Many writers swear that setting is the most important element of any fictional work. Whether or not you believe this is uniformly true, you will want to spend some time considering your story's setting -- if you haven't already -- before you begin to write.
It's especially important to use details, especially things that don't immediately come to mind. You don't need a lot of them, just the right ones. Through this exercise, you will devote some time reflecting on your story's setting and conjuring the details that will make your setting vivid and real for your readers.
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: 30 minutes - 1 hour
Here's How:
- To begin, read part or all of a work with a strong setting. This can be a poem, such as Naomi Shihab Nye's "San Antonio" or an Elizabeth Bishop poem such as "At the Fishhouses" or a short story. Faulkner, Willa Cather, Jack London, and Katherine Mansfield are all writers known for their settings, for how their sense of place infects their work. What in particular made you believe in this place and in the writer's knowledge of it?
- Now take some time to think about your story's particular setting. If this is a place you have been, you might look at old photographs, maps, or diary entries. If you have not been there, check out some books or look online.
- Start with sight, which is for many of us the most immediate sense. Write down every image that comes to mind, whether it pertains to your story or not. Free associate. It doesn't have to make sense or be grammatical. Just get down as much as you can.
- Repeat the above for taste, smell, sound, and touch. Again, don't be afraid of unconventional answers. You never know what might end up in your final story.
- Finally, in one line sum up the dominate feeling you have about your setting. Is it a feeling of loneliness, menace, freedom? What mood will your setting evoke in your readers?
Look at the lists you've compiled. Which elements will contribute to this dominate mood? Which elements will complicate that mood?
Tips:
- This exercise can also work for imaginary settings. In fact, for science fiction and fantasy, it's even more important.
What You Need:
- Paper
- Pen
- Books, photos, maps, letters, diary entries, or other memory-jogging artifacts
