Setting Sketch
“If character is the foreground of fiction, setting is the background,” the narrator of Writing Fiction tells us. But how do you create engaging settings that enhance your story? People (and characters) are a product of their environment, for good or for ill. In order to write compelling stories that draw readers in, you have to not only know your setting intimately, but be able to manipulate that setting to bring out the best and worst in your characters.
What is a Setting Sketch
A setting sketch is an outline of a fictional place. What it looks like, smells like, feels like. You can discuss a setting objectively, as an author, through the lens of your own experiences, or you can take the same setting and examine it through the eyes of a character.
Settings also create an atmosphere and tone of your story. Horror stories are great examples of setting because they create an atmosphere of fear that is almost palpable; it’s what makes them, in their own unique way, such gripping stories, whether you’re working with a haunted house, a zombie apocalypse, or a ruined castle.
Visualize Your Setting
Start by visualizing where your story might take place, and consider these things: country, state, city, rural, urban, home, apartment, room, weather, season, time of day.
Once you have a general idea of the place(s) you think would work for your story, Google images that represent your setting. There can be discrepancies between what you see in the photo you choose, and the actual setting in your story. The idea isn’t to find a photo that represents your story in every way possible, but to capture the spirit of that particular location so that you have a place to start your sketch.
Save ALL photos that you think capture the essence of the setting you want to create – you may want to create a unique folder to store these images
Write About Your Setting
Open all the photos you found in an image preview so you have them handy to reference when you start writing.
Aim for about a half-page – 250 words, or so. Describe the settting in terms of place and time, physical, social, economic, historic, environmental and weather conditions, and even languages used! Use your saved photos as a reference!
Setting Checklist
- What unique atmosphere does this setting evoke?
- What important role does this setting play in the story?
- Would my story be the same if I changed this setting? Why or why not?
- Go through the weather patterns: rain, wind, snow, hot, cold, humid – what about this setting is consistent in each type of weather? What about this setting is inconsistent?
- What year is it in this setting? Why does that matter?
- How has this setting influences each of your characters?
Finishig Up
In your Setting Sketch, insert 2-3 images that you think best represent your description.
