Compelling Settings

The setting of our story is important!

Janet Wilson of Dernier Publishing (Christian fiction for kids and teens) discusses the importance of choosing a compelling setting to enhance your story, and how it can increase reader engagement.

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Welcome to the Write for a Reason podcast. My name is Janet Wilson. I'm a publisher of Christian fiction for young people with Dernier Publishing. If you're a Christian and new to writing stories for kids and teens, stay tuned for encouragement, creative writing tips, and actionable strategies you can implement immediately to become a better writer and get your books out into the world. Today we're going to be talking about settings for your story, how to create compelling settings that will captivate your readers. The aim of this podcast is to give you some good ideas for your setting. So things that will draw your readers into your story, captivate them. So they go to the end and they hear the message of the good news. So grab your journal and a pen, get ready to make some notes. So why bother to do a training about setting? It's in the background. Sorry for the pun. Your characters and your plot are obviously the most important element of your story. But the setting builds up the picture. It can enhance emotional engagement and draw your readers right in. So you could have Joshua at home, at church, and at school learning about how important going to church is through a series of adventures. Or you can whiz him off to a distant planet where he'll meet talking beasts, eat strange foods, experience weird and wacky weather, and perhaps make himself invisible at will, and he can still learn there about how important it is to go to church. So you can get the message in that you want to share with your children, with your readers, through a much more compelling setting. So what exactly is the setting? It's the time and the place where you're setting your story. So you may be setting it in the past, in the present, in the future, or something completely fantastical. Within that you will have lots of different scenes. But let's look first at the big picture. When and where could you set your novel for the greatest impact? Of course, this is entirely up to you. You will have your target readers in mind, of course. So what would your target readers really love? Would they love a forest on an island with dragons? Would you like to set it in China? Perhaps you've lived in China for a little while, perhaps you've experienced the culture there. And that could be a really gripping setting, a place where you could set your story that will thrill and inspire your readers. If you're going to set your story in a historical environment, you will of course need to do lots of research. But if you're writing in the present, you may also need to do some research. Schools may well have changed since you were there last. So if you're not familiar with a school environment, it would be a really good idea to go and have a look. You may find that there are some differences which are quite enormous and will make a difference to your story and your readers. You really do need it to be up to date. It's the same with uh youth clubs, the youth club that you remember when you went to when you were a child may be completely different now. So make sure that you do research whether you're setting your story in the past or the present. And of course, if you're setting your story in the future, you will need to build your fictional world. And I believe that we have a training on that on the Right for a Reason website somewhere. So do hop over and have a look for that. Some stories, of course, will be set in various different places. Here's a really good example because I'm sure you have read the Narnia stories by C.S. Lewis. If you haven't, uh get yourselves a copy, you will love those stories. So in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and in the prequel and the sequels to that, the Pevensey children go through a wardrobe into Narnia, so they're coming there and back and there and back again. So you can have two settings if you want. In fact, there are so many different options. Your imagination is the limit. You can have someone going back and forth into different time zones, perhaps with a grandfather's fob watch. All sorts of different things that you could do. You can have so much fun. Where could you set your novel? On a lighthouse? A treasure island that your protagonist has to get over by rowing on a boat? How about uh an attic or an underground tunnel? These are all ideas for your kind of mini settings. So pick your big setting and then have some beautiful scenes set in very interesting places. Perhaps a tunnel, castles, caves, you name it, you can do it. If your imagination will take you there and you know enough about it to write it with conviction, then that is a good setting for you. And while I'm here, don't forget to use all the senses as you write. So not just what you can see, but think about what the the the smell of the place is like or that particular scene. Um, what can you hear? If there's food, what does it taste like? If there's weather, you know, have you got the wind whipping hair around somebody's shoulders or blowing things about? Use all those senses to make sure that you're taking your characters right there with you. And don't forget colour, lots of different colours. And atmosphere. Think about the atmosphere of your setting when you're planning your story. What kind of emotion are you planning to build with your story? Is it a romance? Is it an adventure? Are you going to have lots of suspense and intrigue and danger? So have a think about the atmosphere of your stories and how it will feel with your characters. So if you need a creepy scene, get yourself a nice creepy setting. With lots of show notes, of course. The atmosphere is where your setting can enhance the emotions, whether it's cheery and light, and you'll want some of those, maybe party places or family fun, or maybe you want something that's scary and tense. In which case you may need something that is darker and more forbidding. So, what experiences have you had? Where have you been that has made you feel either frightened or trapped or full of joy? Whatever it is that you want to bring out in your story, have a think about your setting very carefully. And all the places that you have been to. Why not stop now and make a list of places that you've been to where you could have a scene in your story, or you could have your whole setting there. So I hope that's been really useful for you. Use your setting as a major part of the story rather than an afterthought. Plan your setting carefully and all the different scenes, from the sand in your character's toes of a desert to a wide panorama. Set your imagination free. So if it's raining in your story, when your readers look up, they will be expecting it to be raining outside their own window. That is the aim. If you'd like lots more creative writing tips, hop on over to writeforreason.com where you'll find many more resources and encouragement to help you write excellent, relevant, fun novels and get them into your readers' hands. If you haven't yet done my free course, Gripping Beginnings, you can sign up and start immediately, and this will help you grip your readers from the very first page of your story. We also have a membership group and we have a Rightful Reason Academy, a course where you can learn all the things that you need to to write a fantastic book for kids. So don't put it off, folks. Today is a gift to use wisely. Only you can write your book, and if you've been called to write, someone is waiting for it.