Tag: Ideas for writing settings

What is Your Favorite Time of Year to Read or Write About?

Writing prompt for settings

My bookish questions for today is what is your favorite time of year to read or write about? This is an important question for me because I’m a calendar reader.

What is a calendar reader? I knew you would ask because I’ve made up the term. A calendar reader is someone who likes to read a story during the time of year in which it is set. Many people read Christmas stories during December. I like to reread my favorite stories in the season or month in which they take place if the author has given that setting a particular importance or especially vivid descriptions. For example, I always reread, “The Long Way Down” by Edward D. Hoch, one of the best mystery short stories ever written, in March because that’s when the story is set and the fact that the story unfolds in March is critical to the plot.

Because time of year is so important for me to enjoy a story, it’s also important when I write my short stories and novels. I work the time of year extremely hard in my Rae Riley Mysteries to give the mysteries a distinct atmosphere, foreshadowing, and metaphors for the plot.

When I was younger, I would have said fall was my favorite time to read or write about. I think it’s still my favorite but other season have become more and more attractive over the years.

What’s your favorite time of year to read or write about?

Here are more writing prompts and questions about settings.

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Suggest a Story for This Setting

Writing prompts for setting

One thing I love about exploring a new setting for a story is the way it can inspire characters and plots. Although writers often discuss those three elements as if they are distinct, they all feed into each other. So let your imagination wander and suggest a story for this setting. Do you want to decide the genre first? Historical fiction would have different characters than a fantasy. Or maybe it’s a contemporary story. An archaeological expedition is working in the castle, which hasn’t been inhabited in centuries. That could lead to a mystery, thriller, or suspense story. Or a romance between two people on the dig. Maybe there are rival dig teams. Here’s my inspiration:

*****

  • Genre: Mystery
  • Setting: An archaeology dig at a remote castle in Eastern Europe.
  • Characters: Professor leading the dig. Two graduate students who are his assistants. The undergrads who make up the bulk of the team. The government official who has given them permission to dig. Local people from the nearby village–farmers, shopkeepers, maybe a mayor.
  • Plot: After digging for a month, the archaeological team has found nothing significant. Although a few locals don’t like the team studying the castle, most of them like the business the outsiders bring. Then accidents occur at the site. Finally a body of a local who objected to the dig is discovered. Was it another accident? And if it was murder, why?

*****

In the comments, list your genre, setting, main characters, and basic plot. I’d love to read how the picture inspires you!

Here are more photo prompts for writing settings.

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How Does the Character Fit the Setting?

Certain settings suggest certain characters. So my writing prompts today is to ask how does the character fit the setting in this picture? When I first saw it, the sinister vibe caught me, and I immediately thought the character was a Victorian villain–like Mr. Hyde is about to have a really violent night on the town.

But I always like to go against stereotypes. It occurred to me that the way the character is overlooking the city reminds me of pictures of Batman. What if he’s a Victorian Batman? No superhuman skills. Just a man who’s trained himself to fight crime. He could even be a reformed crook who knows the underworld of London so well that he can fight it better than the police.

How would you fit the character to this setting?

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Writing Fun with Settings

Writing fun with settings

What I mean by having writing fun with settings is finding places you can explore and see what fun you can have if you develop a story around them.

Fun Ideas for Settings

Here are some ideas to use if you just want to have fun writing about settings.

  • Research a location you’ve always wanted to visit and see what story ideas your research sparks.
  • Scroll through photo sites, like Pixabay, using search terms for locations you’d like to see, especially sci or fantasy landscapes.
  • Scroll through photo sites and write a quick scene set in the first setting that captures your interest.
  • Make a list of settings you personally hate. For example, I don’t like hospitals. Try writing a scene with a character who hates being in this setting. Then write one with a characters who loves it.
  • Do the same as above with settings you love.
  • Select a setting where you’d feel uncomfortable. For example, if you’re an urbanite, choose a small town. Write about what you would dislike about the setting. Write about what you might like.
  • Write about some of your favorite locations from childhood.

Since setting can also mean a period of time …

  • Research a favorite time period.
  • Write about which seasons is your favorite and why.
  • Write about which holiday is your favorite and why.
  • Write about the best event or year in your life.

Fun Ideas for Settings within Your WIP

Like I said last week, sometimes you need to have fun with your writing, but you can’t leave your WIP for very long because of a deadline. Here some suggestions for having fun writing settings within your current project.

  • Determine if you can move a scene you’ve already written to a new setting. For example, your main charcter’s (MC) best friend works at a candy store and you haven’t set any scenes there yet.
  • Examine your overall setting to see if there are locations within it you’ve overlooked. If your overall setting is a business within a skyscraper and most of your scenes take place in offices, see if you can set some in an elevator, the cafeteria, a stairwell, or even a bathroom.
  • Examine your settings to see if you’ve taken full advantage of what they offer. If your MC has a fight with a henchman in the kitchen of a restaurant, make sure the two opponents are using what’s in the kitchen–grabbing a chef’s knife, hurling a bowl of salad, throwing eggs on the floor.

For more tips on writing settings, click here. I’d love to read your suggestions for having writing fun with settings.

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Inspiration for Settings in A Storm of Doubts

Inspiration for Settings in A Storm of Doubts

It’s hard for authors to evaluate their own stories. One thing I have trouble with is judging whether I’m describing a setting well enough. I want to write about my settings vividly enough for readers to think they are in the scene with the characters. Writing the settings in my latest novel was no different. One way for me to do this is to visit actual places and take photos. This information provided inspiration for settings in A Storm of Doubts.

Writing from my own back yard

I’m fortunate that the county where I live is not much different from the part of the state where I place fictional Marlin County, Ohio. So I find inspiration as soon as I walk out my door. But I have to pay attention. Last spring I took photos of wildflowers on my bike rides so I’d know what flowers were blooming when my novel takes place, which is Memorial Day to Father’s Day.

I also took a vacation to a state park in southeastern Ohio at the right time of year and discovered something I probably wouldn’t have discovered if I hadn’t hiked in that area. In early June, so much honeysuckle is in bloom that the entire woods are perfumed with a smell similar to Easter lilies.

Literary inspiration

Literary inspiration also helped me describe my settings. One of these books, one of my favorite novels, is Watership Down. Now, you might think a cozy mystery would have nothing in common with a classic of fantasy fiction. But Mr. Adams’s description of nature as his tribe of wild rabbits experience it inspired me to write about the nature my characters experience in my own version of his immersive style.

My settings were also inspired by The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, which may seem odd. HIs description of a golden evening that the Time Traveller finds in the year 892,701 is one of the best I’ve read that captures the mood of a warm, summer evening. In The Time Machine, the beauty of the evening belies the dark secret of the culture the Time Traveller discovers. But in Storm, my final scene occurs just before supper on Father’s Day, and the golden light plays an important role in setting a peaceful mood.

What books have you read that make you feel like you living in the setting?

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