Time & Place: The Importance of Setting

Never underestimate the importance of setting when writing your novel. Setting includes the place and the time that the story takes place. In some novels, setting is merely background, but in others, it is an integral part of the story. Some writers give it more prominence than others, and use it as a structure upon which to build. Setting can influence how a character thinks and feels and may further the plot, yet it must not overwhelm.

Place is the landscape where the story is set. It includes the country, the physical geography and the architecture. If the place appears real, the reader will find himself in the world of the story.

Time is an important aspect of setting and the author must decide if the novel takes place in this century, or is from some other period. In a historical novel, the setting is vastly different.  The reader needs sufficient detail, but does not want to be confused.

Imagine how different Stephen King's list of novels set in and around the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine would have been had they occurred in…Idaho, for example. Some things may translate regardless of where and when a story is set, but not the important elements that bring the richness and depth.

Take my novel Asylum Lake. Like the great Mr. King, I created a fictional small town right in my own backyard. Bedlam Falls, Michigan is loosely located between the cities of Grand Rapids and Traverse City (insert Google Earth link here).  It's the line on the map where urban meets rural and because the story in Asylum Lake is told over the span of fifty years readers experience the ways in which that small town has grown…in ways both good and bad. Bedlam Falls is both a time and a place of the overall setting in Asylum Lake.

One of the most enjoyable elements in creating the setting for Asylum Lake was having the abandoned psychiatric hospital looming out on the horizon. The tension builds and builds as readers wait for their first glimpse of what rests within the hospital's crumbling walls.These details are revealed through the eyes of various characters – all adding to the setting's detail of both place and time.

Setting is more than background. A good setting draws the reader in, helps to explain the characters, and moves the plot forward. How are you using setting to strengthen your story?