|
The articles in this section aim to provide writers, particularly new writers, with an insight into the world of fiction writing.
Motivation
Using proverb based themes for story ideas - Part One
Using proverb based themes for story ideas - Part Two
Backup Your Writing for Free Online
Plot: The Fiction Writer's Itinerary
Choosing and Describing a Perfect Setting
Characterisation
Learn to be quiet
Delving into your past
Regaining your writing confidence
Using inclusive language in writing
Copyright: Where To Find Information
Critiquing guidelines
Anti-Virus Tip for Writers
All Rights Remain With the Author: Fact or Fiction?
|
 |
A setting provides a mood whether it's an island inhabited by dinosaurs, an exploratory space ship or a country town with a secret. It should not only relate to the characters' situation and time period but also provide enough authenticity to satisfy readers.
Perfect settings can range from plain court rooms to great cities. As long as you choose a setting that makes a story seem right, believable and intriguing, you can make it perfect. Here is an example from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice: "The village at Longbourn was only one mile from Meryton; a most convenient distance for the young ladies, who were usually tempted thither three or four times a week, to pay their duty to their aunt, and to a milliner's shop just over the way." This setting is perfect not because of the picturesque English village, but because it fits both the time period and the characters' situation.
Imperfect settings are those that seem incongruous with the characters and their situations. Unless you're writing a bizarre science fiction story you wouldn't, for example, place a bank clerk in a desert handing over money to a bank robber. A bank clerk belongs in a bank and a robber - well, you get the idea.
It's not necessary to go into long descriptive passages to convey a setting. Showing characters in action often provides the details readers need to feel the basic mood of a setting. Show what characters see, smell, hear, taste and touch. This will keep a setting alive and vibrant throughout a story, as does this excerpt from Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray: "How fresh and green they look!' she said, and put one in her mouth. It was hotter than the curry; flesh and blood could bear it no longer. She laid down her fork. 'Water, for Heaven's sake, water!' she cried."
The mention of 'freshness', the taste sensations, the fork and the call for water all combine to provide a setting -- a dining situation. The author achieves this through the character's actions by concentrating on sensory detail and by adding the internal feeling of increased body temperature with the expression "hotter than the curry."
Show only the essential parts of a setting. It's not necessary to describe the internal dimensions of a house for example, unless, of course, you're writing a mystery where such details hinge on the outcome of the plot. Instead, relate the setting to the character's emotions as in this example from The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe: "And now at the dead hour of the night, amid the dreadful silence of that old house, so strange a noise as this excited me to uncontrollable terror." From this, the reader gains an overall impression of the setting without getting bogged down in over-description.
Indicate setting through dialogue as well, but only if it's necessary to advance the plot. Idle chatter slows down the pace of a story and can frustrate readers. Read samples of dialogue from various short stories and novels to see how setting sneaks in via dialogue.
"Get us a beer will you luv?" infers a possible setting such as an English pub through the mention of 'a beer' and the use of 'luv'. "Wanna beer mate?" gives a somewhat different setting, possibly Australian, through the use of 'mate' denoting friendship and the use of colloquialism. Each example, when read in context, enhances the setting by providing additional sensory information.
To strengthen your setting, show the weather, fashion, modes of transport, communication and any other items you feel necessary. To enhance your knowledge of a setting, visit the area if you can. Use your senses. Record your experiences. This will help enormously when you're ready to write. If you're writing a science fiction story, visit a computer expo to get ideas. If you're writing a historical novel, go to a museum, a library and a church. For any settings you're unable to visit, use your research skills. Become a writing sleuth. Look at maps and weather charts, newspapers, local idioms, speech patterns and social practices, types of food and so on.
Practice choosing and describing perfect settings. Think of a few characters and a plot, then choose a room in your home where the story can develop. As an example: a kitchen where a plumber attempts to retrieve a diamond earring from a drain as the frantic owner paces in the background. Show the characters interacting within the room. Perfect the setting you choose by focusing on the five senses and by making the mood and atmosphere fit the characters' situation. You'll find the setting taking shape before your very eyes.
© Justin O'Leary 1999
|
|
