The World Around Them: Mastering Setting in Fiction

What is the story setting?

Well, the setting is where your story takes place. It is the backdrop of where your characters live, where the action unfolds, and it sets the tone of the story. Properly done, it enhances reader enjoyment and enchants the senses. It is an important part of the plot, functioning as more than just description.

Setting makes a story enjoyable; a unique one drives action. Think of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Narnia) or The Hobbit (Middle-earth and the Shire). A good setting is reader-enveloping and utterly enjoyable. If you are looking for Horror, Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance prompts or D&D setting prompts that can be found on separate pages on the website.

More Than Just a Map

Many writers make the mistake of thinking setting is just a location on a map, a city name, or a room description. But setting is actually three-dimensional. It encompasses:

• The Physical Place: The geography, the architecture, and the objects in the room.
• The Time: This isn’t just the era (Victorian England vs. Future Mars); it is the season, the time of day, and the weather. A breakup scene taking place in a sunny park at noon feels vastly different than one taking place in a torrential downpour at midnight.
• The Social Environment: What are the rules of this world? Is it a strict military boarding school or a lawless frontier town? The societal structure influences every part of your characters’ lives.

Engaging the Senses

You want a setting that “enchants the senses.” To do this, you must move beyond sight. New writers often describe what a room looks like (blue curtains, wooden table), but a setting should engage all the senses.

I will use The Hobbit as an example, since it is a masterpiece of setting:

• Sound: The songs of the questing dwarves; the grand adventure awaits.
• Smell: The smell of cooking food and other delicious things (the comfort of home).
• Touch: The sticky humidity of dark, underground places.
• Taste: Well, need we say more? The Hobbits loved their food.

Setting as a Character

In many great stories, the setting acts almost like another character. Think of the Overlook Hotel in The Shining or the moors in Wuthering Heights. The setting should exert pressure on your characters. It should force them to act. They are not neutral; they have desires.

• Does the bitter cold force them to seek shelter with an enemy?
• Does the crowded, noisy market allow a thief to escape unseen?

If you can remove your characters from the setting and the scene plays out exactly the same, your setting isn’t working hard enough yet.

Quick Tips for Writing Setting

Be Specific: Instead of “a bird,” write “a crow.” Instead of “a tree,” write “a weeping willow.” Specificity creates a clearer image in the reader’s mind.

Avoid the “Data Dump”: Don’t pause the story for three pages to describe a tree. Weave the description in as the character interacts with it. You can add it into the dialogue as well.

Filter Through the Character: Describe the setting based on how the character feels about it. A sad character might see a sunset as “darkness coming,” while a happy character sees it as “a peaceful end to a day well lived.”

Put it into practice — the Scene Starter below will generate a setting, atmosphere, conflict, and opening action to get your scene off the ground.