Too often, early drafts read as if they are set in a generic nowhere-land with little-to-no history, few concrete details, and a fuzzy sense of the social system within which characters operate. But what does this world smell and taste like? What happened in it before your characters walked onto the page? What are its subtle and not-so-subtle social rules? How is it twisted or sparkled or parched by your characters’ emotional experiences? How does it perceive your characters?
In this four-week class, we’ll consider the question of setting—the physical, social, emotional, and historical world of stories. We’ll identify different elements that create a story’s setting, discuss how setting might affect characters’ perceptions and actions (and how characters’ perceptions and actions might affect setting), figure out how to activate the elements of setting so that they become like characters themselves, and then play around with writing exercises that help you uncover and capitalize on the unique world of your own stories. Come prepared to read, write, and revise.
