Setting as Character in Fiction Writing | Writers.com (2024)

Setting as Character in Fiction Writing

As a novelist or short story writer, you choose how important setting is for the story you plan to tell. Whether the setting is a real location or an entirely fictional one doesn’t necessarily determine its overall role in the story. You must decide during the drafting phase how vital the setting is to the plot, by considering how often your story’s location influences its events and characters.

While every story writer should carefully consider setting, not every story will feature a highly impactful or memorable setting. Many character-driven stories could take place in Anytown, USA. However, in many novels and short stories, the setting is so vital to the narrative that the setting itself becomes another character in the story. In these texts, you must carefully consider how you reveal setting through description, how the characters interact with and are influenced by the setting, and how all of it works together to impact and advance the plot of their story.

As a writer and avid reader, I’m a sucker for a good setting constructed so deliberately that it comes alive on the page and pulls me inside. As a teen, I spent many nights terrified as my eyes roamed the streets of Derry and Castle Rock, ME, the fictitious towns where Stephen King set many of his horror novels. Recently, my book club selected The Great Alone, by Kristin Hannah, as our next read. The title is a reference to Alaska, where the novel is set, and the contrasting descriptions of Alaska—from its majesty and rugged beauty to its ever present, mortal dangers, from its endless summer days to its months long, winter night—set Alaska up as a main character in the novel, which all other characters are forced to battle with in order to survive.

When writing a story, you must decide if your setting is simply a backdrop for your plot or if your setting is essential to the events of the plot. If the latter is true, it may be helpful to start treating your plot the same way you would a human character within your story. How does that work? You have to start by analyzing all of the ways setting impacts your story.

Here are a few ways to consider how setting can function as a character in fiction:

• Mood and Atmosphere:The setting can set the mood for the entire story. It helps establish the emotional tone, ambiance, and overall feel of the narrative. For example, consider the effects of the town on characters, story events and overall mood in the television shows “The Gilmore Girls” and “Twin Peaks.” Can you imagine the happenings in the town of Twin Peaks taking place in Stars Hollow?
• Conflict and Challenges:The setting can introduce external conflict and obstacles for characters. If a story employs Man vs. Nature as its central conflict, where the protagonist has to battle against natural elements in order to survive, then the setting often becomes the antagonist in the story.
• Foreshadowing:The setting can foreshadow events or developments in the story. A stormy night might foreshadow a climactic conflict, while a peaceful, idyllic village may hint at a false sense of security. Use foreshadowing through setting to enrich your narrative and heighten the anticipation of your readers.
• Change and Transformation:Just like characters, settings can undergo change and transformation throughout the story. A once-beautiful garden could become overgrown and neglected, mirroring a character’s emotional journey over the course of a novel or story.
• Narrative Voice:Narrative voice in fiction refers to the point of view or perspective from which a story is told, including the choice of narrator, the tone, style and the way the narrator relays the events and themes. Setting can greatly influence a story’s overall narrative voice. A story set in a quiet, slow-paced rural area might use descriptive and introspective language, while a fast-paced urban thriller may employ terse and action-oriented prose.
• Symbolism:A setting can be symbolic, representing deeper themes or ideas within the story. The setting can mirror the internal states or emotional journeys of the characters. For example, a decaying, abandoned building can symbolize a character’s inner turmoil or the decline of a community.

To make the setting of your story a compelling character, consider its role in the story’s development, its impact on the characters and plot, and how it can contribute to the overall thematic and emotional elements of your narrative. As you develop your setting, be sure to understand your story’s needs by considering what kind of environment best supports your plot. Ask yourself, could the same story take place, or how would the story change, in a different setting? If you’re using a real locale as your setting, be diligent in your research of the location to give it an authentic feel. If you’re creating a fictional setting, you might draw a map or create a mood board of images to help you describe the setting in vivid detail. In deciding to treat your setting as a character, you have the ability to create a rich and immersive experience for your future readers.

Learn more about developing a setting here:

What is the Setting of a Story? 5 Functions of Setting in Literature

Recommended Reading to Study Setting as Character in Fiction

Classic Novels:

• Lord of the Fliesby William Golding:The deserted, tropical island in the Pacific, where a group of prep school boys finds themselves stranded after a shipwreck is crucial to the novel’s themes of civilization versus savagery. The island’s harsh and wild environment repeatedly influences the choices and behaviors of the characters, eventually leading to chaos.
• Wuthering Heightsby Emily Brontë:The wild and desolate moors of Yorkshire, England serve as a powerful backdrop for the desperate and destructive love story between Heathcliff and Catherine. The setting parallels the tumultuous emotions of the characters and their subsequent demise.
• To Kill a Mockingbirdby Harper Lee:The southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, serves not just as the setting but also a reflection of the racial tensions, moral values, and social issues of 1930s America. It deeply influences the actions of the characters, their internal and external struggles and the overall plot of the novel.
• The Roadby Cormac McCarthy:In this post-apocalyptic novel, the bleak and desolate landscape is a constant threat to the survival of the protagonist and his son. The setting underscores the harshness of the new world they are forced to battle against just to stay alive.

Contemporary Novels:

• The Night Circusby Erin Morgenstern:The magical circus in which this novel is set plays a crucial role in the dramatic love story and fierce competition between two magicians.
• Station Elevenby Emily St. John Mandel:This novel takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, after a pandemic left only three percent of the world’s population alive. The settings range from a crumbling airport turned into a makeshift village to a roaming Shakespearean troupe traveling by foot through the dangerous wilderness. The setting becomes a character who impacts every aspect of the narrative.
• The Great Aloneby Kristin Hannah:A remote Alaskan village in the 1970s sets the stage for an epic tale of family struggles and survival as dangerous as the land itself. As the story unfolds, it’s impossible to deny that it could take place anywhere else.
• The Bear and the Nightingaleby Katherine Arden:Taking place in rural Russia in a wintry and magical landscape, the setting is an integral part of this historical fantasy novel, influencing the protagonist’s connection to folklore and myth.

Short Stories

• “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor:The rural, southern landscape becomes a major character in its own right, serving as a mirror to the moral and spiritual conflicts faced by the story’s characters and intensifying the narrative’s somber undertones.
• “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson:Set in the eerie small town where an annual lottery takes place, Jackson deftly highlights the town’s traditions, rituals, and odd sense of dedication to the community, which immediately puts readers on edge. You quickly get the feeling this may not be the kind of lottery you want to win. The setting becomes a pivotal character in the story’s shocking conclusion.
• “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman:Set in an isolated and deteriorating mansion where the female protagonist is confined, the setting transforms into a character that reflects the protagonist’s deteriorating mental state and the oppressive nature of her treatment.