So, last week I gave you the basic options for choosing the time and place of your story. This week’s short post will focus on the details of the culture that you will need to think about.
Culture
So once you’ve decided the time and place, you’ll need to
do some research. Here are a few things to think about.
Clothing
Money
Transportation
Jobs
Leader (President, king, council, etc.)
Technology
Social Ranking
Weather
Surroundings
All of these will depend on where your setting is. If you chose the same city or town you live in, it should be easy. If you chose somewhere that was in the same country you’re living in, you shouldn’t have to do much research. If you chose a country other than the one you live in, you’ll definitely have to do a lot of research. If you chose to make up your own world, you get to make it all up.
There are SO MANY things to think about for your setting. The more you write, the more you will realize how much there is to research and decide.
Next week (February 28) I’ll be doing my monthly recap for
February. How is your story planning going? Have you decided on your setting?
You can either comment or email me if you have any questions.
Thanks for reading! Happy writing!
Have
you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator
of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is
unsearchable. (Isaiah 40:28 ESV)
Hello, everyone! How has your week been? Mine has been pretty nice since I had Monday and Tuesday off from school. Good news, we’re almost to the weekend! One more day!
This week, I’m going to continue our series on how to write a story that will captivate your readers and persuade them to keep reading. I will give you some tips on how to decide on your setting.
What is the Setting?
So, basically, the setting is where and when the story takes place. Here are some questions to ask yourself to spark your imagination.
When is your story set?
Where is your story set?
What are the traditions and culture of this place?
When?
The first thing you’ll want to think about for this part is whether your story is going to be in the past, present, or future. Now, you may have some idea of when you want your story to take place since you’ve already done some planning. But if you still need to decide, keep reading!
Take a moment to think about your plot. Is there a particular time it needs to be? Does your story have horse-drawn carriages, or is your main character driving a flying car? The horse-drawn carriage would be in the past (maybe 1800s) while the flying car would obviously be from the future.
Now you should start thinking about what year(s) your story
will take place in. After you’ve decided, glance over your plot and make sure
it all fits in.
Where?
You probably already have some idea where you want your
story to take place. Here are the main categories to choose from.
The city or town that you live in
A made up fantasy world
A different part of the country that you live
in
A country other than the one you live in.
Now I’ll go ahead and list the pros and cons of each
category.
If you chose the city that you live in, great! You won’t
have to do much research (unless your story is in the past). You already know
what everything looks like, and you can describe it beautifully.
If you made up your own world, that is going to be both easy and hard. Don’t let me discourage you because this is quite the adventure! You get to decide the culture and traditions and the descriptions. This will take you on an amazing journey! You’ll never be bored! But this option is also a little time-consuming and hard. Yes, it takes time to think about everything. You’ll have to think about so many things, and I should know because this is the type of setting that I’m using in my story.
If you chose a different part of the country you’re in, it
should be interesting. (For example, I live in the U.S., so I could choose a
different state instead of the one I live in.) Since you are still choosing the
country you live in, you won’t have to do that much research.
If you chose a completely different country than where you
are, you are in for a trip! You’ll get to learn all sorts of new things and get
to incorporate them into your writing. But this will also be super
time-consuming which isn’t good if you are still in school. Even if you are out
of school, but you have a job, this might not be a good idea.
Until Next Time…
Next week (February 21) I will be doing a part two post on
what I talked about today. How is your story planning going? Are you having
trouble choosing a setting or are you all set? If you have any questions,
please leave a comment or send me an email.
The HeartWord Way 