Setting

gothicangel · Jan 5, 2009

I have to admit that I'm pretty c*** at writing setting. My initial drafts are more concerned at getting plot and character out.

I really want to evoke the city of Newcastle; but how much is too much?

Cassiopeia · Jan 5, 2009

You'll never know until you try. So get busy.

The Lonely One · Jan 5, 2009

gothicangel said:
I have to admit that I'm pretty c*** at writing setting. My initial drafts are more concerned at getting plot and character out.

I really want to evoke the city of Newcastle; but how much is too much?

You don't want to inundate your writing with setting; readers aren't looking for a tourism guide. Thus, you've got the right idea about focusing on character movement.

For me setting is most effective when it is minimal, yet the writer knows which items or scenery to mention in order to bring it to the reader's senses without bringing it to the forefront. If you want to bring more focus to setting, have your characters interact with the setting in a way which furthers the plot or brings them to realizations.

That's my advice, anywho.

blacbird · Jan 5, 2009

Anything you invoke as setting must contribute to your story, IMO, and not be purely window-dressing. Conan Doyle evoked dreary foggy London-town as a powerful atmosphere for his Sherlock Holmes mysteries, and especially well the creepy moors of Devon (I think it was Devon) for The Hound of the Baskervilles. Dashiell Hammett used the seedier side of San Francisco as an integral part of his mysteries. Walker Percy made New Orleans almost a character of its own for his fiction (as did his posthumous protegé, John Kennedy Toole). Edgar Lewis Wallant did a similar thing with New York City. It's not easy, but I think that's the kind of effect you should be looking for, and you might find those (and other) writers useful studies for the effect of setting.

caw

Aschenbach · Jan 5, 2009

It is often said of Ian Rankin's Rebus books that the city of Edinburgh is as much a starring character as any of the people he writes about. He often refers to specific streets and locations, which means little to me because I have never been to Edinburgh.

But even so he communicates a very strong sense of place with his descriptions. I would concentrate on atmosphere and mood, and what you think are the key sensory details that evoke them.

May I suggest "the fog on the Tyne" to start you off

Mumut · Jan 5, 2009

The Lonely One is not alone to point our that setting is not very important at all unless it's a tourist guide. Unless it's ancient Rome where most people know a lot about the place, leace the finer detail out unless it's specifically needed in the plot.

Kitty Pryde · Jan 5, 2009

From what I understand, there is in fact no need to carry coals to it

scarletpeaches · Jan 5, 2009

Have people say "Why aye, man!" a lot. Those Geordies love that!

Oh, and maybe a character saying he's been "All aroon, up and doon the toon," for a special authentic flavour of the North of England.

Jerry B. Flory · Jan 5, 2009

Setting is still the five senses.
You're on a street, the ten square feet of space around you might contain the shade of a tree a plate glass window under a yellow awning and a breeze. That's visual and some of it could be dropped unless you think brickwork lends itself to the historical nuance of your story. You can hear cars drive by horns honk, maybe smell the hot grease coming from the big silver vent on the greasy diner forty feet away but only if you find it necessary for your character to smell something and gaze down the shady afternoon street. Some people might call this filler, but you can make it pretty, ugly, dingy, bright, hometownish, whatever you want. But your "setting" will always be within the bounds of the five senses of your character. If you want to be descriptive, comparative, whatever, go right ahead, but use it to expand a scene or define presence. Don't just do it cause it's pretty writing.

gothicangel · Jan 6, 2009

Thanks, that has helped a lot.

I'm a big fan of Rankin's, I think name dropping streets would help. Atmosphere and mood through the five senses . . . I think that's the way to go.

RobJ · Jan 6, 2009

gothicangel said:
I have to admit that I'm pretty c*** at writing setting. My initial drafts are more concerned at getting plot and character out.

I really want to evoke the city of Newcastle; but how much is too much?

Go back to some of the books you've read and see how setting is used. It'll help you to get a feel for it. You may find quite a variation across a dozen or so books, depending on the type of stuff you read.

Cheers,
Rob

Linda Adams · Jan 6, 2009

I always had a hard time getting setting into the story--just would forget ands then I'd end up with comments like "Your character just walked through the furniture." So I forced myself to getting the setting near the beginning of the scene and to write something about it. I usually hit a couple of important points, and then I follow it up throughout the scene in the narrative as the character's interact with it.

So. if a character wanders in a restaurant, I'll hit a couple of points about the bar including sight, sound, and smell. Then, as the characters go to sit down, I have then navigate around the tables, trip over a chair, or whatever. At the table, as they have their story-related conversation, one of the characters bangs his knee on the table leg or plays with the salt.

You probably don't need a lot to get the flavor of Newcastle, just a few well-chosen details with well-chosen sentences. I read a book set in Morro Bay, which I've been to. The author didn't do lengthy description of the place, but she was able to hit on the things that made it different from the next city over.

Sean D. Schaffer · Jan 7, 2009

gothicangel said:
I have to admit that I'm pretty c*** at writing setting. My initial drafts are more concerned at getting plot and character out.

I really want to evoke the city of Newcastle; but how much is too much?

Honestly speaking, Gothicangel, what is your first instinct when it comes to what you're talking about here? I see you want to give readers a feel for Newcastle, and that's fine. But I also see that your writing is more about characters and storyline.

So how would you yourself, the creator of your story and your characters, instinctively go about giving your work the setting you want it to have? Would you deal with physical descriptions of places, buildings, etc., or would you be more inclined to discuss the people that surround your characters? In other words, what you would do yourself can be just as good, if not better, than what others might want you to believe you have to do.

Judging just from what you've said in your OP, I'd think you would be more interested in the people than the scenery. So, if this is the case, why not focus on the people of Newcastle? There is no law that says you must give detailed descriptions of the city buildings and places. You know what you're capable of better than any of us do; maybe you should ask yourself, "How would I do this?"

Good luck to you, and I hope you enjoy what you set out to accomplish.

josephwise · Jan 7, 2009

I think of setting as another character. And not JUST another character, but the "master character."

If you think about it, every place has a personality and a motive. And since, in many situations, these things are omni-present, the other characters in the tale would likely stem from the influence of the setting. Like a parent and a child.

Danthia · Jan 7, 2009

Setting is also very informative when you look at it through you POV's eyes. How they see something can say just as much about them as it does the place you're describing. A born and raised New Yorker will see the city quite differently than a Midwest farmboy on his first visit to a city. So then your descriptions and setting become more than just description. They do double duty as characterization.

gothicangel · Jan 7, 2009

Sean D. Schaffer said:
Honestly speaking, Gothicangel, what is your first instinct when it comes to what you're talking about here? I see you want to give readers a feel for Newcastle, and that's fine. But I also see that your writing is more about characters and storyline.

So how would you yourself, the creator of your story and your characters, instinctively go about giving your work the setting you want it to have? Would you deal with physical descriptions of places, buildings, etc., or would you be more inclined to discuss the people that surround your characters? In other words, what you would do yourself can be just as good, if not better, than what others might want you to believe you have to do.

Judging just from what you've said in your OP, I'd think you would be more interested in the people than the scenery. So, if this is the case, why not focus on the people of Newcastle? There is no law that says you must give detailed descriptions of the city buildings and places. You know what you're capable of better than any of us do; maybe you should ask yourself, "How would I do this?"

Good luck to you, and I hope you enjoy what you set out to accomplish.

Wow

I never thought of setting in that way. Thanks.

Setting

gothicangel

Toughen up.

Cassiopeia

Otherwise Occupied

The Lonely One

Why is a raven like a writing desk?

blacbird

Aschenbach

Moral Marjorie

Mumut

Well begun is half done...

Kitty Pryde

i luv you giant bear statue

scarletpeaches

Jerry B. Flory

under the Milky Way

gothicangel

Toughen up.

RobJ

Linda Adams

Soldier, Storyteller

Sean D. Schaffer

josephwise

Danthia

gothicangel

Toughen up.