One of the joys of fiction is its ability to transport us to faraway places. Just by cracking the covers of a book, we can visit the far reaches of Bombay or São Paulo and the imaginative wonders of made-up worlds and galaxies. We plan our settings meticulously, researching details and creating spectacular backdrops. In light of all that work and fascination, however, we often lose sight of the fact that settings are more than scenery. They’re the cohesive grounding, the foundation, of the whole story—and as such they need to be used with sparing care.
In his marvelously insightful book The Anatomy of Story
Many writers… mistakenly believe that since you can go anywhere, you should. This is a serious mistake, because if you break the single arena of your story, the drama will literally dissipate. Having too many arenas results in fragmented, inorganic stories.The most powerful stories are inevitably those that are distilled to the most inherent ingredients by removing extraneous information that detracts from their potent focus. Introducing a slew of settings is much like introducing a slew of characters: The reader’s attention fragments, and both the writer and the reader have to spend more time and effort to keep track of details and orient their emotional connection.
Following are some tips for distilling your settings to the perfect number:
1. Choose your primary settings wisely.
Setting should never be an arbitrary decision. Instead of throwing your characters into the first locale that pops to mind, consider the needs of your story. You’re going to be spending a lot of time in this setting, so you need to choose a place that will enhance the requirements of your plot.
2. Utilize and explore your primary setting.
Once you’ve decided upon an interesting setting, take advantage of it. If your character is in a prisoner of war camp, a spaceship, a cattle ranch, or a Victorian mansion, then use every nook and cranny to further your story and hold your reader’s attention. Readers would much rather explore one fascinating setting, rather than catch only a glimpse of half a dozen.
3. Combine settings.
Streamline your sub-settings by combining them wherever possible. Instead of sending your protagonist to a restaurant, a pub, and a food fair, try combining them. This eliminates the need to describe a new setting in every scene, allows your readers the satisfaction of returning to a familiar place, and presents deepening layers of possibilities with recurring minor characters.
4. Foreshadow settings.
Maintaining only the needed number of settings allows you unprecedented opportunities for foreshadowing. When important scenes occur in familiar settings, it’s that much easier to lay the groundwork in earlier scenes, thus bringing your characters full circle and providing a gratifying sense of closure for readers.
As one of the most important resources in your possession, settings need to be utilized wisely and frugally, so they can bring their full impact to the story.
Related Posts: One Thing the Movies Can Teach You About Setting
Are You Using Setting to Deepen Your Characters?
The Major Role of Minor Characters
_________________
Click the “Play” button to Listen to Audio Version.
Story by K.M. Weiland
Tags: foreshadowing , minor characters , Setting
I think it depends on the story more than anything else. The first thing I immediately thought was that many of the thrillers I've read often don't have a primary setting (the characters being in some form of transit for entire book), and often have many, many different settings. Very different type of story than a detective novel where the MC never leaves his small town while he investigates the crime. There I could see a primary setting and limiting the settings.
Granted, the settings shouldn't just mysteriously appear in the story without regard for flow or logic. I have at least ten settings in mine, but each one is transitioned either by the events or the characters themselves. Oddly, one of them came in during the first draft, and I kept taking it out because it didn't seem important. Eventually, it became the centerpiece of the story itself!
One thing about thrillers and their multiple settings is that they usually have a connecting thread. In the Bourne movies, for example, all the varied settings have a similiar feel. We follow Bourne all over the world, but everywhere we go has a feeling of continuity. Nothing jars.
I like the idea of combining settings.
I once read settings should be treated like another character, but not to add too many of these characters (settings) or the reader will get confused. Thanks for the reminder.
Well put. In many respects, settings *are* characters in their own rights. Nothing wrong with long, rambling novels with dozens of characters and settings, but if you want a tight story, less is more.
The setting overtakes some stories I've read to the point where I stop reading. The author gets so involved with the "where" rather than looking after and evolving the "who".
It's finding that balance which is important.
In the old classics the setting was important and page after page was devoted to the environment. But today's readers want more brevity. The skill is creating an atmosphere where the reader can do most of the conjuring and still allow themselves to be carried along with the story.
Indeed. Balance is always the key word in crafting good fiction. Some stories can support a setting that is as large as the characters themselves, but not many.
I think a good way to work on concentrating your settings is to think of them as if they were in a play. Plays are way more limited in "where you can go" and will force you to condense similar settings and focus on the important ones.
Or you could just say screw it and give your characters a quest plot.
I've always encouraged writers to think of their stories as movies, to help them get a better sense of the physical space in which their characters are moving. But, in this instance, a play is even better. Good thought.
And, yes, obviously this advice doesn't apply to journey stories. Journey stories find their solidarity in place in the road or the vehicle in which the characters are traveling.
I think this is a very important element. My current project takes place in only two settings--well, three if you include a short jaunt to the beach. But it's much simpler that way.
You could technically say my current WiP consists of multiple settings in that the MC visits several different portions of the same city, but I've found it strange to not have the journey story where the characters go to different portions of the world.
In that sense though, the city becomes the world and the buildings/city districts become the settings. If that makes any sense.
Great post! Do you think setting varies a bit in hero journeys? Usually the MC is on a quest, which by nature would take them to different settings. Great food for thought.
@Galadriel: Nothing wrong with complexity, but it's amazing how much depth we can find in simplicity.
@Matthew: Makes perfect sense. You could ultimately claim that every different room in a house is a different setting. But, obviously, limiting the settings to one or two rooms would be ridiculous for most stories. In some stories, an entire city (or even planet) *is* the setting, and the places within it are just subsettings. It depends how the author presents it.
@Tara: Yes. Journey stories are an obvious exception. But as I pointed out in a previous comment, journeys usually find a solidarity of setting through other means, either just via the road itself, or through some type of vehicle, e.g. the raft in Huckleberry Finn.
Brilliant! I've noticed this in books I've read -- this feeling of drowning in settings. I often wonder if I have the opposite problem, if I could just break out of that one small town in my head, then maybe my characters could end up somewhere amazing.
Finding one "amazing" setting doesn't mean you have to explore dozens in search of it. Sometimes it's just a matter of mixing and matching until you find the right one. I always know when I've found the right setting for a story; it just *feels* right.
I like how you provide specific tips in using setting within narrative. Setting is so important in advancing key aspects of a story. Thanks.
Fiction is like an intricate tapestry: pull one string and the whole thing falls apart. And setting is certainly one of the most important strings.
Good point. I've kept mine mainly in one town revolving around one mountain on a farm. I'm trying to make the mountain a real part of the story and how it reveals secrets of those around it:)
Sounds like you're on the right track. Another thing about limited settings is that you have more time and space to devote to development.
My character is on a journey at the moment, and I can already see many ways your post will make this quest more interesting. I've been haphazardly describing many random places and the events that occur therein, but I shall bear in mind your tip of "combining settings." Some scenes I've staged across several places could be mashed into one. Thanks for the post.
-whisper
Journey stories - and scenes - can be tricky, since the journey is integral to the story, but you also don't want the reader to become disconnected from the world of the story.
I've grown to hate most literature journeys... reading them and, I've discovered of late, writing them. I dislike how they're so disconnected from the plot, and I have the misfortune to have my character traveling alone. That minimizes character development, as there is little dialogue and character interaction. :) Any advice?
Ah, sorry, the above post, and this as well, are from whisper.
I'm not a fan of journeys either. They're very hard to pull off well, for the reasons you mentioned. My best advice would be to avoid them wherever possible, condense them if you must have them, and bring a sense of continuity by giving your character traveling companions who can create conflict and interest.
Thank you very much for your advice, I shall employ it. You are a very kind and helpful lady, Miss Weiland!
-whisper
My pleasure!
Awesome info! I'll definitely keep this in mind as I push on into the stories I'm writing :)
Squeaks.
Hope it comes in handy. Happy writing!
I'm guilty of not using enough settings probably! I'm fond of using one room for 10000 words. Hee!~
My current novel in progress is about isolation setting is narrowed as the novel continues.
Sounds to me like you're doing a good job manipulating the world of your story to fit the story's thematic needs.
Wow, thanks for the post.
In my wip I have two main settings and I have weaved the narrative between the two. I didn't want to have too many settings and overwhelm the reader.
I can't see how you can go wrong with just two settings. Sounds like a solid grounding for your story.
Love the picture you used for this week's post! ;)
Thanks! I thought it was lovely myself.