hundreds of pages of history that happened prior to sentence one,
page one.
It’s hard to pull off.
It’s also important to pull off.
Let’s do a quick case study on
two well-known trilogies: Divergent
and The Hunger Games.
Case
Study 1: Divergent
The first book of the trilogy
starts with the main character in front of a mirror, glimpsing her reflection
as her mother cuts her hair in preparation for her aptitude test.
As a reader, some questions
quickly arise. Why can’t she look in mirrors on a regular basis? What’s an
aptitude test? Why is she so nervous to take it? Why is Beatrice’s world
sectioned into factions? What’s the Choosing Ceremony?
Case
Study 2: The Hunger Games
Page one starts with the main
character wondering where her little sister is. Seems normal. But then we find
out her little sister has bad dreams about the reaping that will take place in
their district today.
Why is this world separated into
districts? What’s a reaping? Why would a little girl have such bad dreams about
it she’d leave the comfort of her big sister?
From paragraph one I realize I’m
immersed in a dystopian society that’s been around for a long time. Long enough
to establish rituals that implant themselves in a little girl’s nightmare.
When you or your agent submit
your manuscript to a publisher, it’s important to pay attention to these
examples. Note the themes. In both books, the reader is:
Plunged
into a life-changing event from page one
Wondering
how the main character will survive in a world that’s against them
Deeply
entrenched in years of destructive customs
Note these themes, but create
your own. The important thing to remember is that from the first sentence the
reader knows they’re entering another world.
Divergent begins, “There is one mirror in
my house.” A simple statement that begs the question, why?
The
Hunger Games,
“When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.” It makes you keep reading,
and by the end of the paragraph the reaping has already been introduced.
Here’s the point.
As a reader, you feel like you’ve
just jumped into the middle of a massive, historical event. You want to
discover why there’s a Choosing Ceremony and a reaping. Questions leap off the
page with nearly every sentence.
Write this way.
Drop hints that your world has
been around for ages. Show your reader that what’s
happening now, on page one, is the most important part to jump in on.
Happy writing!
Sarah Rexford is
a Marketing Content Creator and writer. She helps authors build their platform
through branding and copywriting. With a BA in Strategic Communications, Sarah
equips writers to learn how to communicate their message through personal branding.
She writes fiction and nonfiction and offers writers behind-the-scenes tips on
the publishing industry through her blog itssarahrexford.com. She is
represented by the C.Y.L.E Young Agency.
Margaret
Atwood is well-known for her novel The
Handmaid’s Tale, a dystopian first published in 1985. Her novel covers the
story of a handmaid living in what’s known as the Republic of Gilead. The
catch?
Most every, if not all, major
plot points were written based on reality. I imagine this was a large
contributor in making Atwood’s novel a TV show. Why?
It was relatable.
The Republic of Gilead is not a
real place, although to readers, it might seem to be. The same is true of your
work in progress. Whatever country you create is not real, but it can seem real
to readers when you create it using details that aren’t fiction.
When
building your fantasy world, pull details from existing countries.
One of my first novels takes
place in a country much like Australia — but only in shape and location. I
mixed the layout of Australia with the topography of the US. I haven’t lived in
Australia, but I have lived in the US. I know the US. And as the old adage goes,
write what you know.
Secondly, I incorporated aspects
of US history into my story, but pulled different aspects of Australian
government into my fantasy government. This way the reader will never say, “Oh,
this world is based on the history of the United States but set in Australia.”
Pieces are pulled from both countries, but it’s not based on either.
Use
details of historic figures to put skin on your characters.
When researching my characters, I
looked up many historic people who’d had a big impact on either their country
or the world. I pulled details of their personality and made them
characteristics of my own characters.
Readers know names like Frederick
Douglass, Mary I, Joan of Arc, and Adolf Hitler. It’s likely they also know
more about them then they may remember learning in high school history. Pulling
different details from each, a hair style, a personality trait, a character flaw,
etc., then combining them to create one specific character, adds the ring of
truth.
Mix
customs.
If your book does well, you will
likely have readers from around the country and possibly the world. Part of the
fun of writing fantasy and science-fiction is the freedom to make things up.
When it comes to the customs of the characters in your world, this freedom
continues.
However, to really make your
world come alive, research customs from centuries ago to present day. After you
have ten to thirty customs, assign several to each of your characters. This
will round out your characters, provide you with centuries of backstory to draw
from, and use reality to strengthen your fantasy.
Don’t forget to add your own
creative ideas to the mix. After all, that’s what writing fantasy and sci-fi is
all about. Happy writing!
Sarah Rexford is
a Marketing Content Creator and writer. She helps authors build their platform
through branding and copywriting. With a BA in Strategic Communications, Sarah
equips writers to learn how to communicate their message through personal
branding. She writes fiction and nonfiction and offers writers
behind-the-scenes tips on the publishing industry through her blog
itssarahrexford.com. She is represented by the C.Y.L.E Young Agency.
If you’re like most writers, worldbuilding
feels like the province of sci-fi and fantasy authors alone. Sure, it’s crucial
if you’re populating a distant planet with intelligent life, or piecing
together the history of a kingdom ruled by fire mages. But it’s less useful if
you’re writing about a town full of ordinary people. Right?
Actually, crafting contemporary fiction with a
worldbuilder’s mindset can take your storytelling to the next level,
no matter how seemingly ordinary your setting. At the end of the day, every book is a world unto itself, set
apart from real life by boundary lines drawn by the author’s imagination.
When you write your book, you’re creating a space for your readers to linger. If
you want them to relish spending time in the world of your story, try taking
inspiration from sci-fi and fantasy writers. Here are three reasons to follow
their lead.
1. It forces you not to take everything for granted
When we write contemporary fiction, it’s hard
not to fall back on conceptual shorthands to draw the reader into your story.
Think about a signifier like “high school” and all the images it brings to
mind, from lunchtime cliques to the disorientation of standing on the cusp of
adulthood.
If your story takes place at a high school,
it’s fine to tap into these ready-made associations. But rely on them too much, and you risk ending up with a
story that feels mass-produced.
If you find yourself leaning into conventions,
take a look at how settings work in strong, original sci-fi and fantasy. The
best of them remix genre mainstays — say, the telepathic alien species or the
faux-medieval kingdom — with original details you won’t find anywhere else.
That’s a worldbuilding trick you can use
contemporary fiction to create memorable, immersive settings. Just think: how
is your high school different from other
fictional high schools? Which details make your story recognizable as a high
school story, and which ones make it unique?
2. It helps you flesh out your
characters
If a work of speculative fiction takes place
in a setting that’s markedly not our
world, its characterization should reflect that.
Everyone, from the hero to the villain’s stepmom, will share a baseline set of
assumptions. And these might look very different from what we’re familiar with.
For instance, picture a fantasy world where
meddling gods regularly show their faces. Atheism might be common in our world,
but it makes no sense for someone in that
world to be atheist — how can
they be, when they saw the water god the last time they went fishing?
If you’re writing contemporary fiction, you
should still consider the influence of setting on characterization. Think
through that, and it’ll help you make sure there’s nothing about your
characters that strains plausibility.
For example, say your story takes place in a
densely populated city: high-rises stacked together, and no green space in
sight. Would it make sense to give your protagonist hobbies like horseback
riding and apple-picking? Probably not, unless you have a good explanation
in-story — say, summers spent at grandparent’s house in the country.
3. It will make sure your writing
isn’t all over the map
I started this post by alluding to the maps you
so often see at the beginning of fantasy books. But in speculative fiction,
worldbuilding isn’t just about
deciding on the location of a fictional continent’s highest mountain or biggest
seaport. It’s also about defining a sensibility, an emotional texture for the
story.
That’s why the Harry Potter series, full of
wonder and whimsy, gives us a magic system filled with punny spells. The highly
cynical Song of Ice and Fire books, meanwhile, offer a darker take on the
enchantment, where the dead stand up to fight and mystical swords are forged
with blood. The tenor of the setting fits the tone of the story — you won’t
find bumbling House-elves or goofy Boggarts in the chill of Westeros.
Take inspiration from JKR and GRRM: make sure
the world of your story works with its sensibility, whether that’s somber or
silly, hopeful or grim. After all the work you’ve put into your writing, the
last thing you want is to make your readers laugh when they should be crying.
Approach your storytelling with a worldbuilder’s sensitivity to setting, and
you can rest assured they won’t.
Lucia Tang is a writer for
Reedsy, a marketplace that connects self-publishing authors with the book
industry’s best editors, designers, and marketers. To work on the site’s
free historical character
name generators, she draws on her knowledge of Chinese, Latin, and Old Irish
— learned as a PhD candidate in history at UC Berkeley. You can read more
of her work on the Reedsy Discovery blog, or follow her on Twitter at @lqtang.
It takes a spell-binding plot and
evocative characters to create a memorable story. Some writers meticulously
plan each plot point, others put their characters into interesting situations
and write to discover what happens.
Regardless of your personal writing style, using setting as a pivotal character, even a villain, can take your story to a whole new level.
As an example, let’s break down two lines of dialogue, both in different settings.
Setting one: A sunny beach in the Bahamas, filled with tourists and vendors. Two characters are laying on towels reading their favorite book (possibly yours?), surrounded with half-eaten snacks. They overworked the past year, and this is vacation time their boss told them to take. Their dialogue goes like this:
Person One, “Before we have to
go, you promised to tell me about that time you were working in London but were
forced to step down.”
Person Two, “Maybe a different
time? This isn’t exactly an ideal situation to revisit that.”
As a reader, what mental images
did you conjure? Did you feel a sense of urgency? Probably not. They’re on the
beach, after all. Reading. You may be able to understand why Person Two doesn’t
want to ruin a perfect vacation day revisiting the past, but you’re probably
more irritated they won’t share than empathetic with why they may not want to.
With that in mind, let’s look at
the following situation.
Setting Two: A dark, abandoned warehouse. Our two characters are handcuffed to chairs, surrounded by members of the gang they’ve been undercover with for a week and a half. They’re about to be transported to a ship where they will be tossed overboard and left for dead. Their dialogue goes like this:
Person One, “Before we have to
go, you promised to tell me about that time you were working in London but were
forced to step down.”
Person Two, “Maybe a different
time? This isn’t exactly an ideal situation to revisit that.”
As a reader, what dialogue was
most captivating? In both settings, the dialogue is the same, word for word.
But the setting was much different. The setting added an urgency for the
characters by taking on a personality of its own.
By swapping sunlight for
darkness, a beach for a warehouse, and tourists for a gang, we upped the stakes
in a just a few sentences.
In both situations, we want to
discover what happened in London, but as readers, we’re more likely to turn the
page based on setting two.
Not only do we want to figure out what happened, but we want to find out if they’ll live long enough to allow us to find out. The setting is a villain in the sense that it’s keeping us from our goal of finding out what happened in London.
Using setting as an added villain
for your characters’ will captivate your readers and keep them turning pages
until the very last one.
Sarah Rexford is a
Marketing Content Writer, working with brands to grow their audience reach. She
studied Strategic Communications at Cornerstone University and focused on
writing during her time there, completing two full-length manuscripts while a
full-time student. Currently she trains under best-selling author Jerry Jenkins
in his Your Novel Blueprint course and is actively seeking publication
for two books.
How do mystery, suspense, and thriller writers produce an authentic novel and achieve believability?
Consider the seven “R’s”.
Ready an
organizational system for the material you gather, whether it be an online file
or old-school file folders. Utilize whatever makes sense to you.
Restrain from spending too much time on research.We’re fiction
writers, not Ph.D. candidates working on dissertations.
Restrict your focus. Is your setting real or
fictional? Is it set in the city or country, suburban or rural, present-day or
historical? Determine key locations and the world beyond.
Readers bring no preconceptions to a fictional site. The author
breathes life into the narrative by creating everything. Customs,
history, climate, natural surroundings, people, food, the hobbies and jobs of the
characters, maps, and even language must emerge from your imagination.
If your setting is a real place and
you’ve failed to do the work, an agent, editor, or a reader who knows the area
may label your book as implausible. Or worse, toss it onto the rejection pile.
“Stories set in real locations, then, demand detailed local knowledge and/or meticulous research of the setting.”
Harvey Chapman
Read magazines, journals,
and books on your subject and in your genre. Learn the occupations of your
characters. Dig into past events, the natural surroundings, and the latest news
from the area. Make your backdrop as familiar as your own living room. Make the
details as accurate as an FBI manual.
Utilize the resources of libraries,
colleges and universities, museums, or law enforcement. Maps give us direction
and perspective, and the placement of landmarks, roads, stores, houses,
schools, and cemeteries. Data from contracts, marriage and birth licenses, and
census records add authenticity.
Record observations. Watch others who are similar to your characters to
see how they talk and behave. Visit places that serve the same food your
characters would eat and places they might frequent.
Often a visual image will spark ideas. Watch videos on YouTube,
catch documentaries, or even cruise Pinterest for ideas, inspiration, and
information.
Road trip.
The journey may be as close as the local library, or as far away as a
long-distance car ride or flight. If you’ve never been to your novel’s
location, consider discovering the area with a hands-on approach.
Notice details as you travel. These can contribute
to your characters’ motives and choices.
Once there, talk to the locals. Discover
the area’s activities, customs, traditions, where people shop, eat, go to
school, and even select where your characters might live.
Walk the area and feel the ambiance. Use your senses. Find out what things taste like, smell
like, feel like, sound like.
Research for my latest WIP required an
eleven-hour road trip. Even though I was familiar with the area, I hadn’t
visited in years. The lonely two-lane highway leading to my destination was now
bustling with oil-field trucks, pump-jacks, new refineries and hotels, and
clouds of grey haze. But fortunately, my ideal locale was as I remembered––
craggy mountains graced by long stretches of prickly pear cactus and mesquite
scrub, remote and raw. Perfect for a mystery or suspense.
Once there, I bee-lined to the local
diner and feasted on the house special, green chili burgers and thick-cut fries.
I chatted with the owner and her employee. (Yes, just one.) They shared how the
clear night sky bursts into sparkles of light, where one gets mail and
supplies, and how chili cook-offs and cow patty throwing contests are a
‘thing.’ Of course, Elizabeth and Debbie will find a place in my book’s
acknowledgments!
Roadblocks. No one likes a data dump. Weave your discoveries into
the novel and never let it rise above the plot, characters, and setting. A bit of true-life
flavor goes a long way
Don’t use fact-finding as a means to delay writing.
Complete your searches ahead of time. If you need to add a detail
later make a note, but keep the writing flowing.
Let research inform the story, not smother it. Do the work. It may be the difference between a book contract and a rejection letter.
“Though we invent tales that didn’t really happen, we drape them over a framework of real-life facts.”
PJ Gover encourages her readers to live the thrill…one story at a time,
whether through her devotionals or thrillers. She has received ten writing
awards including first place in American Christian Fiction Writer’s First
Impressions contest, the North Carolina Christian Writers, and the
Write-to-Publish contest. Her one-year devotional book, Celebrate Thee Date, can be found at 4homestore .
A ranch in Texas
serves as home base where she is currently working on a suspense novel. Offer her Mexican food or anything gluten-free and you’ll
have a friend for life. Jim Hart of Hartline Literary Agency represents PJ.
What do you think about when you think of romance?
Oh sure, there are the typical things like boy meets girl, a dinner date or
dinner and a movie. You may fantasize about what the hero or the lady look
like, their personalities, their similarities and differences. As a writer,
you’ll be thinking about how they’ll meet and what kind(s) of conflict will
affect their relationship, as well as how they will overcome these conflicts to
come together in a forever love.
But have you ever considered how your setting can enhance the romance? Consider this—when you think about what kind of romance you’d like, don’t you envision where the romance will take place? And you probably envision more than one setting for more than one date.
Building a description of the setting can help create romance.
Imagine: dinner at a top-notch seafood restaurant on the pier at a table by a window with a view of the moonlight shining upon the ocean. That view is enticing, so much so that after dinner, the lady and her date wander down to the beach, remove their shoes, and walk barefoot and hand-in-hand on the beach near the water’s edge. They feel a strong chemistry between them and little sparks shoot through their hands and up their arms at the physical contact of holding hands. They continue to take turns talking about themselves—getting to know one another.
Eventually, they know they have to go back the way they came. He has to drive her home. The night won’t last forever, but neither of them wants it to end. They look up at the bright, full moon and comment on the beauty of it as it shines upon the water. They breathe in the cool, salty air, then the hero turns to the lady, comments on her beauty and brushes some loose strands of hair from her face, places his hand on her cheek, then lowers his lips to hers for their first kiss.
You can take it from there, but do you see how the beach, the ocean, the moon and moonlight all add to the romance of the scene? You can take any scene you want, envision it in your mind and bring it to life in a way that enhances the romance or even causes the romance between your hero and lady to begin. Your settings can play an important role in your story. Don’t neglect them.
Some stories include a setting so well developed it almost becomes a character in the story. Be sure to use your settings to enhance the attraction, the feelings, the romance of your romantic stories.
Kelly F. Barr
lives in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. She is married and has three sons. She
writes historical romance. She has also been a blogger for ten years, and every
Friday, you can find her Flash Fiction stories posted for your reading
pleasure. She loves her family, including the family dog, books, walks, and
chai lattes.
Authors begin a new story by creating and building their characters—the hero, heroine, and villain, but shouldn’t we also consider the setting as a character? Furthermore, can the author use it to create suspense? How? Here’s what I’ve learned recently on this subject.
Setting is where your story resides. Could be a town, city, castle, beach, office, etc., and should be looked at in the same way as we do characters by using the senses and physical traits. We want to draw our readers in by transporting them to another world. The character of the Overlook Hotel in The Shining created suspense and haunted the reader. Middle Earth in the Lord of the Rings did the same. We want to learn more about the surroundings as it keeps us on the edge of our seats, turning the pages.
What can we use to formulate suspense in our settings?
Five senses – sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. The creaking of the stairs in a haunted mansion or the howling wind echoing in the corridor gives the reader goose bumps. How about the taste of coffee in our character’s favorite café or the smell of mildew in an old estate? The touch of a sharp knife as the killer holds it against his victim’s throat or the character catching a glimpse of the eerie castle blanketed in fog. The senses are powerful and ushers the reader into the story, capturing their attention.
Nature – Does the snow sparkle in the moonlight of the quaint small town or the fireflies flicker on a warm summer night in the campground? A slithering snake or an owl hooting in the middle of the night can create suspense in our settings.
Weather – It can form tension, but don’t overdo it. Picture how a stormy night in an eerie town could add angst to your character. Also, the weather can help solve the crime. Were there footprints in the mud outside the castle’s window or a trail in the snow leading away from it?
Parts of speech – Similes and metaphors are a great way to help describe your locale and enhance the suspense, but use them sparingly.
Powerful words – Pick the right words when describing the setting. Use strong verbs and nouns. The rain pelted or the trees swayed.
In the following scene, I used sensory plus a simile to produce tension and suspense:
The wrought iron gate creaked open, revealing the brick mansion in the distance. Ominous twin turrets towered at opposite ends while cypress trees lined the lane like sentinels protecting the property from outside forces.
Setting is a powerful character that can be used to create suspense and establish the mood the writer is trying to portray. Choosing the right one is the key and we must go beyond the obvious to describe it. When we do our settings will come alive and stay with the reader long after the story is finished.
Darlene L. Turner writes romantic suspense and won the 2017 Genesis award in the Romantic suspense category and was a 2018 finalist. She was a finalist in the 2017 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense contest and won in 2016 (Inspirational Unpublished). She’s represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. Visit Darlene at darlenelturner.com where she believes there’s suspense beyond borders.
The dark house looked lonely and foreboding as Ellen pulled the key from her reticule and fumbled with the lock. Pushing open the door, she felt along the wall for the light switch…
Or did she?
Depending on the time period and setting of this story, Ellen might need to grope around a small table for a match to light the kerosene lamp.
Thomas Edison invented an incandescent light bulb in 1879, and by September 1882, he powered up the Pearl Street distribution center and distributed electricity to approximately 82 customers in Manhattan, New York. In 1893, electricity lit up the World’s Fair in Chicago. But it would not be advisable to rely on these tidbits of information to justify whether or not Ellen’s home had electricity.
If Ellen lives in a city in the 1920s-30s, there’s a good chance the flick of a wall switch will light up the room. But if Ellen’s story is set in a period prior to the early years of the twentieth century, it is probable that some other source of light scattered the darkness when she arrived home.
Before launching our search, we should also determine a few other things about Ellen.
Does she enjoy the city life or live in a rural area?
Is she rich or poor?
Answers to these questions may make a difference in the type of lighting in Ellen’s home.
Our research list (whether through the Internet, the local library, newspaper archives, or other favorite resources we have developed ) might include:
History of the city and surrounding area where Ellen lives. (If the answer is quick and obvious, we can breathe a sigh of relief and get back to writing our story.)
History of Electricity, especially a timeline
Check out possible light sources:
Generators
Gas lighting
Kerosene lamps
Candles
Fireplace
A trip to the actual city or town can be invaluable overall, though probably not practical if made only to determine when power poles and lines were installed.
Stay focused. Unless we have the mind for it, following the progression of science in this area can be overwhelming and take us on unnecessary detours, robbing us of precious time to pursue our goal: writing.
Wrapping it up, be prepared for the possibility that your exploration will lead you to another research project:
The dark house looked lonely and foreboding as Ellen pulled the key from her reticule and fumbled with the lock. Pushing open the door, she felt around the table for a match…
They did have matches back then, didn’t they?
Jeannine Brummett lives in South Carolina with her husband of nineteen years, Don, who shares his three adult sons and three grandchildren with her. Reading is big on her list of things to do, but she also thrives on TV crime dramas, NBA basketball, and marvels at the critters and fowl life that live at the pond behind their house. She loves to sing praise songs, attend Bible Study, and help at a local food pantry.
You can learn a lot about a person by visiting their house or office. A writer can use that to her advantage.
Let’s assume your POV character is visiting the office of Mr. Smith, who they are meeting for the first time. You could simply describe the office as tidy or messy and give a hint of Mr. Smith’s character, or you could create a setting that painted a vivid picture of the occupant.
Four office setting examples that paint a picture of their occupants:
Office # 1
Mr. Smith’s office was extremely tidy. Two walls were taken up by bookcases, organized by subject. A third wall was filled by a row of identical filing cabinets, each drawer marked with a color-coded label. The stack of in-boxes was labeled with similar color-coded cards, and the squares on the desk-sized calendar were divided into numbered slices using colored ink. Next to the calendar lay a blank legal pad and a row of colored pens, each aligned perfectly with the edge of the desk.
Office # 2
Mr. Smith’s office was extremely tidy. Two walls were taken up by bookcases, filled with row after row of old books in matching bindings. A white mini blind covered the window, which was flanked by identical gray filing cabinets. A gray desk filled the center of the room, bare except for a pad of white paper, a single black pen and an empty in-box. Behind the desk, in place of the typical swivel desk chair stood a metal folding chair. The unpadded kind.
Two tidy offices. Two very different occupants. The same goes for these two messy offices…
Office # 3
Mr. Smith’s office was a chaotic wreck. Two walls were taken up by bookcases crammed with books, many of which had bits of paper marking various pages. More books were lying open on the desk amidst a jumble of papers. Behind the desk was a white board covered in rectangles filled with compact writing. The blocks of text were connected by arrows and peppered with sticky notes and occasional doodles. A stack of papers at least a foot high filled the in-box, occasional colored sticky notes jutting from the stack.
Office # 4
Mr. Smith’s office was a chaotic wreck. Two walls were taken up by bookcases filled with books, lumps of rock, lab equipment, and a variety of hats. Larger pieces of lab equipment sat on the floor behind the desk, under a pile of lab aprons. A flashlight and a single work boot balanced atop the pile. The desk was covered in a jumble of dented three-ring binders, crumpled napkins, empty coffee mugs, a handful of mechanical pencils, and a large box of jumbo-sized paperclips that had tipped over and spilled its contents across the mess and onto the floor.
As these examples show, before Mr. Smith enters the scene, we have a pretty good idea of his personality based solely on the description of his office.
One descriptive paragraph performing double duty—setting the scene and introducing a character at the same time.
Four suggestions for using setting to enhance your characters:
Create a personal space. Does your character have a space he has some control over, such as an office or bedroom. As in the examples above, those spaces can be filled with possessions and decor that communicate his personality.
Introduce a passion. What kinds of setting best define your character’s passions? A sewing room? The garage? An empty-lot-turned-garden? The local fitness club? A mountain path? Can you find a way to introduce the character in that space?
Define a sanctuary. What kinds of setting does your character go to when they desire peace and quiet, or when they need comfort or safety? A tree house in the backyard? A friend’s apartment? The local library? The attic? Show the details that make the space a sanctuary for your character.
Use character to fine-tune the setting. List words that describe your character. Does the list bring a specific setting to mind? Use it. Does the list include words like messy, colorful, or stylish that could be applied to a multitude of settings? Let those words inform the setting details.
Make your setting do double duty by painting a vivid picture of the characters who belong there.
[bctt tweet=”How can you tweak your settings to bring your characters to life? #writetips #amwriting” username=””]
Lisa E. Betz believes that everyone has a story to tell the world. She loves to encourage fellow writers to be intentional about their craft and courageous in sharing their words with others. Lisa shares her words through dramas, Bible studies, historical mysteries, and her blog about intentional living. You can find her on Facebook LisaEBetzWriter and Twitter @LisaEBetz
Which world, or sub-genre, does your novel belong to?
Bookstores have general genre sections in which to categorize their books making it easier for consumers to locate a specific subject. However, within each genre there are always dozens of sub-genres to help narrow down a reader’s search.
Science fiction is no different, encompassing a large number of categories. Novels in this genre often deal either with a natural science or technological science, but the variances can go even deeper.
Here is a brief breakdown of some of the most popular sub-genres within sci-fi.
The sub-genre of Alternate History asks the question, “How would our world be changed if a specific historical event had ended differently?” These books use actual historical settings to explore a fantasy world that does not exist but could have existed. A similar sub-genre is the Parallel Universe. These works consist of one or more worlds that coexist with our own, often reflecting an almost identical reality but with only minor differences that may or may not affect a major change.
Artificial Intelligence and Robot sub-genres are closely related in that they are both computer science based. These sub-genres reflect the idea of intelligent and self-sustaining machines. On the flip side, Virtual Reality stories dive into a world where computer-simulated environments play a role within which the characters are able to interact.
In recent years the idea of an Apocalyptic, Post-apocalyptic or Dystopian society have become quite popular among audiences. These novels deal with end of the world events and how mankind is able to survive in the aftermath of an almost global extinction. They are often a man vs. nature conflict and sometimes include a corrupt government that challenges human survival.
The Steampunk sub-genre of science fiction is by far one of the most popular. This sub-genre is set in the 19th century when steam powered engines were still in use and it often crosses over with the Alternate History category. Mixed with the traditional lifestyle of this era are more modern technologies such as computers, robots and futuristic machinery or weaponry.
Alien Invasion of earth or First Contact between humans and another unknown life form are other popular sci-fi sub-genres. In recent decades the subject of Mutants—humans that change or develop in some way to produce superpowers or defy nature—is another well-liked category. With the rise in popularity of superheroes both in books and on the screen, this sub-genre continues to grow.
Closely related to the previous categories are Space Exploration and SpaceOpera. The idea of Space Exploration usually stems from modern day reality answering the “What if?” question of a major space discovery and the effects on our planet or the near future. These books usually attempt to stay within the confines of our current knowledge of science and space travel. The category of Space Opera is often set on a distant planet in a universe unlike our own, with a mixture of human and alien characters, and various unknown languages and cultures. This sub-genre allows the story to go against the laws of physics and often makes the impossible, possible, through a source of magic or power.
The Time Travel sub-genre includes stories where one or more of the characters travel to any point within history or into the future. This subject remains a popular category within scifi.
Your work may cross over into multiple sub-genres within the world of science fiction. Make an effort to choose just one or two categories to narrow down your theme so it will be easier to market when the time comes. It’s important to know your book’s sub-genre so you can discover your target audience and in turn, your readers will be able to find your book!
Laura L. Zimmerman is a homeschooling mama to three daughters and a doting wife to one husband. Besides writing, she is passionate about loving Jesus, singing, drinking coffee and anything Star Wars. You can connect with her through Facebook, Twitter @lauralzimm, Instagram @lauralzimmauthor and at her website, Caffeinated Fiction, www.lauralzimmerman.com.
Could you write a story in 500 words? What about 100?
Flash fiction is a genre that has grown in popularity in recent years. Those committed to it enjoy the challenge of creating a complex story in less than 1000 words—some choosing to stick below 500 or even 100 words total. The key to flash fiction is that the story must be complete, encompassing a beginning, middle, and end, as well as a plot twist at the close. This genre can be both fun and challenging. The writer must create as tight a story as possible, while still evoking the same emotion one would experience from a full-length short story.
The positive point to writing this type of work is that the genre itself fits nicely within the fantasy or sci-fi world, particularly because of the twist ending. However, a writer within the fantasy/sci-fi niche will have a few habits they may need to refine if they want to be successful in this genre.
Setting: With a limited set of words and an entire story to tell, there is typically no room for a descriptive setting. This may be difficult for a fantasy writer. Many publishers will allow a higher word count for a novel in the fantasy/sci-fi genre to leave room for world-building. Unfortunately, flash fiction doesn’t give this extra word allowance. The writer needs to choose the perfect word to describe not only the mood of the scene but what might evoke a physical description of the surroundings to the reader. Instead of giving a detailed description of a broken down house that’s been empty for years, the writer might have to limit himself to simply using the word “dilapidated” knowing that the reader will see the shattered windows and chipped paint in their mind’s eye.
Physical Appearance: Once again, there just aren’t enough words to effectively describe your characters. Forget hair and eye color, or other mundane information that isn’t necessary to the story. Choose a single characteristic that will make the character stand out but will also tell a bit about that character’s personality. “Amelia shrank beneath his stare and pushed her glasses back in place.” In this example, the reader knows Amelia is low in self-confidence but what about those glasses? I would imagine they are part of what makes her self-conscious in the first place. She certainly doesn’t stand out as part of the popular crowd. I didn’t need to know if she was fat or thin, tall or short—she clearly sees herself as plain, which will lead the reader to see her in the same way.
Dialogue: Effective dialogue is another challenge you will face when creating your flash fiction in a fantasy or sci-fi setting. There may be unusual language or phrases you wish to insert, but there will be no extra words to give such an explanation. Once more, take your time to word your story so the reader can understand the intent without having to be told the precise meaning. Dialogue is also an opportunity for the writer to establish setting or physical appearance and still keep that word count tight.
The main thing to remember when writing fantasy/sci-fi flash fiction is to make every single word count. Find one word that can take the place of many. It may sound easy to write a story in 100 words, but I find that I take longer to write a single flash fiction story than I do an entire 2000 word chapter!
Flash fiction is a challenge every writer should undertake to help sharpen their writing skills. It will hone your talent to tell an effective story in a limited number of words and can be a great boost to your creative side!
Laura L. Zimmerman is a homeschooling mom to three daughters, and a doting wife to one husband. Besides writing, she is passionate about loving Jesus, singing, drinking coffee and anything Star Wars. You can connect with her through Facebook and Twitter and at her website, www.lauralzimmerman.com
This non-writing exercise can help you connect with your character in a tangible way, by interacting with real objects:
What kind of store does your character like to shop at? A home improvement store, hobby shop, department store, consignment shop? Go to one near you and walk the aisles, searching for at least five items your character would buy.
Now head to the grocery store and go through the aisles looking for foods your characters would normally eat. If your courage and budget allow, buy some food and create your character’s favorite dinner.
Describe their personal space
Write a few paragraphs describing your character’s bedroom, study, or some other special place. Include as much detail as possible, including small, ordinary things such as cracked plaster, the creak of the window being opened, and two-week-old crumpled socks. Now read back over the description and circle the details that best relay the character’s personality. Read through it again and refine several details, making them as specific and telling as possible.
Describe someone else’s space
Place your POV character in a setting that belongs to a character they are in conflict with, such as the office of a rival or the house of an estranged parent. Describe the setting through the POV character’s eyes. What details do they notice? What might they not notice, or not care about? What judgments (right or wrong) do they make from visiting the space?
Now bring a different character into the same space and repeat the exercise. Compare the descriptions. Could a reader easily tell which description came from which character?
Craft a bio
If your character works in a professional setting, create a resume, complete with future career goals. If a job setting doesn’t apply, give the character a reason to describe themselves to a stranger and write a one-page bio monologue.
Now write an interior monologue describing what the character really thinks about themselves. How different is it from their public persona? Why?
Immerse yourself in a favorite pastime
All people, real or fictional, do something with their spare time. Real people may waste it binge-watching Netflix, but hopefully your character has a specific hobby or two that helps define their character. Get to know your character better by immersing yourself in one of those activities:
Spend an hour or two listening to their favorite music then do some reading about a few of the important musicians in that genre. Read a few of their favorite books. Find someone who knows about beekeeping or radio-controlled airplanes and spend an afternoon watching them.
For the truly devoted: Is your character into pottery, oil painting, or tai chi? Take a class in that subject. (And remember, the point is to experience it, so it doesn’t matter how embarrassing your skills might be. Pretend you are as good as the instructor and soak it in.)
[bctt tweet=”Five ways to know your characters better. #writetip ” username=””]
[bctt tweet=”Looking for a few simple characterization exercises? #amwriting” username=””]
Once you’ve chosen the setting of your book—which we discussed in Part 1 of this series—it’s important to spend time researching the setting so you can portray this location accurately.
Here’s how you can research your setting:
Take a research trip to your setting (if feasible).
Watch YouTube videos. Many times, people will give a “virtual tour” of a certain city. As you watch, pay close attention to the sights and sounds of the place.
Research the location and its history through various online resources. (Keep in mind, however, that some websites, such as Wikipedia, may not provide 100% accurate information and should not considered a reliable source.)
Read books about the location, including memoirs.
Read the online newspaper of the location.
Discover pictures of the place via Pinterest. (Make sure to pin them to your storyboard as well!)
Interview people who have a connection to the location.
Research the city through www.areavibes.com. This website allows you to explore a location and discover its amenities, housing and neighborhoods, population, economics, crime, weather, etc. It will even compare these results with another location as well.
Take advantage of Google Earth and its street view feature.
The same amount of work must be applied to settings that are invented as well. Obviously, you can’t research the setting—but by using the above and below checklists, you can brainstorm specific location details. (If you do this, you might even be able to trick your readers into believing that your setting is an actual place!)
When you research/invent your setting, I recommend recording the info in an online file or notebook. As you do, take note of the following:
What unique elements does the place have that contribute toward its personality? Are there rolling hills? Willow trees that form a canopy over a certain street? Farm animals held behind fences?
How do people speak? What is their dialect and popular slang?
Where is the place located geographically?
What is the climate in every season?
What is the history of the location, and how has it shaped the setting into what it is today?
What is the most popular religion? (For instance, is it located in the Bible belt?)
What are the socioeconomics?
What is the atmosphere? Is it a laid back town in the south, where people are accustomed to a slow-paced lifestyle, or does it take place within the hustle and bustle of NYC?
What are the popular fashion and hairstyles?
Where people shop for food, coffee, groceries, clothes, ice cream, etc.?
What are the significant landmarks and parks?
Where do the teenagers hangout?
What kind of animals can be found in the location? Plants? Insects?
If it’s a small town, what big city is it located near?
What are the popular street names?
As you research, you will collect facts about this location; however, when you write your story, these facts must be filtered through the eyes of your POV character. Everyone is going to have a unique attitude toward a specific location. This attitude is influenced by a number of factors: the person’s personal experiences, memories, personality, worldview, etc. Their perception of this setting is also a great tool to contribute to the book/scene’s particular mood/emotion.
For example, the following excerpt is the first page of my YA novel, PURPLE MOON:
“Why couldn’t you just leave me alone in our apartment for the summer, Mom? I’m sixteen. I’m responsible. Mostly mature.”
Our Camry swerves as we turn into Lakeview Estates. Three-‐‑story homes span the landscaping that stretches for acres then tucks into the bordering lake.
Families visit here every year for summer vacation. The majestic mountain peaks that outline the water of Lake Lure offer a refuge of seclusion to escape the stress of hectic lifestyles. No words describe the beauty of this place.
Yet I shut my eyes and sink further into the seat, trying to wish myself away. Somewhere else. Maybe to the fairy tale land that I used to imagine when I was a kid. I would even welcome the idea of turning around and driving all the way back to Brooklyn.
Anywhere but here. ”
(c)Purple Moon by Tessa Emily Hall – 2013 – Published by Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas
Based on that excerpt, what would you say is the attitude that my protagonist, Selena, has toward the setting?
The fact about the setting, which is included in this excerpt, is that Lake Lure is a beautiful tourist location. But it’s clear that Selena is not happy to be there. She portrays this not only through internal monologue, but through her body language as well (sinking into her seat and closing her eyes).
Later, Selena reacts to the thick humidity of Lake Lure by mentioning how she should have brought more summer clothes. Why wasn’t she prepared for the hot weather? Probably because she was accustomed to living in Brooklyn, NY, which is a much cooler climate than Lake Lure, even in the summer.
Do you see how one’s memories, personality, and background all come into play when describing the setting of a novel?
“I wouldn’t have thought a simple sketch of a lake could have so many emotional strings attached to it. But it does. For me, at least.” ~Selena from PURPLE MOON
So ask yourself: How does my protagonist connect to the setting? You can brainstorm this by asking the following questions:
What are her significant memories of certain areas of the location? What are the sights, sounds, smells, etc. that remind her of these memories, and what is her attitude toward them?
Is this her birthplace? If not, when did she move there, and how does it compare with the other places she has lived?
How has this location influenced her personality and worldview?
Where does your character go during her free time?
What street does she live on?
What kind of house does she live in?
Where does her family fall on the socioeconomics scale?
Remember:
The setting of a story should be treated as if it were another character, so make sure to research it beforehand.
Then, when you begin to write, highlight on the specific details that will breathe life into your setting. However, make sure that this is presented through the eyes of your POV (Point of View) character.
Through proper developing and portraying your setting, you will give your readers the opportunity to become transported into the story’s location . . . and they’ll never once have to leave the comfort of their own home. 😉
[bctt tweet=”How to Choose, Develop, & Research a Setting: Part 2 #amwriting #writingtips” username=”tessaemilyhall”]
Do you prefer to invent a location, or choose an already-existing one? What’s your favorite part about researching the setting? Let me know in the comments!
Setting is far more than the backdrop of a novel. It’s the environment that breathes life into a story. It can paint hues of emotion, provide necessary backstory, enhance characterization, and serve as a tool to unfold significant plot elements.
When a writer prepares to write a book, they should spend just as much time researching and developing a setting as they do with their characters. In fact, settingshould be treated with much attention as if it were a character in itself.
Think of your favorite book. How would the plot differ if it were set in the snow-capped mountains of Colorado? Or in a dry desert of New Mexico?
When a writer accurately portrays a believable setting for their novel, the reader becomes sucked into the story. This should be done in a way so that the story would not be the same if it were set in another location.
For example: The setting is a crucial element in the movie The Titanic. It would be impossible to set that story in another location; the entire plot would unravel.
Readers fall in love with books that present well-developed settings and story worlds. What would The Chronicles of Narnia be without Narnia? Or Anne of Green Gables without Green Gables?
When choosing a setting, ask yourself:
What is the mood and theme of this story? What kind of location—a small town, big city, etc.—would best portray this?
How will the setting affect the plot of the story?
Will I use a real town or invent one?
What cities—including my hometown— am I familiar with? Out of those, which one am I most passionate about?
How can I weave symbolism into this setting?
How does the setting influence my protagonist? What is his/her attitude toward this location? (This is a great way to unravel backstory — through showing the memories tied to her surroundings.)
I chose Lake Lure, NC for the setting of Purple Moon for the following reasons:
I realized I had yet to read a YA novel that was set in the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina.
I knew I wanted to set the story in the south since I am from SC.
I came across a photograph of the mountains outlining a lake. This inspired me to do a Google search of lakes in North Carolina.
After I found a list, I chose Lake Lure because the name reflected a theme in the novel.
Since my protagonist is an artist, the mountains tucked into the lake keeps her inspired and reflects her personality.
If you want your readers to become swept away in your story, it’s crucial that you spend necessary time researching your setting before you begin to write.
It’s important to research your setting for the following reasons:
Believability
Accuracy
So your readers can feel as if they have stepped into the pages of your book. You want to give them the sense that they are living in the story.
To prevent your story from unfolding in front of a “closed curtain”.
In the next post, we’ll discuss how to go about researching your setting and how to filter it through the eyes of your protagonist.
[bctt tweet=”How to Choose, Develop, & Research a Setting: Part 1 via @TessaEmilyHall #write” username=””]
What is your favorite story setting? How does it enhance the plot, theme, mood, and protagonist of the novel?
Have you ever been reading a novel when it suddenly dawns on you that the setting has become like a character in the book?
As I got into Aaron Gansky’s novel, The Bargain, I couldn’t help but notice how important the setting was. It’s the first time I’ve read a book and the setting has jumped off the page at me as if it had come to life.[bctt tweet=”Have you ever read a novel where the setting came to life? #amreading #amwriting”]
A brief description of the novel:
Connor Reedly is a journalist whose wife is dying. She has chosen to go to her sister’s home in a small desert town named Hailey. It’s there Connor is approached by a local citizen and told he must write ten articles or his wife will die and Hailey will be destroyed. He’s challenged with finding the good in a not-so-good place.
Five reasons why I believe Aaron nailed the setting:
1. It matched the theme of his story. Between Connor’s dying wife and the dying town, the image of death a desert brings to mind fits perfectly.
2. It reflected the lives of the local citizens (secondary characters). Then there’s the challenge of finding good people in the midst of an evil society and secondary character motivation. What setting could be more challenging than the desert? (Maybe the ocean, but it wouldn’t have worked as well in this story.)
3. It mirrored the protagonist’s career. As a journalist, Connor had to dig to find the truth in matters. There is plenty of sand to dig through in a desert.
4. It even resembled the antagonist. Connor’s story involves a lot of pressure from an outside source. The heat of that pressure is well-matched by the heat of the desert.
5. It represented the protagonist’s character arc. Connor had to make more than one life-changing decisions throughout the novel. Think “Refiner’s Fire.”[bctt tweet=”The setting of your novel can make a huge difference in your story if you choose the right one. #writing”]
So, Writer, think about the novel you’re writing right now. Is there a particular setting that would match the theme of your story? Would a different setting better amplify the things your character is going to suffer through or experience during their arc? Consider alternate settings for your novel and see if one may be better than the one you’re using now.
