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| A street in Istanbul - May 2011 |
This song inspired me to write a post about setting which is one of the essential elements of a scene. Setting is the physical background of the story – a distinct time, place, social circumstances, as well as mood or atmosphere.
The setting in most of my stories has been inspired by places where I’ve lived and/or visited. I said, “most” because there’s always an exception to the rule. A few of my stories take place in cities I’ve never been to. Although it's a rewarding experience, writing about a place I am not familiar with is time-consuming. I had to ensure the description and facts were accurate. I enjoy, however, describing the setting -especially one that is meaningful to me- because it gives me the opportunity to travel there once again along with my characters.
Do you use familiar places in your setting? Do you have a special place that you’ve used more than once in your stories?
For my role playing campaign I used a place I created called, 'Sellat', the sea port capital of an island country of Landor. This is now the setting for my stories; I see it as a mish-mash of Terry Pratchett's, Ankh Morpork, the UK medieval town of York, and those claustrophobic twisting, rising, falling alleyways of central medieval Europe.
ReplyDeleteI love the visual of tall buildings lining the main thoroughfare being top-heavy and leaning together, resting upon each other like tired heavy weight fighters in a boxing ring, blotting out most of the day's natural sunlight, whilst below in the shadows of the crooked cobblestone streets, folks bustle about like ants, gradually disappearing as the ambient light dissolves into night. A time when good people should not be abroad.
Hi Mark,
DeleteWhether you write sci-fi, non-fiction, or fiction, the setting is essential and it has to be believable in regards to the context. If you can convey on pages what you can see in your head, then you've done a great job as a writer. ;)
For one book, I've been using the neighborhood I live in right now, but in a setting that's about 100 years ago. It's been fun to do the research and see my neighborhood in layers of time, so to speak.
ReplyDeleteHi Elizabeth,
DeleteOh, that sounds really interesting. I haven't ventured to going back in time yet.
Let me know how that works for you. :)
I'm a scaredy cat and tend to use places I know and have seen and been in/lived in! I used to live by a canal system - so they tend to feature alot in my stories!
ReplyDeleteThe pic here of these wonderful houses is amazing! Such vivid vibrant colours! Take care
x
Hi Kitty,
DeleteI think it's only normal to write about what you know. It's easier, too ;)
I loved these buildings and that's why I took pics of them; they were kind of incongruous among the neutral colors of Istanbul ;)
Most of my short stories go back to my first college in Kansas City, Missouri. But other than that, the places are all from my imagination. They might have remnants of real places, but usually they are quite fantastical. I love your photo, by the way!
ReplyDeleteHi Raquel,
DeleteSo I take it that the names of these places are also a figment of your imagination ;)
Regarding the photo, thank you, I took it while sightseeing in Istanbul.
Of course! I love making up place names, especially of places not on Earth.
DeleteWOW! places not on Earth, hmmmm. That must be a treat since you have carte blanche ;)
DeleteI can't go that far, I pretty much stay grounded, here on planet Earth ;)
Interesting post, and it chimes. In anything urban I always exploit the red brick terraces of the liverpool I grew up in, and for anything more specific I ransack Newport, a dark seedy magical town in Southwales. It is a good marketing ploy to fictionalise - or is that factionalise a town as a marketing ploy. The other place I find myself going back to is the American landscape. Someone says you should never write too much about scenery - not true if you're talking about James Lee Burke or Cormac McCarthy, but done well it creates the atmosphere and sucks a person in.
ReplyDeleteHi Mike,
DeleteOne of my mentors told me the same; not to spend a lot of time writing about scenery. I think if it's releveant, then you have to write about it. Look at Steinbeck's "East of Eden", the first six pages at least, are about the scenery which is crucial to the plot. Steinbeck wrote about what he knew well, Salinas Valley and Monterey, California. He did a great job.
When I work on a stage or movie character, I recreate familiar settings with my imagination. Let me explain: if in a scene I'm supposed to be happy and cheerful, I imagine I'm in my aunt's living room when I was a child, with the beautiful and comfortable baroque-style sofa, the sunlight flooding in, and some yummy smell coming from the adjacent kitchen. If my character has to feel uncomfortable, I might imagine I'm in an empty classroom, or a place where I used to feel uncomfortable for some reason.
ReplyDeleteI always use settings as an actor!
And I love the detailed descriptions of the settings in the classic novels!
Lovely post!
Hi Jay,
DeleteThanks for sharing your comments and tips on how you use setting. I guess as a writer this applies as well. I've used specific places in Rome and Washington, DC that bring me happy memories. It also depends on the plot. I use them both ways; for sad and happy moments in my story, no matter if they had the opposite effect on me in real life :D
All of what I've written so far has been non-fiction so the setting is always someplace I'm familiar with.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'll venture out on the piece of fiction I'm working on now.
Hmmm, your case is different because in non-fiction you have to be more accurate than with fiction, which we get more leeway. In any case, you still have to do a good job at describing your setting and that's what matters. ;)
DeleteI try to write about places I know or places I make up. Trying to convey the feeling of a real place I don't know is too hard.
ReplyDeleteHi Carol,
ReplyDeleteI guess you fall in the great majority of writers, Carol. Most of us write about what we know because we feel more comfortable.
If I write about a place, which I do rarely, it's about small mountain towns where even rich people have to be real, if they want their roads grated and firewood brought. They are very real, gossipy, hard working, grumpy people. I grew up with them.
ReplyDeleteIf I write about city people I usually make fun of them.
Here's your Easter haiku you asked about, just because you asked. I don't do this for everybody.)
The winds of march paint
with Easter colored kites
above hopeful trees.
Hi Dan,
DeleteLOL! You make fun of city people, huh? Wow! You would have your hands full writing about where I live ;)
Thank you so much for writing and sharing your haiku about Easter. That's very sweet of you! Since I'm visual, I can see the colored kites floating above tree tops :)
This is an interesting post, and I really like reading what you have to write. You have a good style.
ReplyDeletewww.modernworld4.blogspot.com
Thanks, Gina for your kind words and for stopping by. I'll visit your blog, too. :)
DeleteSometimes I use settings from my dreams - that's kindof fun, actually. :)
ReplyDeleteI love that picture you posted - makes me with my HOA would at least let me paint my door red.
WOW! Now, that's pretty unique! I've never thought about using settings from my dreams. Hmmm, you've got me thinking...I may try this next time. Thank you for sharing it, Michelle.
DeleteI actually prefer to use fictional settings which are loosely based on real places. It means I have more leeway without having to be super-accurate. I like to evoke a type of place rather than an actual place - for example, my first novel took place in a small Scottish town similar to where I live. Although when I wrote a short story from the POV of a child, I used my hometown as I could describe what I saw growing up to create the child's voice. Great post!
ReplyDeleteHi Nick,
DeleteThank you for joining my blog and sharing your thoughts on setting. I do understand why you wouldn't change the setting from the POV of a child. It makes sense, I can only think of "To Kill a Mockingbird" when Scout narrates in a childlike tone and naivety of the same.
As a reader I love reading about different cities and places. I could travel all over in my armchair!
ReplyDeleteNas
Hi Nas,
DeleteI like reading about places I haven't been to, so that I can learn about that specific place. And yes, my imagination takes off reading about such places ;)
I love writing about places I've been. I've used England as a setting several times. Setting is so important. You have to make your reader feel like they are really there.
ReplyDelete