Part 1: Explore your Settings

It's time to explore some of the settings for your novel. The setting of a novel is where and when the story takes place. As you know, most novels have more than one setting. Usually, the author decides to have one large setting (like Los Angeles in 1995) and then many smaller settings (like the laundromat where the characters hang out on the weekends or the classroom where they get in a fight).

Settings do more than serve as a backdrop to the action in your novel. They can also create or enhance the mood of your novel. Mood means the feeling of your novel; its emotional quality. You can also think of the mood as how you want someone to feel while reading your novel. Examples: playful, serious, mysterious, tense, warm, dangerous, joyous

If you wanted to create a creepy mood for a scene in your novel, you could start with something like: "A one-eyed crow blinked from the branch of a dead tree in the yard while a three-legged dog howled at the moon." These images remind us of dark, disturbing things and show the reader that the scene of the novel is "creepy" without having to tell them directly.

Choose 3 moods that would fit your novel. You might choose happy for a romance, for example, or somber for a mystery. Then, try to write two or three sentences for each mood. Include specific details about the sights, sounds, sensations (and maybe even smells) of the settings you choose!

The last step is to apply your new skills to your upcoming novel. Think of a scene from each section of your novel. Then, write or list details to describe a setting that will help create the right mood for each scene. For example, you might set your climax on the edge of a crumbling cliff at sunset in the middle of a thunderstorm. You'll want to explore:

A setting from your set-up:

A setting from your inciting incident:

A setting from your rising action:

A setting from your climax:

A setting from your falling action:

A setting from your resolution:

Great! Now you have settings to enhance the different moods that will be in your novel. You may want to keep this page handy and use it as you write your novel. 

Part 2: Settings That Reinforce Characters

Another advanced writing trick is to show things about your characters just by putting them in specific settings. If you were writing about a mysterious person, you might place them in a dark mansion on a hill outside of town; if you were writing about a musician, you might place them in a messy room filled with instruments, speakers, and microphones.

Here's us just telling you about Jasmine:

Jasmine was having a hard time. She felt sad and lonely. Her older sister had just left for college, and she missed her every day.

And here's us showing all that about Jasmine through the setting we put her in:

Jasmine used to think her bedroom was small, but ever since her sister left for college, it felt too big, like she could get lost inside it. She bounced on the bottom bunk, then climbed the ladder and stretched out on the top. No one told her to move.

She rolled to her side and looked around. "You're my room now," she said to nobody in particular, and the sound echoed around the walls. Her sister had taken the poster of their favorite band with her, and the space where it had hung looked sad and blank. Everything looked sad and blank. Her sister's dresser was swept clean: no necklaces or curling iron or teddy bears cluttered the wood. The closet was half empty.

"Good," said Jasmine. "I'm glad to finally have my own room. It's about time." She pulled the blanket up to her chin. It still smelled like her sister's vanilla perfume. She curled up into a ball and tried to fall asleep, but the room was too quiet, and it took a long time.

Jasmine doesn't even have to speak for herself; her room speaks for her!

For each of the following characters, try to come up with a setting that will reflect or reinforce what you imagine about them. As you write, try to be as detailed as possible. Don't forget colors, sounds, and even smells. Focus on where the character is.

The shy new kid in town:

A secret scientist superhero:

A character from your novel:

Another character from your novel:

For more ideas, check out:

https://youtu.be/QzCe8UlGStA