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One of the first problems a writer must
contend with is setting. Where there is a story, there
must also be somewhere for it to take place. Setting is
a much-overlooked part of the storytelling process--my feeling
is that you should regard setting not as an external element
to your story, but as another character. In many ways,
it is! The setting is integral to
the story. You can't separate the two and still have a
complete work. Your setting adds dimension to your
story, giving it realism. It can also tell the readers
things about your characters without "telling"
them--imagine the difference in our impressions if we had met
Lando Calrissian in the bubbling swamps of Dagobah and Yoda in
Cloud City! Especially in the genres of fantasy and
science fiction, when we praise a novel as being
"vivid" or "detailed" or even
"realistic", what we are usually praising is the
depiction of setting. When you write in this sort of
genre, you have to build your setting from the ground
up. In fact, setting is one of the major reasons why
these novels tend to be so lengthy--the fantasy author can't
make the assumptions about setting that the mainstream fiction
author can. The fantasy author must construct a whole
new world for their setting; from the ground up. So
setting is important. We want the most vivid depiction
of setting possible without boring our readers. What are
some of the ways we can make a setting more vivid?
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Your setting should be planned during
the story planning--not tacked on at the end. If you
plan the setting as part of the story from the beginning,
it will show. From your very first glimmer of an
idea, you have some conception of where it must
occur. Develop that along with the rest of the work,
and you're one step ahead.
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What requirements does your story
place on its environment? Does your story require a
setting near water? In the city? Way out in
the country? Is this a cold climate?
Tropical? What time of year is it? What sort
of people and animals might your characters
encounter? What kind of social change is going
on? What sort of issues are important to your
characters?
You'll need a whole extra set of
questions to develop a fantasy setting. What sort of
magic is standard here? What sort of governing body
is there? What kind of currency do they use?
How do they dress? What patterns of speech might
they use? How technologically advanced are they?
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Don't neglect the passage of time in
your storytelling. Everything your characters do
will take time, and it is up to you to provide a realistic
sense of the time passing while they do it. Don't forget that
even the hardiest heroes need to sleep! A common
beginners' mistake is a story that reads like one long
day, or heroes who never stop to sleep. This kind of
pace will exhaust your readers too! Let your
characters progress through time naturally, and keep a
timeline so you can see what happened when, and make sure
your days are broken up realistically.
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What about weather? The
weather in your character's world will change.
Depending on the season, you may have rain, or snow, or
blistering heat. If you don't provide a sense of the
weather--and the greater context of season--the reader is
left with a sense of unreality about this place. It
wouldn't hurt to note the weather on your timeline, so
that you can make sure your seasons progress as they
should.
Draw a map. Especially in
fantasy story-telling, a map will often show you things
about your world or give you plot ideas that you would not
have found otherwise. It also makes sure you have a
clear idea of the layout of your setting, and keeps your
directions and sense of space constant.
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