1 / 9

Setting as Character

Setting as Character. Presenter: Kerri Mountain. SETTING. TIME Includes hour, time of day, month, duration PLACE Immediate space where the character finds himself LOCATION Geography of place CONTEXT Past, present, or future Story World vs. Reality. Location, Location, Location.

laasya
Download Presentation

Setting as Character

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Setting as Character Presenter: Kerri Mountain

  2. SETTING TIME • Includes hour, time of day, month, duration PLACE • Immediate space where the character finds himself LOCATION • Geography of place CONTEXT • Past, present, or future • Story World vs. Reality

  3. Location, Location, Location Picking the Right Spot • Real vs. Created • Know your location • Using an imaginary town gives more flexibility on the details, but you have to provide more of the detail • Using a well-known area, you carry the burden of proof • What experiences have you had? What have you done to avoid the pitfalls of either choice?

  4. Location, Location, Location Unique Perspective • Newcomer vs. Native • Character’s previous interaction with the community or similar communities • Urban, Suburban, or Rural • Prosperous vs. Economic Decline • Safety • Indoors or Outside • Choosing the least obvious can create the greater conflict—the setting itself can become the adversary.

  5. WRITE… • Consider your hero/heroine. What experience have they had in your town/story world? What are their impressions of it? Do their views agree, or could this create conflict with each other? • Write a descriptive scene of your community through the eyes of a character who has lived there his whole life but hates it, then as a newcomer who loves it (or vice versa). • How does this stretch the idea of the character of your setting?

  6. Location, Location, Location Backstory & Timelines • Past vs. Present vs. Future • Things to consider: • When, why, and how was the community founded? • By whom? Are they or their family still in town? In what capacity? • When did the town get its first bank? jail? McDonald’s? • What’s the major commerce? How & when did it start? • Have there been any natural disasters or tragedies in the area? How have they affected the heart of the people of the town? • WRITE…Create a timeline of your setting in relation to these ideas and/or the hero & heroine.

  7. Location, Location, Location Character of the Town • Setting affects the person who lives there (both for the newcomer and for those who grew up there) • Distance to other towns/home • Characteristics of a Town • Consider the personality traits of your primary story community. What if your hero/heroine doesn’t embrace these traits?

  8. Developing Accuracy & Continuity • Visual References • Maps • Atlases, on-line, travel sites, etc. • Photos • Magazines, children’s nonfiction books • Floor plans • Home builders, historical societies, etc. • Diagrams • WRITE…Draw a sketch of your town and/or important buildings/locations in your story world.

  9. Samples Sketching maps and floor plans of your setting can help maintain continuity

More Related