Although all writers will have to deal with a weak setting at some point, it is especially tricky for the writers of Science-fiction and Fantasy (SFF). Painting the picture is harder that it looks.
First of all, a good setting includes a hint at the year or epoch things happen (fashion is important as well as the shape of buildings, their height, the transportation system, the type of plants, the way time is delivered, the type of technology), the season (seasons can be reversed in SFF, non-existent, or occur differently), the time of the day, the location (alien or fantasy worlds will look and feel entirely different and will require the heavy use of the senses), and the temperature.
Include all of them if you can. Use 3 or 4 words to describe each as you describe your main character doing some kind of action.
Use a movie that is the closest to the time and genre where you want to tell your story. Look at the first image in your story and describe it.
- Example: First image of “Guardians of the Galaxy” after we pass the intro of the kid being kidnapped (equivalent to a prologue): The first picture shows outer space. Diverse unknown planets orbit next to each other and a spaceship is landing on one of them. Then a man (Peter) wearing a futuristic mask and clothing walks on a foggy/humid/hot planet. Jeysers gash from the ground. It rains and it’s daytime. The planet is rocky. Nothing seems to grow on it, yet some ruins are the silent witness of an earlier civilization.The jeysers are not there only for decoration. They will play a role when the man will escape the grasp of some alien treasure hunters. The man’s ship will be tumbled down by a jeyser, demonstrating Peter’s incredible agility, cool, and resourcefulness after he manages to save his ship.
The setting will carry a moment in the life of the hero where something will change. Something small will occur, but something that will lead to the rest of the story.
The setting will also provide a way to show how the hero reacts in a given situation. It will help show something unique and important about the character.
Some settings require focusing on landmarks to give an overview of the place, then the focus shifts on one side of that place. Science-fiction novels often portray landscapes first in order to make it clear the action is happening in outer space. Places in science-fiction are so different from what we already know or have seen that it requires a good mapping before anything can happen.
Other settings, and often in fantasy fiction, the focus is on one practical aspect/object or totem of the world.
- Example: In the movie “Howl’s Moving Castle,” the first scene shows a moving castle walking through a thick mountain fog. The fog helps blur out the outside and give the castle a magical presence. We can hear the gears and joints of the robotic and magical castle pop and screak. In a book, the castle would be described first because it is an essential part of the story. It’s odd enough to require all of our attention. It’s the totem object. After the castle is well shown, the fog dissipates and the location of the story appears. It’s a bucolic setting with sheep/shepherds and old single houses/farms. Then the next focus is on the village. The diesel train, the fashion, and the way of life of people set us back in a previous century.
Key locations/lanmarks can be symbolic and foreshadow the rest of the story. A setting is never innocent. Each setting precludes something important that will happen there.
- Example: The TV series “The Shannara Chronicles” based on the series by Terry Brooks, starts with the woods, which is a major landmark in the novel. Eretria runs through the woods, blindfolded and her hands tied up in her back. She is training to be one of the Chosen who are selected to protect and care for the Ellcrys tree, a tree that keeps a key of a demon’s jail cell trapped in each one of its leaves.
- Example: In “Being Human,” (US version) the very nature of the TV series requires the movie to start with Sally, the ghost and the main character, lying down on the tiles of her house, depressed and realizing that no one can see her anymore, at least no one human. The house will be a major setting for her because she won’t be able to leave it. She will be trapped between those four words. The black and white tiles tell a lot about the location. The stories portrays the life of four roommates that all have supernatural beings. The house is the place where their secret they hide from the world can be revealed. The house is very symbolic.
Settings might play a bigger role than you might think. Yes, the setting describes a place where and when things happen, but it has a few other roles too. It’s part of the subtext. Not only the setting shows what or who the story focuses on, it also precludes something that will happen. Setting can foreshadow in its own special way. Aside from creating a mood, the setting pulls you in and makes a promise of things to come. Be very deliberate when using the setting and never forget setting includes a place, time, season, and much more. And settings scenes repeat every time you move your characters around, ideally in each chapter and sometimes several times during a chapter.