Literary Settings are Important

Why Writers Starting a Story Need to Focus on Background Information

Nov 11, 2008

How should a writer begin a story? Whatever his or her path, it is crucial that the writer creates a strong setting, given its benefits and purpose.

Writers beginning a story are not always concerned with setting. Their focus may be on outlines, or how to phrase the beginning paragraph. In reality, the background information a writer establishes is just as, if not more important than an outline of the entire piece. In fact, authors can write successful short stories and novels without outlining - provided they develop a strong setting beforehand.

The Purpose of Setting

The setting of a story comprises characters' current condition, the location and past events, among other things. Such information does not just make for a good opening; it determines the demeanor and motives of the characters, acts as a repository of content for writers to draw on and explains how each element in the story came to be. The background, in other words, is important throughout the story.

Unfortunately, writers often overlook a story’s past in their efforts to organize its future. This results in arbitrary plot development and inconsistent characters; without a backdrop for the story, the plot and characters can diverge at will without any prior history to guide them.

Why Strong Settings are Important in Stories

Although establishing setting is only one step in writing a good rough draft (see here for more advice), it still plays an important role. Suppose someone wants to begin a story about a beggar. The writer tells herself that the beggar is usually angry, but “has a good side,” and lives in a town past its prime. Satisfied with this background, the writer goes on to draft an elaborate plot than encompasses every chapter of the story.

The problem is, both the beggar and the town here are horribly undeveloped. What is the reason for the beggar’s demeanor? Why is the beggar poor, at any rate? And what is the nature of the town? Such questions can be answered in the course of the story, but unless the writer knows her characters beforehand, there is a good chance that she will write inconsistently about the beggar and the town.

Suppose that another writer approaches the same story in the opposite manner. He writes an extensive history of the beggar for his own purposes, noting his upbringing and employment history. He also notes the town’s decline from a mining powerhouse to a rust belt village, and synchronizes its timeline with the beggar’s own decline into homelessness. If possible, the writer incorporates some content from his own life into the piece (as basing writing on one's experience can be very beneficial).

Even if he does no plot outlining whatsoever, this writer is in a better position than the first. His characters now have a rationale for their coming actions, and every element in the story is supported with a base of background information. An outline of the plot accomplishes none of this. Indeed, the writer would do well to let his backdrop—not some scaffold of the story to come—dictate how the story turns out.

The Power of Background

The fruits of an extensive setting - detailed text, consistent characters and a compelling past—can significantly improve a story. Indeed, without a backdrop, there is little point in outlining at all.

The copyright of the article Literary Settings are Important in Writing Techniques is owned by Kenneth Burchfiel. Permission to republish Literary Settings are Important in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.