A guide full of tips and tricks that hopefully doesn't recount the same old stuff in every other writing book under the sun, Wattpad and published alike. Covering everything from helpful resources like Susanna's Pacemaker to treating setting like ch...
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I love setting almost as much as I love dialogue. That is, a lot. This is probably a good thing. My day job is literally putting together sets for TV, picking out the details appropriate for characters. Trying to imagine their life and what it looks like in the form of a bedroom or a barn. It's one extra layer to the story. Layers add the richness.
Sadly, this thing intrinsic to any story, unless you're story is set in the infinite abyss, which still kind of counts, is often underutilized. An utter shame it is when writers slap a location onto their story and call it good enough.
Choosing Your Broad Setting
Let's talk about the fictional Cullfield, Maine for a second. Maine is not an incidental setting for Natalie's Diary. I picked it for a few very important reasons. One, New England throws hella creepy vibes. It is a natural location for anything spooky and eerie. Being the section of the US settled the earliest, it has a metric tonne of history. It has ghost stories galore. Its weather is kind of abysmal and its proximity to the ocean and other bodies of water make it foggy. Hello mystery vibes. Two, Maine's proximity to Canada makes it a big part of the Underground Railroad and the Prohibition era. The sneaky, sneaky history of hiding booze and slaves riddles Maine full of hidden rooms, tunnels, and other mystery writer tools. Three, the small town vibe of a little town in the middle of Maine is the perfect place for a POC girl from Boston to feel alienated and out of the loop.
All these things lend something to the story, both in plot device and in tone, making it the perfect storm for the story.
Think about how geography could lend itself to your story. I personally adore the idea of urban fantasy set in New Orleans. Why wouldn't you? It's entrenched in history of taking in outcasts. There's already a strong presence of ritual and religious themes. There are some of the creepiest haunted mansions and cemeteries and the innate danger of the Bayou.
Does the sprawling Midwest with its farm towns and endless rolling fields of wheat not lend itself to a story about depression? Especially when it gives way to a blinding whiteout of a winter.
Even Stephanie Meyer put research into choosing Forks, Washington as the setting for Twilight because it rained there more than anywhere else in the US. Consider that your minimum standard.
Fictional Vs. Reality
I sometimes see this debate. I personally approach them very similarly. The fictional setting simply allows me more control and with that control, I cater the setting to my story a little more.
For example, for both, research is necessary. Despite Cullfield, Maine's fictional nature, it's still heavily inspired by the real towns of Maine. In particular, Cullfield is geographically based on the location of Dexter whenever characters ever talk about how long it takes to get to a different city. Some details of the history are borrowed from Topsham and Brunswick, Maine, mostly over their association with the Underground Railroad. The actual history of Maine is pretty influential to Cullfield.
