tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post8374106525255789349..comments2024-03-27T10:02:56.747-04:00Comments on Fiction University: If You Can Make it There... How Setting Can Affect Your StoryJanice Hardyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-24567403080494352062016-02-09T19:36:49.705-05:002016-02-09T19:36:49.705-05:00Love this, thank you! It really gets me thinking a...Love this, thank you! It really gets me thinking and trying to make the setting more than just a place for them to be. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-83782802009356778352011-06-24T15:06:46.461-04:002011-06-24T15:06:46.461-04:00Amelia: That sounds like fun! I love when two char...Amelia: That sounds like fun! I love when two characters are being true to themselves like that and that causes conflict. It's misunderstandings, but in a believable way.<br /><br />Alex: Great examples. WH does a lot with setting and themes. The book would have been very different had she set it in say, Paris.<br /><br />Myne: So cool. I love books with non-US settings. So much more interesting sometimes because I don't know how people are going to behave. <br /><br />Nicole: Oh, LOL I totally see that. It is a great example, too.<br /><br />Linda: Research is a helpful thing. I've found plenty of interesting things I could use and my worlds aren't even real. You might also try visitor bureaus and tourist sites. I've used those as well.<br /><br />Jeff: Great! Always love it when a post helps someone :)<br /><br />Gene: It does. Though there's this movie "Closet Land" from years ago that two characters and one room. Good film, though very dark and disturbing. But even there, the setting (little as there was) was thematically right for the story and added to it.<br /><br />Sue: I love that. It probably also shows her growing affection for the owner of that jeep as well, right?Janice Hardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-73859047381012737462011-06-23T13:30:52.574-04:002011-06-23T13:30:52.574-04:00I agree entirely that the setting can be an import...I agree entirely that the setting can be an important character, especially when you express the humans' attitude towards it. The same can be done with inanimate objects. My male protagonist loves his vintage 1947 Willys Overland jeep that is used to help my characters escape from the wilderness. When the female main character grows to feel affection for the vehicle, it begins a 'life' of its own, so to speak. No, I'm not so silly as to write a scene in the jeep's POV, although maybe some day...Elizabeth Haysmonthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01167517867828909705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-62540296425499496062011-06-23T06:54:47.651-04:002011-06-23T06:54:47.651-04:00Great post. Imagine if a movie was filmed in a whi...Great post. Imagine if a movie was filmed in a white-walled room with nothing but the actors and actresses. Story needs setting to live just as setting needs Characters to be useful.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-33035084770760113442011-06-22T18:40:44.049-04:002011-06-22T18:40:44.049-04:00Awesome advice... and great delivery on the inform...Awesome advice... and great delivery on the information, it was easy to understand and opened my eyes to a few weak point throughout my story.Jeff Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00667419764890599092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-38865733832086938652011-06-22T16:09:50.717-04:002011-06-22T16:09:50.717-04:00I'm in the process of researching setting (Haw...I'm in the process of researching setting (Hawaii as the basis, though a fictional country) for the final draft of mine. I realized I needed to do more extensive research and spent almost two weeks digging through every encyclopedia and book I could find.<br /><br />I ended up finding several pieces of information that are allowing me to help fill in some gaps in the story. Other parts allowed me to do world-building in unexpected ways.Linda Maye Adamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07203020058437093901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-58303411031027369482011-06-22T13:44:56.031-04:002011-06-22T13:44:56.031-04:00Ha, I saw "District 9" and immediately t...Ha, I saw "District 9" and immediately thought of Hunger Games. :)<br /><br />Guess that's just another example of how reader assumptions and experiences can influence our take on things. I instantly pictured the settings Suzanne Collins used when I saw the post title. Great insights, BTW!Nicolehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10680066584646789184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-75716257230395666512011-06-22T13:41:35.340-04:002011-06-22T13:41:35.340-04:00All my books are set in Nigeria in order to suit t...All my books are set in Nigeria in order to suit the cultural conflicts my characters face.Mynehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07595087387069634003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-17288342767465305332011-06-22T12:26:56.155-04:002011-06-22T12:26:56.155-04:00I've seen that film and, admittedly, I really ...I've seen that film and, admittedly, I really disliked it. I kept waiting for the main story arc to start, not realising it had. The story just didn't draw me in as expected. The ideas are, in hindsight interesting.<br /><br />The important background I always think of is the Moors in Great Expectation by Charles Dickens. They are despondent and stretch on seemingly forever. And, at the start of the book, he's in a graveyard. I think setting was incredibly important, and the moors themselves became important in the plot. Wuthering Heights is also a good example since the different houses signifies, more than anything, the division between the two families.<br /><br />Great post: to-the-point and easy to remember.Alexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15530490398283237371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-6310867253926745562011-06-22T11:06:25.789-04:002011-06-22T11:06:25.789-04:00I really enjoyed this post and the way you explain...I really enjoyed this post and the way you explained it Janet. I helps me understand even more how to use background to add depth to my writing.<br />I have been doing some of this, but hadn't been seeing as clearly as you had illustrated. <br />I have a couple of YA WIP right now and in both, I wanted the protag and their potential romantic partner to have alot of communication/culture conflict. In one story, I have the male from an isolated rocky alpine area and the female from a riverside farming community. They live geographically not so far away from each other, but have totally different outlooks on nature, making a living and how people should interact with one another.<br />In the other, I have someone from the lowlands of Belgium/Netherlands area and another from the higher forest lands south of there. They each assume the other should understand what the other knows. When they say something thoughtless, grounded in their own culture, it creates misunderstanding and conflict. <br />Always fun to have some spice as the romance develops!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14324491231695823916noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-52860388627720634342009-09-04T14:06:23.832-04:002009-09-04T14:06:23.832-04:00Background does tend to blend into the, well, back...Background does tend to blend into the, well, background. :)Janice Hardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-65542708680484486812009-09-02T21:57:25.127-04:002009-09-02T21:57:25.127-04:00When I first read this, I didn't think setting...When I first read this, I didn't think setting played too much into my novel. I chose Northeast Philadelphia because it's my hometown, and I felt it offered a varied atmosphere for the story. But thinking about it... much of my story is twined into that atmosphere. The fact that it has neighborhoods and parks and is part of a major city and near poverty-stricken areas and has rowhomes, single homes, and everything in between -- all of that comes into play at some point. Guess I was wrong!Donna Gambalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00317767593205769881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-34865346051251700802009-09-02T14:54:44.203-04:002009-09-02T14:54:44.203-04:00What a great post! I've never thought about it...What a great post! I've never thought about it that way before. It's definitely something to think about as I work on my revisions. Thanks for sharing!Abby Annishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05543937393055900844noreply@blogger.com