Setting is one of my favorite topics, because so many writers don’t use it well. Some don’t use it at all, which is a terrible waste of an opportunity.
Try to imagine CATCHER IN THE RYE being set anywhere other than New York City. Try imagining TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD set anywhere else but Maycomb,Alabama. It just doesn’t work. Think of all the best books you have ever read and picture the setting. More often than not, the setting played a big part, if not an essential part.
Not only does the setting let us know where we are by using all of the senses, but it helps to ground the story and define the characters. Sometimes the smallest details jump off the page and bring the entire scene into view. Like the etched glass swan double doors on a Victorian house. Or a liveried doorman walking backwards on W. 57th St. in New York with one arm up and a whistle, hailing a cab. Or the metal Coca Cola sign on an old screen door that slams on rusty hinges. All those things bring a strong sense of place, which means we are that much more transported.
Let’s break those examples down. A Victorian house can seem vague in your mind without those doors. Suddenly, you are picturing a real house, not just a blur of a house. Who would live in such a house? Who are these people and what are their lives like?
That doorman on W. 57th St. brings with him a wealth of information. It tells us we’re in an upscale neighborhood. The people who live there are comfortable and urbane. I see his cap and his white gloves. I can see the hem of his coat flapping as he walks along. I can hear the piercing shriek of the whistle over the constant noise of the traffic. I can see a cab whizzing to a halt just past the avenue at his bidding. All that from one doorman!
Oh, and that screen door. I’m picturing a café in the deep South, with ceiling fans and stools at a lunch counter. I’m seeing old-fashioned autos from the 50’s or maybe even the 20’s. I am sensing the aroma of freshly baked peach pie.
Think of all these places and ask yourself what kind of person would live there? How would that setting affect who they are, how they see the world, how they talk, and how they live? Even if that character has moved somewhere else, he or she is going to bring that background along. If you have a well-dressed businessman in Chicago, maybe he grew up in Butte, Montana. How would that affect how he talks or does business? How would he dress and style his hair? He might look like any other Chicago businessman, but if we know he’s from a craggy mountain, maybe he’s a bit craggy too.
You can’t go wrong using setting for all it’s worth. Your story will be better for it and you will have succeeded in taking your reader on a magic carpet ride to another place and time.
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