Reflections on Good Writing and Good Writers ~ The Importance of Setting in Fiction and Nonfiction

Many writers are inspired by characters and plot when they write fiction
or by a passion to inform, educate, or persuade when they write nonfiction.

As a writer I often find my way into a fiction or nonfiction piece through setting.

The first time I remember writing as a child was in third grade,
and my piece included a map of our village’s waterfront.
I don’t remember what I wrote, but I remember the map I drew with its marked

lighthouse, wharf, holes in the basaltic cliffs, and a creek spilling over a waterfall.

The Waterfall Along the Beach

Margaretsville, Nova Scotia, Canada

July 25, 2018

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

I do remember that my brother Roy and I spent many hours scouring
any hollows or “caves” in the basalt along the beach looking for pirates’ treasure.
We had heard of the infamous pirate Blackbeard 
and the Oak Island treasure on Nova Scotia’s South Shore, 
so why couldn’t there be pirates burying treasure on the Fundy Shore in Margaretsville?
I think my story was likely about pirates and treasure.

To this day my storytelling, whether fiction or nonfiction, is heavily influenced by setting.

Blackbeard the Pirate

Photo by Thomas Quine ~ Flickr ~ License

Setting is the time and place a story unfolds, and it is not merely background scenery.

It influences a character's choices and actions, shapes the atmosphere, supports the theme,

and often creates a symbolic framework, deepening meaning.

Throughout my life I have felt a deep connection to landscapes I am immersed in,

from the austere subarctic taiga, to the carved sandstones of the Colorado Plateau,

to the volcanic islands of French Polynesia.

I would argue that our personal settings impact our choices and actions in life,

and I often reflect this reality in my writing.

Fiction writers have been using setting in their writing throughout history.

One of the earliest known literary works, the Epic of Gilgamesh (circa 2100 BCE),

places its heroic characters in specific landscapes including

the ancient Sumerian city-state of Uruk 

located in the the Fertile Crescent of southern Mesopotamia 

and in a Cedar Wood forest likely in the Anti-Lebanon Mountains of Syria.

The epic poem explores the "themes of civilization, heroism,

and the search for immortality against the lens of its setting." Whitlark*

Tablet V of the Epic of Gilgamesh

Dr. Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin ~ Wikimedia ~ License

Setting is crucial as a framework in such literary classics as Homer's Odyssey,

Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Shakespeare's MacBeth, Defoe's Robinson Crusoe,

and Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath.

In novels like Brontë's Wuthering Heights, Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby,

Morrison's Beloved, Prolux's The Shipping News, and Weir's The Martian

the stories are inseparable from their settings,

and the settings are why the stories matter. 

Without a strong setting, the emotional and thematic weight of stories is diminished.

Source

In nonfiction setting is an important element when the location and time

are critical for context and for shaping the meaning of real life experiences.

This occurs especially in such nonfiction genres as

 memoir, travelogue, historical narratives, nature and environmental writing, 

journalism, science writing, and essays.

Setting is fundamental to memorable nonfiction like Halliburton's The Flying Carpet,

Frank's The Diary of Anne Frank, Abbey's Desert Solitaire,

Matthiessen's The Snow Leopard, and the Weinersmiths' A City on Mars.

Without the settings in these nonfiction stories, there would be no stories.

Delicate Arch

Source

In my fiction and nonfiction writing, setting has played an integral part,

especially in my northern memoir, my current WIP.

The rhythms of the rugged and remote Hudson Bay Lowlands

sculpt the lives of the people who live there,

and I am working hard to capture the impact of the landscape on its people.

Roy and I, No Longer Hunting for Pirate Treasure

Less than two years later, we had become voyagers.

Lansdowne House, Ontario, Canada 

Spring 1961

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue  All Rights Reserved

 

For thousands of years, setting has been a powerful tool in a writer's tool box.

Setting grounds readers in a believable place and time.

It increases emotion and reveals truths about characters or real people

and their experiences,

how they live, struggle, and transform.

It gives stories their depth, resonance, impact, and longevity.

What are your thoughts on setting?

Is it an important element in your fiction or nonfiction?

I have shared memorable fiction and nonfiction examples

of stories featuring settings that I have loved.

Please add to my examples in the comments.

Happy creating!

Till next time ~ Fundy Blue

Notes:  

1.  For the record, Blackbeard likely never visited Nova Scotia, and the origin of the Oak Island treasure is uncertain.

2.  Source*:  The Gilgamesh Epic: Analysis of Setting by James Whitlark.  2022.  EBSCO Knowledge Advantage.

Back to the Basics

Years ago, as a newbie writer, I thought a story had to fall like fairy dust from the sky to the page or else I was a failure as a writer. If it wasn't coming to me like magic, I was obviously a talentless hack. But then, as I rubbed elbows with fellow writers and read helpful tips from famous writers, it finally occurred to me- writing isn't simply talent. It's also hard work paired with education.

I have been the slush pile reader for several writing competitions this year and I couldn't help but think as I read the entries that there was a lot of talent in all these stories, but sometimes, something was missing. They were good, but not yet good enough. I will admit, as a writer, I cringed when that thought went through my head. I mean, I have personally heard that more times than I can count and I surely don't want to be turning into one of those people who tell writers this is good, but not good enough.

So, how does a writer go from good to good enough? Personally, I'm still studying and learning, but in analyzing the ones that didn't emerge from my slush pile, I can say it was mostly for a lack of the basics. There might have been a great voice, but the plot was weak. Great characters, but no conflict.

That's when I decided for this week’s IWSG post, I would recap what I think are the most important elements a story- for other readers and for my own better WIPs too.

The Basics:

1.       Conflict. Conflict raises the stakes. Without any trials for characters to face, there would be no character growth or plot arc (beginning, middle, end). But conflict doesn’t have to be Rambo-esque. Person vs. person can simply be the interpersonal frustrations of two characters (most every romance ever).  A character can also have conflict with nature (To Build a Fire), fate (Harry Potter), self (Fight Club), society (The Hand Maid’s Tale), technology (Blade Runner), or even the supernatural (It).

2.       Theme. Our high school English teachers weren’t wrong—a story needs to have a point. Be it a moral lesson or a comment on relationships or society, there needs to be a reason for someone to take the time to read the story.

3.       Characters. Duh, right? How is there a story without characters? Since that’s a given, let’s go a bit deeper. Flesh out those characters. Who are they? What’s their back story, even the tidbits you’ll never share. What are their hobbies, pet peeves, favorite color? Make them real. Add some flaws. Then make them grow (AKA character arcs). If they’re staying static, either you have a flat character who isn’t meant to inspire, or you need to dig deeper.

4.       Setting. It’s more than just the time and place. Used wisely, it sets the tone and adds dimension to the story. In my Coulter Men series, the first book is about an independent single mom who lives on an island; book two, the hero is an isolated, barren-souled man living in Montana; book three the heroine is hiding her identity and living a lie in the heart of Washington, DC.

5.       Point of View. Who is telling the story? Probably the person the writer wants the reader to most identify with. I will often shift POV from the guy to the gal to get a he said/she said sort of banter going. In order to maintain some mystery, it’s often better to hold the POV cards a bit tighter. If the reader knows every thought of every character, it could be like setting unwrapped presents under the Christmas tree. What’s the fun in that?

Those are a quick rundown of my favorite. What elements of a story do you think are the most important?

Picture credit:

Image by Tumisu from Pixabay

Don't forget to join in the IWSG Book Club discussion on Goodreads.

Our August/September book is Forest for the Trees: An Editor’s Advice by Betsy Lerner.
Discussion Fun Day will be September 25, 2019.
Until then, enjoy this freebie created by one of our book club moderators, Juneta Key: Story Study Checklist (Click on the link to open and then save the PDF to your computer.)



Want to try your hand at flash fiction? Enter the WEP challenge!

Check out the WEP Challenge Here

                          Don't forget! The Twitter Pitch is coming. Polish up those manuscripts. 

8 Steps to Visiting Your Novel's Setting Without Leaving Home

Sometimes there's a story in our hearts that won't die, a story that takes place thousands of miles from home, a place we might never have been, and likely will ever be. My current WIP is set in Vancouver BC, the city London, and the Cotswolds in United Kingdom. I've never been to the Cotswolds, but that won't stop me from writing about it.

First thing I'll do:

1.  Open up a search window.
2.  Type GET DIRECTIONS 
3.  Choose a link.  (I like GOOGLE MAPS)

4. Type COTSWOLD DISTRICT, UK. 

5.  See PHOTOS and STREET VIEW in the frames above? The PHOTOS will help with a sense of the place, but for a closer look, I'll click STREET VIEW. 

6.  Now I have the option of either using the arrows to do a virtual drive down this street in front of me, or I can use one of the other photos that best depicts the setting I need for my story. And that would be a pub with public parking and lots of beautiful shrubs, flowers... like the one below:

7.  I can also go back to the origin map, click on the DIRECTIONS icon:

8.  Type London, UK below Cotswolds. And it shows me 1 of 2 routes back into London. 

If I wanted to take a virtual trip, I'd start at the beginning, go back to STREET VIEW and drive the route virtually. But that requires more instructions and is best left for another post.  The point is, yes, do write about what you know, but don't let a little thing like "I've never been there!" stop you from writing vivid descriptions.