Setting...

...Or, Where the Heck am I, Anyway?

Okay, so you have a character. And your character is an interesting fellow. You like this character--you like him a lot. You are eager, frantic, in fact, to tell this little character's story. But where does his story take place? In the country, in the city, in a hobbit hole in the ground? The choice you make now--the choice of setting, will make a difference in how your character's story plays out. Don't believe me? Here's an example to prove my point.

















See this little guy? I'm going to call him Ruddy Babbit. Ruddy is a cute little thing--he's timid, and dislikes loud noises. He also is very fond of carrots, and is very good as sniffing them out with his wiggly, fuzzy nose. (I decided these thing. You might call the rabbit FeeFee Fluffytail, and say that she eats only blueberry tarts and dances ballet in her free time.)

What does Ruddy Babbit want? He wants carrots. So his story is going to be a quest for carrots. We'll call it (appropriately) "Ruddy's Quest for Carrots," a story of adventure, much sniffing, and piles of orange vegetables.

So I have a character, and he's a cutie. What do I have to decide now? I have to decide where Ruddy will find his carrots. Here's the first place I pick...what kind of story is this going to be for Ruddy?


















Yikes! This sort of setting--a spooky graveyard--it going to make Ruddy's quest for carrots a bit frightening, isn't it? Perhaps the ghost who lives there also likes carrots, and then what is poor Ruddy going to do?

Or how about this setting...

















Can Ruddy find carrots here? Maybe, and maybe not. Maybe he will have to learn to use the crosswalk first, or risk being run over by a car.

How about this setting?

















Not many carrots here, are there? What would poor Ruddy do?

And this setting? What do you think about this one?


















A-Ha! A farm! Ruddy's story could be quite a gentle, easy story if we pick this setting. Unless, of course, the farm cat decides he likes carrots too...served up along side a plate of stewed rabbit.

Do you see how setting affects our character? We kept the same character throughout, and yet, as we considered different settings to put him in, each choice changes how our story might play out. In the graveyard, we might have ghosts and other scary things for Ruddy to face. In the city, we have traffic and automobiles, and curious children. In the desert we have very few carrots, and probably lots of snakes. On the farm, we probably have carrots, and very few snakes. (Well, maybe one or two. :-)

Here is another setting for Ruddy. First of all, where is Ruddy now? What sort of story do you think this setting would make? Write Ruddy's story with the setting of your choice!

















Next up: Plots, Pots, and Trouble!