How to Create a Captivating Setting for Your Book
Give your book's setting—whether real or fictional—a mood, personality, and history, so it truly comes alive for your readers.
The best book settings don’t just serve as a backdrop for characters, instead the setting should be a character in and of itself.
If you’ve read The Great Gatsby, you probably haven’t forgotten the West and East Eggs, made up locations for two peninsulas along the northern shore of Long Island, and the valley of ashes that lies at the midpoint between the Eggs and New York City. Both the city and the Eggs represent affluence and wealth, whereas the valley of ashes is a place of poverty. Gatsby’s opulent house also serves as a setting that takes on its own persona.
So, how do you make your setting feel more like a character than just a place your character’s live or visit? In this post, we'll explore how to make your setting come alive so it adds depth to your story.
How to Make Your Setting a Character
Your setting should have a personality, a mood, and a history. It should be more than just a physical space. Instead, your setting should be a place your readers can feel and experience.
Think about the history of your setting. What events happened there? What are the cultural and social norms? Who has lived there?
For example, if your story takes place in a small southern town, you may want to focus on the sense of community and the familiarity among the town's residents. If your story takes place in a big city, you might want to focus on the hustle and bustle of the city, how someone may feel living alone in the city, and its fast-paced lifestyle.
What Makes a Good Setting?
A good setting is integrated into the story. It should never feel like an afterthought. If you’re writing about a real location, you’ll want to do extensive research, use Google maps to explore the area, and even take a trip to visit (if you don’t already live there) to ensure you’re accurately depicting the setting.
If your story takes place in world you create, you have more freedom to design the setting. You still need to make it believable though. Think about the laws, geography, climate, as well as cultural and social norms of your fictional world and how they shape the setting.
A good setting, real or created, should be believable and well-researched.
How to Research Locations for Your Book
If your story takes place in a real location, research is important. You want to make sure you get the details right. Here are some tips for researching locations for your book:
Use Google Maps (or old maps if the area has changed) to explore the area
Read up on the history of the location
Talk to locals if you can
If possible, visit the location
For instance, if I write a book set in Charleston I also need to decide if my book is set in present Charleston or if it will be historical fiction.
If I choose to write historical fiction set in Charleston, then I need to dig up old maps from the period I want to write about and will also need to pull up old news articles that fit the time frame. From there, I’d need to visit the city and get a feel for it myself. What historical buildings are still there? Have road names changed or stayed the same? What are the neighborhoods like? How do people speak? What is the weather like? And more.
Another option you have is to create a fictional town that has similarities to a real location. This happens a lot in fiction because it’s a little easier in the long run since you can pick and choose what you want to include. You’ll still want to pay attention to accuracy. For instance, if you set your book in a fictional town in Florida, it’s not going to get a winter snowstorm. So, while you have freedom to create any type of town you’d like, stick with some accuracies for the area you place your fictional town.
If you create a completely fictional world, that’s when you have the ultimate freedom to do anything you like. I highly recommend outlining and writing details about your fictional world, so you can keep everything straight in your book from beginning to end.
How to Describe Your Setting
Once you have your setting nailed down, it's time to describe it in your story. Focus on the details that matter, so you don't want to overwhelm your readers with too much detail.
You might start by describing the overall mood and feeling of your book’s setting.
Is it calming or chaotic?
Is it safe or dangerous?
At some point, you’ll also want to share physical details about the setting.
What does the area look like?
What are the smells and sounds?
Pull from all five senses as you write to add depth to your setting. Finally, you can write about how your characters interact with the setting.