Breathing Life into Your Setting
Setting in a fictional novel, if done well, can take on a life of its own. In order to create a setting that is almost like a character, there are two basic points to know:
1) Know Your Setting, And 2) Know How Your Setting Influences Your Characters.
To Know Your Setting, you must first know where your story takes place. It should be a place that interests you, a place you already know or can discover, and a place that will capture your reader’s imagination.
If possible, visit the area even if it’s your hometown. Take pictures, talk to local business owners, eat at a café, or stay at a bed-and-breakfast. Listen to the people who live there and take notes. Walk their streets, visit their library, parks, museums, or cemeteries. Take a tour of a local interest to add further detail to your setting such as a coalmine, cave, or park preserve. Purchase a newspaper or regional magazine. Contact the Chamber of Commerce or Visitor’s Center for brochures, maps, and community information.
Travel or geographical books are wonderful resources full of pictures and information about the area you’re researching. Journals are another way to learn about the history of the place and the people who lived there. Regional documentaries provide terrific visuals and are available through your library.
If unable to visit the area in person, you can always research it through the books mentioned above, as well as the Internet. Consider the following for Google searches:
Geographic information; Community Activity (4-H, Boy Scouts, women’s groups or extension groups, school, sports); Detailed specifics; Real life events, and news reports.
Here are some specific places to search:
- www.google.com/earth – actual satellite images of a place
- www.maps.google.com – for street and general layout of areas
- www.houseplans.com – Use for details on character’s home. Print out copy for visual aid.
- www.encyclopedia.com
- www.refdesk.com
Next time, we’ll go over Part II – Know How Your Setting Influences Your Characters.
