Setting in a novel

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Lisa F

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I'm in the middle of a scene that takes place at a pond. I just realized the only thing the reader knows about the setting is: (1) the water is cold (2) it's a hot summer day.
How do you create a setting without the setting become a monologue or "stuck in there" just for the sake of getting setting in? Any techniques or thoughts on setting?
 

Stew21

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Have your character interact with things within the scene/environment.
Have the character notice small things.
Relate a memory or "snapshot" of the place as the character sees/saw/remembers the place.
 

Lisa F

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I'm on my way to the doctor. I'm in the middle of a novel right now. I'm taking it along. I'm going to pay attention to when/where/how the author integrates setting.
 

girlyswot

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Also, think about how much your reader actually needs to know about the setting. Often it will work fine just to give a few details that are enough to form a general impression. Try to make these details specific and telling. Sometimes, however, the setting is very important for the scene and for the characters, so you'll want to spend longer describing it. Even here, it's worth thinking about how you describe it. Try to work out how it would impact your point of view character. So, for example, rather than saying there are rose beds in the garden, tell us that the scent of the roses was overpowering. Instead of simply pointing out that there is garden furniture, tell us that it reminded her of her grandmother's garden furniture, if you want her to feel at home; or of something in a museum if you want her to feel nervous. Make the description do more than just describe the setting.
 

kdnxdr

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I think it's important to know why the setting matters to me; I need to be put into the experience of the setting, as a reader.
 

CaroGirl

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Make the setting sensual. Weave it into the narrative in a seamless way that doesn't make it obvious that you're setting the scene.

Remember that the setting is as important to your story as it is in real life. Take any strong memory of your own. Where were you? How important is where you were to the memory itself?
 

bsolah

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Yeah, I definitely agree with the idea of making your character interact with the things you need to describe in the setting. It's that age old thing of show, not tell.
 

JBI

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The perception of the character. Write how you think the character views things, not the narrator, or, Just don't include any detail. Worked for Hemmingway and many subsequent authors.
 

JAK

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"Accentuate the details, and leave the obvious vague." -- attributed to Vincent van Gogh

Works in writing as well, imo.
 

Phil DeBlanque

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Throw the reader in the pond with the character

Can the character touch the pond botton? What does it feel like? Peebles are rough/scratching and hurting his/her skin/ round and nice totouch like the gentliest massage. Sun reflexion in the water may hurt their eyes or look like thousands of precious diamonds. Clouds. Have the guy focus on a cloud in the sky, from seing it as a bless sign to cry for it, the only thing he/shee sees around that can help him/her at the situation. Or, have the character describe it as a cumulus something. The sun rays on the guy’s/ gal’s wet clothes, how does that feel?

Throw the reader in the water :e2drown:
 

patrick bateman

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I suggest adding a reference here and there about your location during the action. Scatter it about. Not all at once. Nothing bores me more than a paragraph (or page!) that's nothing but the writer setting the scene while absolutely nothing happens.
 

NatJM

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Describe the setting from the character's point of view. Different people notice different things in a setting, so actually, the way you describe the setting is an opportunity to show the character's personality.
 

scheherazade

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I tend to intertwine my description of the setting in between action or dialogue. As a reader I tend to skip paragraphs that only decribe inanimate things - the sunset, the weather, the scenery. But it can be interesting if you describe the character panting as he climbs up the rocky hill, or peeling off his t-shirt because it's so hot outside. You can also lace in bits of description between exposition. Eg: "Where do you think he went?" she asked, scanning the dark forest that surrounded the meadow.
 

selkn.asrai

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"Accentuate the details, and leave the obvious vague." -- attributed to Vincent van Gogh

Works in writing as well, imo.


Agreed. With van Gogh, and with you for promoting (and using) this method. In my opinion, you've both got it right. :)
 

quixotic!fantastic!

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Honestly, I suggest you go find a pond and jump in. Then you'll be able to easily attach emotion and all those beautiful little details to your writing, and weave the setting easily into the rest of the scene.

Awesome vanGogh quote. Perfect.
 

Hip-Hop-a-potamus

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Use all four senses as much as possible.

You won't taste it (unless you want cholera, that is), but you can smell it (It might smell funky because the water in a pond generally doesn't move), see it, hear the slight ripples and minute waves as it moves against the banks. There might be leaves nearby. If it's summer they won't be falling into it like in the autumn, but the green from them will most likely be reflected in it, depending on how close to the water they are.

And like everyone else said, why do we need to know these things? Is someone falling in later? Will someone drown? Is there a picnic happening nearby? Give us that information.
 

Marya

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Often I find settings are a good opportunity to develop characterisation. If the character is a climatologist, s/he may worry about seeded clouds or higher than usual temperatures. If the character is depressed, s/he may experience the ocean as overwhelming, waves like tsunamis, swimmers in danger of drowning. An art student may be conscious of shifting light on the river or the shadows thrown by old buildings.

In one story, I had a character who did not yet know that her husband was planning to leave her, but she was intensely aware of couples embracing in the sunshine as she walked through a park and kept wondering if one passionate couple might be having an illicit affair. She notices the spring blossoms on the peach trees and drifts of wild flowers under the trees, the sensuality and beauty of the season. She feels envious, a little aroused, nostalgic for her youth, but doesn't connect these feelings to her failing marriage. But this scene helped me set the mood for what would happen later the same day when her husband tells he has met somebody else.
 

maestrowork

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Sometimes a pond is just a pond. The water is cold. That's all we need to know.

Unless there's something unusual. Or if something is important to the character or the plot.

Do you have enough sensory details to help the readers imagine the pond? Is there something special about the pond that they need to know? Can they just use any pond in their memory/imagination -- meaning, is the pond generic enough?

If the pond is unique, then you can move your characters around it, let them interact with it, or have them notice little details -- basically how do you relate the setting back to your characters, their emotional states, etc. A setting is BORING unless it somehow ties back to the plot or emotions or atmosphere.
 

Truth and Fiction

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I was immediately curious why the pond is cold on a hot summer day. I mean, I know that happens, especially in the early morning or evening, etc., but it still gave me pause. Details like that (why the pond is cold on a hot day, what the characters are doing at said pond and/or how they are reacting to the cold water when it's such a hot day) can be enough to carry the scene/sense of place without overdoing it.
 
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