Setting isn’t just about people, it is people, too. The society which surrounds your characters can provide the setting, and the conflict.
We see this most noticeably in novels set in historical times or cultures unlike our own, but even in contemporary novels set at in our native culture, society can play a role. Our characters’ family, friends, co-workers, etc., can pressure them to act in a certain way. (Don’t your family, friends, co-workers or society at large pressure you to act a certain way? I certainly feel that way.)
When we limit setting to just the scenery, we aren’t taking full advantage of the time and place we’re setting our stories—even if that time and place are so familiar to us that we don’t really notice them. (Which is my problem with setting in the first place 😉 .) Also, when we limit setting to just the scenery, we aren’t giving our readers the full experience of that time and place. If we’re lucky, our novels will be widely read even outside of Middle America.
We see this a lot in Victorian and Regency novels, which are so focused on society and its role in life. Modern novels may be more focused on the individual, but no man is an island.
And sometimes the modern and the historical collide…
(And I just found out this was actually made by a friend-of-a-friend for a church activity.)
The movie is actually a semi-serious addition to the post: note how much of a role society still plays. Because, hey, it’s Jane Austen.
What do you think? How have you seen society used to create the setting, or how have you done it yourself?
Great video! I had to post it on my FB! Nice to find some fellow LDS writers out here in Cali!
OK. I just want to tell you that I’ve been crying…crying hysterically at this video. This is hilarious. Great post. Awesome video.
As for setting…I love the setting around a family dynamic. Family dysfunction is alive and well in any family. For me, it dictates most motives, conflicts, heroics etc…around the main characters(s)/plot.
That’s a great point! It doesn’t set the time period quite like societal constraints do, but it definitely “grounds” the character and keeps him/her from floating all alone in space.
I sooooooooooooooooo want them to make that movie.
Yes I’m catching up on posts.
My novel is all about the setting.