: Re: How to make a setting relevant? One piece of feedback that I got on a story I wrote is that my settings feel irrelevant, or that the entire book could have been a phone call. I am not

@DPT 's answer is great (+1), but let me add one more element to it: it's not enough that your characters interact with the setting. There needs to be a reason why your characters are there in the first place, the setting needs to affect the story.

Your characters are in an office. Why? How does it affect the story that they are in the office rather than talking on the phone? Surely there's more to it than the fact one of them can chew on a pen? Is their particular workplace a part of the story? Do they need to be aware of coworkers? Does something happen there that can only happen in an office? And so on.

Consider how locations can enhance your story, what each particular location can give it. If there's nothing, you might as well have the whole story happen in one place.

As an example, in a short story I wrote recently, I needed a meeting between two characters. At first, it could happen anywhere - the important thing was what they said to each other. I wanted a location with a historic significance, because tradition was one theme I explored in the story. I decided on a church, because that accentuated my MC's religious devotion - a character trait important to who he is. Then I went and picked the particular church that was tied to the patron saint of what my story was about. Then I had the characters interact with the setting. In essence, I repeatedly asked myself what setting would give my story most.

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: Re: How to make a setting relevant? One piece of feedback that I got on a story I wrote is that my settings feel irrelevant, or that the entire book could have been a phone call. I am not

More posts by @Deb2945533

: Adding depth to two-dimensional heroes from myths For the recent writing exercise I wanted to tackle Beowulf's character. In the original saga, the hero Beowulf comes to the aid of king Hrothgar

: How to write a good moderator nomination post? Another stack site I use is currently having an election and I am considering nominating. There are two parts to the nomination process; the nomination

: This tag is for questions about death in writing. Portraying character deaths and discussions on the concept of death should all use this tag.

: How to describe POV characters? I want to describe my first person perspective character who's narrating without doing the Wattpad "mirror scene." How would I go about this?

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