Lesson 2: Elements of Fiction
Settings
Part One - Settings Are Important
Settings are an important element in stories or novels. It is where the story takes place.
Visualize Your Setting
The way that some authors describe their settings, readers can visualize them and feel like they are right their with the characters.
Lesley Grant-Adamson mentions in her book, Writing Crime and Suspense Fiction and Getting Published, that "[every} location and building you use has to be fixed in the reader's mind." (pg.19).
When you are reading, think about the setting. Can you visualize it? Does the setting seem realistic or unrealistic? What type of setting or settings were used?
Writers can also use a real setting, but fictionalize it by adding other areas and a fictional name. This is what I did in my book that I've written. Here is an example of a setting that I used. The city has a fictious name, but I've used some of the buildings and outdoor settings of my home town when I lived on a farm.
Example Number One: River City
They climbed on their bicycles and started searching the nearby streets. River City had a main street with five blocks on each side. On the main street were several stores such as a grocery store, meat market, bank, restaurant, general store, post office, courthouse, etc. The side streets consisted of houses. One of the side streets had the school and a church. One street led to a country road where there were farm houses and the river.
This passage gives readers a visual setting of River City. By visualizing the setting, it becomes more realistic. It indicates a main street and how many side streets there are, and that one side street leads to a country road. There are also farm houses and the river.
Imagine Your Setting
Lawrence Block mentions in his book, Writing the Novel From Plot to Print,that writers should use settings that are familiar to them. However, if you aren't familiar with a setting, then you can do some research on that area. He states that maybe "there's no such place in reality, but you can build one in your imagination readily enough." (pg. 98) You can always develop an imaginary setting and make it realistic.
He also suggests that writers can use settings of their past experiences. For example, any place where you have lived can be used as a setting. If you can't remember exactly what the setting was, you can imagine it.
Before I wrote the description of River City, I made a list of the items I wanted to include in my settings. My mother, who also enjoyed writing, made a map of the farm we lived on when I was younger. I used the general description of the city and our farm, but added fictional settings and changed the name of the city.
Part Two - Ways Settings Can Be Used
There are three ways that Gillian Roberts mentions how settings can be used: action, characterization, and emotional information.
Action
Settings can be used to illustrate action. Action will move the plot forward.
When Christy and Megan climbed off the bus, they noticed that the lane leading to their house was wet. "It must have rained here," Christy said.
"It looks that way. I wonder why it didn't rain at at school?"
"I guess it rains some places and not others. Our school is five miles from here."
"That's true. It must be far enough to rain in one place and not the other. Since we live in the country, and our school is in the city, it would be too far to walk."
The plot is moving forward and going from their school in the city to their farm five miles away. The girls ride the bus to get from their school to the lane that leads to their farm. Then, they walk down the lane to their farm.
Characterization
Settings can be used as characterization. They can reveal something about the characters.
"I can't put these clothes on. What am I going to do now? I don't want mom to see us dressed alike. You know how she feels about us wearing different outfits."
"I know. I'll go around to the back door and distract Mom somehow" Christy replied.
"Thanks."
Megan is worried that she will be caught and doesn't know what to do. Megan likes to be sneaky, but she doesn't like to be caught. Christy doesn't want to be caught either, so they usually come up with plans to get away with their sneaky actis.
Emotional Information
Settings can also provide emotional information. The following passage illustrates Megan's emotions about the weather.
"Oh no!"
"What's wrong?" Christy asked.
"My clothes. I hid them under the bushes this morning." Megan rushed to the bushes and picked up her clothes. "They're all wet."
"I know. I guess you shouldn't have left them there."
"I didn't know it was going to rain. The sky was clear. Why did it have to rain here?"
"I don't know."
Megan noticed that the sky wasn't cloudy that morning. However, when they returned home from school, Megan saw that the ground was wet. She wondered why it didn't rain at their school. Her emotions began to stir up inside when she remembered her clothes were underneath the bushes.
Think about these different types of setting as you are reading short stories. See if you can recognize the different settings.
