How to Create Setting in Fiction

by Carol Harrison

Because setting can be anywhere, what ultimately matters is how setting influences the story.

Setting creates the image for the readers of where and when the story takes place told from the viewpoint of the characters. It also provides a context for the story, whether fictional or non-fiction. Because setting can be anywhere, what ultimately matters is how setting influences the story. (https://gyansanchay.sjmu.ac.in article on what setting is by Gyan Sanchay undated) Setting can be an actual place, fictional, or another world imagined by the author. It can be historical, present time, or in the future. It is the locale of the story but also the time of day and year.

This is an example of a setting from the character’s perspective showing date, time and place without saying the narrator was in a hospital on August 4, 1982: “The hands of the clock edged past midnight. August 4, 1982 had arrived. The fetal heart monitor filled the room with the strong, steady beat of my baby’s heart. The contractions grew in strength, intensity, and duration. The next two hours passed in a blur of pain and anticipation until delivery was imminent” (Amee’s Story by Carol Harrison 2010).

Setting is important because it can draw the reader in or bore them. It also gives the characters a place to just be, as well as an environment in which they will change and grow. Just like in all our writing, we need to show and not just tell the details of setting. Use vivid sensory details. Include sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and textures. “Too many details and they get skimmed or skipped. But not enough and the characters will have no place to just “be”.” (self-publishing.com Fiction Writing Oct. 25/23Nishoni Harvey)

“Donna pulled her white SUV into the parking spot halfway down the block from Jodi’s Java and Books, glad that someone vacated it after her second trip around the block. It’s not that she disliked walking a block or even a couple of blocks, although the extra thirty pounds she carried on her 5’5” frame might have betrayed that. But she hated the strong winds with their chilly nip blowing all the fall dust around in the air. The last of the yellow and orange leaves swirled in the air before skittering along the sidewalk in their usual fall dance” (Memory Making Moments, Carol Harrison 2021). From this, we learn that Donna drove an SUV, the location she parked close to, and the season of the year. Other details continued to be added during the first few paragraphs of this book. The building was on Main Street in a small town, but encroaching development competed with restoration of the historic district. It also tells the reader she was running late and hated it. So we learn about setting and character as she interacts with her surroundings. 

In Fiction Writing article October 25, 2023, Nishoni Harvey provides these points on the importance of the setting for any piece of writing: 

 It connects the story elements and the characters to the plot.

It helps build meaning in the narrative by providing context. 

It elicits emotional response in the reader when readers are engaged in your story’s setting. They will be actively reading and invested in experiencing the narrative and how it will unfold. 

Helps readers visualize the story

Helps improve the flow of the story. 

But as important as setting is in your story, it is not advisable to do a brain dump of information to the reader. Rather, dole out the information in bits and pieces as they come up from the character’s viewpoint. 

We work hard on developing our characters and the plot, but let’s remember the importance of setting to pull it all together and help engage our readers. 

Carol Harrison enjoys the research aspect of the writing journey, which allows settings to become vivid when she cannot visit in person. She lives and writes from Saskatoon and enjoys mentoring others. 

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