Setting: Why it Matters and How to Choose One

Susan smiled as she watched her five-year-old son, Ryan,playing on the swings; simply hearing his squeals of laughter each time the swing reached its peak made her happy. Her eyes carefully tracked each swing, as he shouted, “Mommy, look! I can go higher!” and swung himself inches from the edge of the cliff.

There is tension in that scene, but where does it come from? The action is simple enough—a mother and son playing at a park—so what is it that makes you fear that something is about to go horribly wrong?

In this scene especially, setting is almost a third character, someone looming on the sidelines waiting for their chance to act. Not every setting has this powerful an effect, but it is always an important player.

Adam knelt down in front of Judy, reaching into his pocket for the ring and trying to ignore the stench that rose from the surrounding landfill. He watched her expression carefully, but her hand covered her nose and mouth in an attempt to filter the air. He just had to hope that the crinkling of her eyes meant she was smiling.

Do you wonder what possible set of circumstances could possibly have prompted him to propose in a landfill? Nothing except the setting was out of place in that scene, but that alone raised so many questions.

Setting can create tension, confusion, and general atmosphere among other things. For example, a candlelit table by a lake creates romance, a run down house in the middle of the night creates fear, and the list goes on and on, but this doesn’t mean that every setting automatically creates a specific mood with no help from you, the writer. Not every place is culturally associated with a certain set of expectations and not all settings will create the tone or feel you want when read by someone else.

Look at it this way: What feelings to a classroom draw up? A lake? A bedroom? The desert? These types of settings can be made to signify anything by what actions are taking place there. An argument between lovers takes on an entirely different tone when it takes place in the desert rather than a crowded lecture hall. The characters themselves will react differently, and the environment will act in different ways toward them.

But physical location isn’t the only thing to consider in setting. Smells, sights, sounds, feels, and tastes (yes, tastes—some things smell so strongly you can taste them) can all affect the story. Even ambiguous settings can become emotionally charged if something is out of place. Imagine walking into a classroom and being hit by the stench of a decomposing body. Imagine being at a lake miles from civilization when you suddenly hear a roar, a scream, and a gunshot in the distance. Abruptly, those ambiguous settings have emotional energy and something for the characters to react to. Suddenly, the setting is more than just a place.

So, how do you choose the best setting for a specific scene? Obviously, you face certain limitations depending on your story. If your characters live in Hawaii, you better have a damn good reason for dropping them in the middle of a desert. So, within the realm of possibility for your story (not reality, possibility—if your story is about aliens taking an interest in humans, it’s very possible that your characters get plucked out of Hawaii and dropped into the desert), look at your options. Which settings carry associated emotions or preconceptions? Which ones are neutral and can be used to whatever purpose you have in mind? Make a list, if it helps, and set your possibilities before you.

Next, look at the emotional tone you want to produce. Is there a place you could use to help create that? If you’re going for tension in a scene with normal action, is there a place with built in danger (cliff, mountain, the ocean during a rip tide, an area of the forest known for bear attacks)? If you’re trying to make something special seem extraordinary, is there a completely mundane setting you could use (the kitchen, the grocery store, school, the DMV)? Is there a setting that, by contrast, can help bring up the desired feel?

Let’s go back to the lover’s quarrel. Say that your two main characters are calm, rational, and generally level-headed—when they have problems, they discuss them like civilized adults and find a compromise both can live with—but you need them to break up. Your story depends on it. It is imperative! What do you do?

Melanie walked into their bedroom, wringing her hands.
“Sean? We need to talk.”
Sean sighed, resigned. He’d known the conversation was coming and had been avoiding it. He turned off the television and sat up on their black bedspread.
“Yeah. Sure.”

Here, Sean is ready to talk to Melanie. They’ll probably argue, but, most likely, they’ll work through their differences and end up stronger than they started. This is partially because of the setting—a bedroom the two of them share. This bedroom is common ground and a looming reminder of their life together; however, this doesn’t work for you. It’s not what you need. Suddenly, you remember that Sean, because of a childhood incident, fears public ridicule more than anything else in life. So, what happens when you do this:

They were walking through the crowd, pushing toward the food court of the amusement park when Melanie sighed and stopped in the middle of the courtyard.
“Sean, we need to talk.”
Sean had been expecting this conversation for a while, but he couldn’t believe she was bringing it up here.
“Now?” he asked, already preparing his defense.

See the change? In this scene, Melanie decides to bring their issues out into the open and, though she doesn’t know it, has picked the one spot where Sean loses his ability to be the calm, rational, level-headed man she loves. Amusement parks are supposed to be places full of fun and thrills, but Sean is immediately on the defensive because he feels as though Melanie is attacking him; he feels she has no right to make their problems public. This conversation, though on the same topic as the previous example, probably won’t end well for either of them.

It’s an exceedingly simple thing to change, but the setting makes all the difference.

Fanfiction: Pros and Cons

Fanfiction (noun): fictional stories based on a popular book, movie, television show, etc.

In the past ten years, as internet use has become close to universal, there has been an explosion in the writing and awareness of Fanfiction. Websites like Fanfiction.net host hundreds of thousands of stories based on the characters and situations in popular media. Some of these are well though out pieces that stay true to both character motivations and author intentions, but others may only have the character names in common. The authors of these pieces are just as different, but many proclaim to have one thing in common: they dream of becoming a published author.

Some people can’t see any positive in allowing fanfiction to continue—some of the strongest opposition points out that it is pure plagiarism. In a way, they’re right—fanfiction utilizes someone else’s characters, rules, villains, places, situations, and ideas, twisting and manipulating them to a different author’s whims. Certainly certain authors have very specific goals and purposes for writing their stories—they wish a scene had gone a different way, for example, and rewrite it, or they want to show the story from the point of view of a different character—but others type out the original book and change very little. While those authors rarely claim their work to be unique, even calling it a variation is somewhat outlandish. Yet even those who write well and devote time, energy, and love to creating a wonderful piece of fiction may be wasting their time.

Fanfiction is, generally, unpublishable. Since the work is not really the author’s creation, they don’t have the right to reproduce it for monetary gain. I’m not claiming that no fanfiction ever gets published—just look at the Star Trek and Buffy series, and even the newest addition to the Godfather series—but these are rare exception that have been licensed by the creators to create. If you have a serious desire to become a published author, get out of fanfiction! Use it as something to practice with, a way to sharpen your storytelling skills, and then put it behind you. Let your favorite characters teach you about plot development, and then leave them to the author who created them. Somewhere along the way, discover your own voice and style, your own characters and stories, and spend your time building them.

Who knows? Maybe, if you do, a young, aspiring author will be writing fanfiction about your characters one day.

Stealing: How to do it the Right Way

Say it with me: There are NO completely original ideas left in the world.

Again? Sure! There are NO completely original ideas left in the world.

And one more time with feeling! There are NO completely original ideas left in the world.

Got it? Good. Now let me explain.

Throughout our recorded history, humans have been fascinated by certain eternal questions: Where are we going? Why are we here? What is love? Does God exist? Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar? ...Okay, so, maybe not that last one, but definitely the others. Each generation has dealt with the questions in a different way, but they’ve all done it. This quest shows in their art, their culture, their laws, their mistakes, their successes, and their literature. This means that thousands of people have, for thousands of years, been discussing and dissecting the very themes you have tied through your novel, and you expect pure originality? Not gonna happen.

Rant and wail and cry if you need to. Go ahead. I’ll wait….

Okay. Now that we’ve moved on, we come to the real question: What do we do about it?

Simple. We steal.

A quote sometimes attributed to T.S. Elliot says, “Good writers borrow. Great writers steal.” I agree completely, but it’s not quite as simple as Elliot makes it seem. What should you steal? From whom? How much? Holly Lisle, a fantasy author, advises to “only steal the gem—don’t steal the whole crown.” This comparison is a fantastic place to start, and part of the explanation throws back to my previous article, “Books: How to Read Like a Writer.”

First, you should only steal ideas that send thrills of pleasure down your spine. You’ve just finished reading a book and you think, “I want to do that!” Good! Great! You’ve been inspired! Hold onto that feeling as you go back and figure out why. Was it the relationship between the main characters? The type of civilization? The existence of a particular creature? (This is where reading like a writer comes in handy.)

Second, don’t steal more than ONE idea at a time. At least, not from the same source. That’s called pushing your luck, and, besides, you don’t need more than one good idea to build a novel.

Thirdly, and possibly most importantly, do not use the idea as it appears in the original book. Do NOT. That is called plagiarism, and plagiarism is a very bad thing. Really. So, take the very core of the idea you love, and dress it up as something else. What kind of changes can you make? Anything and everything.

Say the idea that struck you was the male main character’s reluctant participation in events and his strained relationship with his father. Maybe the original set up was like this:

“Richard, having just graduated college, is forced to recognize the harsh realities of life after his alcoholic father bankrupts their family. He knows that he isn’t ready to take care of himself let alone his younger siblings, but isn’t left a choice when their father abandons them.”

But you decide you’d rather write a fantasy novel than something modern. After asking yourself how this would change the situation the characters find themselves in, you end up with this:

“Avaris, the only son of King Liam, is on the cusp of adulthood. His tyrannical father has been afraid that his son would overthrow him, so has kept him in spoiled seclusion. The king gets word of a plot to kill him and put Avaris on the throne; he sends Avaris away to be killed. Avaris must now fight for his life and the safety of a kingdom he cares nothing about.”

Both snippets carry the same basic properties—reluctant hero, strained relationship with the father, and forced action—but would you be able to tell they were related?

I know I wouldn’t.

(For more on this topic, I suggest Holly Lisle’s “How to (Legally and Ethically) Steal Ideas.”)

Writing: Why Bother?

Ask yourself this question and, please, answer honestly: Why do I want to write?

If your answer consists mainly of ideas like “Because I want to be rich and famous,” “Because I don’t want to work a nine to five desk job,” or “Because I want an all expenses paid, worldwide book tour,” you may need a reality check.

I’m not saying that you can’t get these things with a career in writing or that having these kinds of dreams is a bad thing, but the life of the average writer is not a glamorous one. Though many writers are able to support their families on their work, you don’t see many driving Porsches. Most writers work seven days a week, at all hours of the day, and guess where they do it—their desk. Many writers never go on tour, let alone one that someone else is paying for. Reasonable expectations and having something besides fame and fortune driving you is important if you’re going to make it through the gauntlet of the publishing world. For example, did you know that, to be a writer, you actually have to write a book? Shocking, I know, but true. Unless you’re Stephen King or J.K. Rowling, agents and publishers will not take you seriously until you can show them a finished product.

“But,” you may protest, “my idea is brilliant and original! Why won’t you give me a contract?”

For a very good reason, I’m afraid. Did you know that a large portion of the population is working on a book? Did you know that most of them will never finish it? Publishers and agents know this, and they’re not going to take the financial risk on someone who hasn’t proven they can follow through. Even after you finish your fantastic masterpiece, there is no guarantee that someone else will recognize your brilliance. The book world, like most creative industries, is entirely subjective. No matter how original and wonderful you are, there are going to be a lot of people who don’t like what you write. Finding the one person who will guide you through the tribulations of publication is not only daunting, it’s damn difficult.

What will happen to your self-confidence when you get your first rejection letter? Your tenth? Your hundredth? Is your book worth the pain of form letters and (sometimes) incredibly harsh denials? Will you continue to rewrite and work on, cry over and bleed for your manuscript? Will you force yourself to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard even though you get no encouragement from those “in the biz”?

To make it worth your while, the rewards you get have to deeper than money. You need pleasure. Joy at seeing the people in your head come to life on a page. Rapture when everything in a scene just clicks. Ecstasy when you finally finish that dreaded first draft. Writing needs to be more than a job; it must become your life. It has to be something you would do even if no one ever paid you for it. If you have that, no one will ever be able to make you wonder why you’re bothering at all.

Books: Learning to Read Like a Writer

Mastering this may take some time or it may be a natural extension of your more concentrated focus on writing tips and techniques. Either way, it's something I believe is important to know.

But what does "reading like a writer" mean?

Books take on a different significance once you've written (or even decided to write) one. Suddenly they've become competition or sources of inspiration, ways to make you sure of your success or certain of your failure. Whatever the case, reading like a writer means diving deeper into the book than just a surface read.

If you like a book—you find yourself skipping over words just to get to the next page faster and so involved in the story that putting it down is like contemplating cutting your arm off—stop. Why are you so connected to this book? What about this book makes you want to devour everything in it? Is it the characters? The narrative? Does the author make new points about old themes in an inventive and original way? Is the world so fully realized that you feel as though you are a character in the book yourself? Whatever it is, figure it out. Know what it is that makes YOU love books and hold onto that—use it in your own writing.

If you don't like a book, what made this happen? Was it the trite descriptions? Were the characters one-dimensional? Did they act out of character just to move the plot along? Does the world seem more like a cardboard cutout movie set than a real place? Are the descriptions terse and unhelpful? Are they overlong and superfluous? Is it the lack of purpose or drive? Or is everything very well done, but you find yourself hating every character in the book so much that you can't read it (this has happened to me)? Whatever it is, figure it out. Know what it is that makes YOU hate books and remember that—NEVER use it in your own writing.

Reading like a writer is allowing your inner editor—that voice in your head that you lock away while working on a first draft—free reign. Let it ask questions (Why did they choose to put this scene here instead of at the end of the chapter?) and make comments (I would have made the difference between these two countries a little more obvious). Let it look at sentence structure or word choice and make changes (Didn’t they just say this? This whole repeated scene could definitely have been cut out.) and listen to what it has to say. The changes you would make to other people’s writing can give you a big clue to the way you write. If you’re always itching to cut flowery, extensive sentences into pieces, you may have a simpler style than even you realized. If you groan every time an author uses the same word too many times, learn to pay attention to that in your own work.

Most of all, let the lessons of those who have already done what you want to do teach you. Learn from their mistakes and figure out how to avoid making them yourself.

(Portions of this post are taken from my FAQ page. To view the original content, click here.)

The Beginning: Why I'm Here

This is my first attempt at a true blog, one to catalog my thoughts on writing as well as the successes and failures I am certain I will encounter in my quest to become a published author.

For now, the goal of this blog will be to post at least once every week on some subject writing related. I will post book reviews, writing tips, publishing tips (once I have some experience in that field), and anything else I feel someone else might find useful. If anyone has a question they would like me to answer or post a blog about, leave a comment and I'll see if I'm up to the challenge. :)

See you again soon!