How to Describe Setting in Fiction

A vivid and memorable setting can turn a good novel into a great one. Masters like Raymond Chandler used setting to their advantage, making it as alive and memorable as a character itself. Here are some tips on how to describe setting in fiction.

Where you set your story can be as vital as who your main characters are. As such, you should not treat setting as secondary. If possible, you should set your story in a place with interesting atmosphere. If you live in a unique locale, be sure to exploit it. In fact, I moved from New York to Hawaii for a year with the purpose of using the island of Oahu as the setting for my first novel. Indeed, the island itself became a character in my story, and an important one at that. That is not to say that you need to move halfway across the globe to find an interesting setting. You can even create one of your own, like Stephen King and Scott Turow.

If your setting is a real locale within your reach, do not take the easy way out. Visit the location. In fact, visit the location of each individual scene if possible. Take a small tape recorder or a pen and pad and take notes. If visiting the locale is impossible or impractical, use books, pictures, interviews and the internet to help describe your setting.

Be descriptive, and do not stick with only what can be seen with the eyes. Use all the senses to describe your setting. What do your characters hear? What do they smell? What can they touch? Offer your characters' impressions of the setting. Use similes and metaphors.

Add weather and climate to your story. You do not need to take to ten pages to describe snowfall; a sentence or two will do. Snow plays a large role in Scott Smith's best-selling novel, A Simple Plan, which was adapted into a film starring Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton. The heat plays a large role in Scott Smith's second best-selling novel, The Ruins, which is set in Mexico, and about to be adapted into a film.

Do not overlook the obvious. If you set your novel in Manhattan, of course there will be skyscrapers. Mention them; don't feel like it would be silly because it is obvious.

Do not forget that setting can include some history of the locale. Add tidbits of information about the economy, geography, and things of that sort. Even a little goes a long way in writing.

Hope these tips on how to describe setting in fiction prove helpful, and best of luck with your story.