How to Create an Active Setting
By Michelle CondeIntroduction
When it comes to setting, it’s easy for a writer to consider it a necessary evil of the craft. After all, the setting is simply the backdrop of your story, the painted background of the stage where your characters act out their plots and conflicts. Why add more to your writerly plate? However, your story’s setting doesn’t need to be as flat or forgettable as a theater stage’s painted background. Rather, your setting can be just as active as your characters, and even stand on its own as a character.
History as the Reader Knows It
History plays a subtle but influential role in our everyday lives—even more so in your story’s setting. From your setting’s beginnings to its major events to its present state, the history of your setting can be used to ground your readers further and add more depth to your story. For example, in George R. R. Martin’s epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, the capital city of King’s Landing is home to a royal court storied with the history of the previous royal dynasty that once ruled it, and that continues to be told by the various characters that reside in the capital. By including the history of your setting, your reader gains a better sense of time, and your story becomes weightier with background.
The Devil is in the Detail
Describing detail can often be a pain for writers; however, detail is crucial if you want to flesh out your setting. Details such as touch, smell, sound, and even taste can bring your setting to life. For example, let’s visit a seaside town. Gulls cry over the crashing waves, the warm air tinged with salt, and the lively chatter of locals as they crowd the nearby beach, their skin prickled with grains of sand. Such details can be considered minor in the grand scheme of things, but such details can immerse your readers not only into your setting but also into your story.
Let Your Characters Play
As your characters suffer through their conflicts, don’t be afraid to let them interact with their respective settings. After all, we don’t just walk and talk and do nothing else. Your characters should engage with their physical surroundings and let their perspective add color to their interactions with the setting. Perhaps your character litters or sits at a park bench worn with time, or they toss a penny into a local fountain, with a local legend attached to it. Letting your characters engage with your setting, however minor, can further add depth to your setting and not let it remain a simple backdrop for readers to ignore.
Now It’s Your Turn
Creating an active setting takes work, and like with writing, it doesn’t become perfect overnight. However, by taking small but crucial steps, you can create a setting that not only grounds your reader into your story, but also immerses them in another time and place.
About Michelle CondeMichelle Conde was born in Phoenix, Arizona. She is currently studying creative writing at Arizona State University. When she is not busy with school, Michelle spends her time learning more about the craft of writing, juggling a variety of projects, and playing video games she never finishes.