4 Ways to Reveal Setting in Your Story
By Britney Pieta
(Source: Professor Tammie Bob, Fiction Class, COD, Spring semester of 2010)
Setting can be defined according to Google as: “The place or type of surroundings where something is positioned or where an event takes place.”
Setting Includes:
Locale—place of where the characters meet. ex. café, library, church
Weather, atmosphere, air quality—ex. rainy, fog, humid
Season—ex. spring, summer, fall, winter
Time of day—ex. morning, noon, evening
Era—ex. Roman, Elizabeth, Victorian
Social environment—ex. loud, crowded, noisy
1) Reveal setting through motion. (action verbs—dancing, strolling, jumping)
2) Reveal setting through a character’s level of experience. (ex. where the character grew up—suburb, urban, country)
3) Reveal setting through the mood of your character (feelings—love, pain, sick; emotions—happy, sad, angry; attitudes: positive, neutral, negative
4) Reveal setting through the senses. (sight, hear, touch, taste, smell)
