5. Setting

The setting is where action takes place. In science fiction and fantasy, the setting is often very different from the here-and-now...but I don't want to discuss worldbuilding in a seminar that's about writing prose.

Instead, I want to make a point I was taught in Grade 11 English. Setting is made up of three components:

Setting = Time, Place, and Circumstance (TPC)

Time and Place are straightforward. Circumstance consists of background details that modify the nature of the time and place.

For example, let's pick a simple science fiction setting: New York City, the year 2051. That's just a Time and Place; there's no life in the setting until I tell you a Circumstance. Here are some possibilities:

Runaway global warming has melted the polar ice caps. Much of Manhattan is under water. The city has mostly been abandoned; only lowlifes and the poor remain. The city is a vision of hell.
Same as above, but the city wasn't abandoned at all. Gondolas drift serenely down Broadway. Office buildings may have been flooded on the lower floors, but it's business as usual in the upper stories. Crime is down, and tourism is up. The city is the prettiest it's ever been.
Same as above, but conquering aliens arrived in 2023. Alien gunboats chug amidst the gondolas in search of resistance fighters. All humans are slaves. The city is a prison camp.
Same as above, but the aliens were benevolent and brought extensive bioengineering technology. The flooded bottom floors of buildings are still in use, by people who have been equipped with gills. Winged humans soar from tower to tower. Almost everyone is augmented in some way. The city is like a Renaissance painting of heaven.
Same as above, but there is a strict caste system based on augmentations. People with gills are shot if they ever show their heads above water. Those with wings are arrogant tyrants, with complete power of life or death over the wingless. The city is a demihuman version of Animal Farm.

I could go on. Remember that all of the above settings have the same Time and Place. It's the Circumstances that give each setting its flavor.

I’ve just finished reading Passage by Connie Willis. It mostly takes place in a hospital where parts of the building are under construction; the presence of construction keeps coming back again and again to affect the action.

Even small circumstances can have significant effects. For example, a story set in winter might go in different directions than a similar story set in summer. Scenes set at night can be very different from similar scenes in daylight.

As a writer, you should set the circumstances to your advantage. Would a particular scene be more effective in a rainstorm than in pleasant weather? Would your story be less generic if it took place during an extended garbage strike? What if your spaceport is based on Indian architecture like the Taj Mahal, rather than the usual Star Fleet neo-Holiday Inn décor? Details like that (used judiciously) add life to your work, and make it stand out from the crowd.

<Previous | Top | Table of Contents | Next>