Have you ever read a story where the setting comes alive and acts just like a secondary character for you? Has the story tied in and around the setting, so much so, that you often remember the setting more than you remember the characters themselves? Examples for me would be Tara in Gone with Wind by Margaret Mitchell. Oh, I remember the very first scene in that story. I could just picture the white columns, the willow tree lined drive way and I could almost hear the birds chirping on that beautiful spring day. Tara drew me into the plot as much as the character’s did. Tara became so much apart of the story that you could no longer differentiate Scarlett from Tara or vice versa.
When Gerald says to his wayward daughter Scarlett: Do you mean to tell me, Katie Scarlett O’Hara, that Tara – that land doesn’t mean anything to you? Why, land’s the only thing in the world worth working for, worth fighting for, worth dying for, because it’s the only thing that lasts.
Perhaps that’s true with setting as well, sometimes when we remember a particular story, it’s often the setting we remember first. Someone once told me without a setting there is no story. So setting it such an important part of a story and often it gets overlooked, or authors will barely scratch the surface. It’s important to place everything in the setting that moves the story forward. Often weather can set a mood or the landscape can set a theme for the rest of the story. Often setting can help convey powerful characterization. With the right elements the setting can really come alive. But remember it’s important not to let the setting overwhelm the story. There are some authors who simply know how to blend setting, characterization, and plot together so intricately that they simply intertwine and eventually coexist. Learning your craft can enhance your strengths and strengthen your weaknesses. If setting is a strong point for you, use it to your advantage and let it bring your character’s alive and place them in the reader’s lap.
I’m currently editing the first in a series of stories and the setting is like another character. There are four stories in this series and throughout each one, this setting in introduced and it suddenly just feels like coming home for me. It’s a saga about four brothers and the ranch house they grew up in called the Broken Circle ranch. And you learn through each stand alone story why these brothers believe the ranch lives up to its name. And of course, it takes a good woman to begin the mending process for them.
I’ve started writing the third story in the series and it’s taken me back to the very first time this setting was introduced to me. And I felt like I was coming home again. There are some places that just call to us whether we found them inside a story or even in real life. There’s a sense of pride, possession and something so unexplainable that draws us to this place. You feel a bond, almost a physical pull to it.
So my question to you is this, what story have you read, movie have you seen where the setting took center stage, equally or just as much as the character’s did?
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