What makes up setting in a story

For example, is your character shy and withdrawn? Remember: The setting is not just the backdrop or geographical details. Creating an engaging setting for your reader can be difficult. Think of the setting like a very large puzzle — it takes a lot of detailed pieces to make the big picture appear seamless.

Through detailed research and a lot of thought, you can create a story setting that aligns for your reader by using these tips. Related: Writing Prompts By Genre. Mood is defined as the overall feeling the reader has when reading a story, and it is created by the author. How do you want readers to feel as they read your story? Think on that, then create that mood with your writing. Think of it in terms of this: A bright summer morning in the middle of a large, grassy park where happy families are out casts a much different mood than a dark forest with crooked, gnarled trees and low hanging fog.

What kind of plot do you have? Or maybe it fits better in the future? Look at the props and the way the characters view them. Consider how the different people in the book are treated. Are the elderly respected? Are the police viewed as an authority?

Are the parents held in regard? In what regard do people hold the churches and the government? All of these things and more have a bearing on the time period your story will fall into.

Sometimes, the best gauge of what time period your story setting should be is to consider a time you know well and have loved. As you write the setting of a story, you need to think about the atmosphere that you need to portray for the reader. Is the scene one with high tension? Write your story setting in one that implies an atmosphere of high tension. For example, maybe James and Lisa are working up toward an argument.

When you read that description, you probably think about relaxation and peace — not high tense emotion. Remember that the setting of a story includes more than the terrain, weather, and climate of the place.

We already discussed some of the other elements that are involved in the setting of a story. Some of these are the government, religions, superstitions, and population.

But how do you write them into your story? No more. No less. You experience every part of that walk. You use every one of your five senses. You want your readers to experience your story through each of their senses, too.

An easy way to do this is by using literary devices in your writing. Begin by describing what you want them to see. When you do, describe it the same way the eye travels in real life.

Start with the focal point, then move across in a straight line. Next, your main character would naturally notice what they hear. Have him touch things. Bridget McNulty is a published author, content strategist, writer, editor and speaker. She is the co-founder of two non-profits: Sweet Life Diabetes Community, South Africa's largest online diabetes community, and the Diabetes Alliance, a coalition of all the organisations working in diabetes in South Africa.

She is also the co-founder of Now Novel: an online novel-writing course where she coaches aspiring writers to start - and finish! Bridget believes in the power of storytelling to create meaningful change.

Thank you for this wonderful article. So all the writing information I can get will help. That sounds an interesting combination of degrees, Polly. Best of luck with your studies.

Outlining will show you if it really works. When you know your premise, and you […]. Great info here, especially how setting can limit, thus buffer the plot. For me, this helps me with the overall focus. Do we need to describe the kitchen?

The appliances? The cabinets? Could they be? Up in that corner cabinet squirreled away in a place no one is likely to look, the daughter has hidden an extra set of keys to the car, just in case her mother squelches her opportunity to run around with her friends.

But sometimes she looks down on the drab beige kitchen tile, which reminds her of her uneventful life. As you explore the setting of a story, choose the details that relate to the characters and the conflict. Why am I reading this? While experimenting with the scene elements of setting in fiction, be open to the possibilities. Every story has a mood or atmosphere, a certain feeling.

It could be a sense of urgency, as in a thriller; a feeling of bleakness, as in a story of existential despair; or a lively, playful mood, as in a light comedy.

As readers, the mood of a piece helps pull us in. Who wants to read something that is emotionally flat? Setting details can contribute to mood, or atmosphere, to the extent that setting is involved in telling the story. The setting of a story can reveal the character of your protagonist—her likes and dislikes, her wants and needs, and so forth. If your character is drawn to a particular place, this might tell us something interesting about her. She abhors the congested population, the heavy traffic, and the light pollution—no stars visible in the night sky!

Her frequent trips to the country, with woods, lakes, open fields, blue skies, and the moon and the stars brightening the night sky can show, if vividly rendered, what she really misses and values. They act based on these feelings. Setting can motivate character. Frequent trips to the country can motivate your character to change her life—not necessarily to move to the country but perhaps to find a way to live better, perhaps in a less congested place, in an urban environment.

When setting motivates your protagonist to perform a certain action, you need to decide if this causal factor is a single causal agent, or is it just one factor in a complex web of causes?

In the case of her trips to the country, if your character decides to move from the city to the country, she might have several different motives for doing so, including the desire for a new job opportunity or perhaps moving closer to parents or grown children.

Some ambiguity is usually good. Make an appearance! That large, imposing mahogany desk, free of clutter. Business Books.

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