The Importance of Creating a Well-Established Setting in Your Book
Every good story is rooted in a strong setting. Put simply, a book’s setting is the time and place in which it is set. All books, regardless of genre, use their setting to immerse the reader in any given literary world. Some books’ settings have become famous and recognizable to audiences all over the world.
Before you begin writing your first draft, you should put real thought and consideration into your book’s setting. The more effort you put into every part of your book, the more your readers are drawn in. This article will review some of the factors you should consider when building the world for your book.
Location
The first part of building a setting is establishing the physical location of the story. When readers are reading your book, they will want to know what to imagine. This can help readers picture the characters in the world you are establishing.These characters can interact with the physical setting, or it can just provide a casual backdrop.
You should always go into your drafting process knowing where your story takes place. This allows readers to visualize the story. Even when the physical location is not the most important, it makes the reading process smoother. The story should be the reader’s focus, not wondering where it is set.
If you are creating an outline before drafting, this is a great place to include all your setting’s details. Depending on the story you are telling, you can even describe different locations in your story. What you outline does not have to be written in the book, but it helps inform your writing process. For example, if one of your settings is a house, you can write actions that fit the physical location. This will ensure that everything logically makes sense.
Time
The second part of a setting is the time (or times) the story takes place in. If you do not specify a time frame, the reader will likely assume the story takes place in modern day. Sometimes, authors can include subtle details that indicate the time period without explicitly saying so. However, it is often most helpful to indicate when a story takes place in a different time. This is most helpful when the book covers many years or generations.
Knowing the time period of your book is one of the most crucial parts of writing a book. Even if the exact date does not make a difference for the story, you should know it. This will inform your writing and ensure that every character acts in time-appropriate ways.
Including the time period in the outline can be as simple as putting the year in a heading. That will be an easy reference to make sure you never forget when your book takes place. Having characters not act in time-appropriate ways is the quickest way to confuse an audience.
Historical Stories
When writing a book inspired by historical events provides a clear roadmap for your book. Using historical events as a backdrop for literature gives you the chance to do research and write from that. Both historical scholars and the general public will recognize the work you put into researching your book.
You can use real-life photographs or older drawings to help write action that takes place in specific locations. It can also give you inspiration seeing the locations you are writing about. Accurately writing about the time period you are writing about is just as important. Make sure your characters’ motivations and dialogue fit the time period (unless you are being intentionally anachronistic).
Personal Stories
You can also write a book personal to you or inspired by events you have firsthand knowledge of. When writing these stories, you know the setting better than anybody. The lesson is simple: write what you know. If you are writing about a difficult time in your life, your writing will be personal no matter what.
Having a clearly defined setting helps the reader understand your lived experience. Readers do not know the physical locations of your life like you do. Convey this through your writing; let them into your world. This goes for the time period as well; make sure the reader knows when your story happened.
When you publish with Cloverly Publishing, your book is in safe hands. Our team of professional editors will go through your book line by line to make sure it is crystal clear.
