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Setting is / as character

 
Writing: Inspiration, Craft, Formatting
Last Post by Spencer_S 2 years ago
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Dustin Adams
 Dustin Adams
(@tj_knight)
Posts: 1501
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Topic starter
 
I had this idea recently and would love to hear others' thoughts.
 
We've heard the term: Setting is character.
True, except when Setting IS A character.
Or
When Setting has characteristics.
 
Examples: Setting is a character... Harry Potter. Classic example. Hogwarts seemed alive. The tree outside was. The stairs moved on their own. Portraits talked and moved and acted.
The All-seeing Eye in LotR. Although it was stationary, there wasn't a part of the story it didn't touch. Well, maybe the mines of Moria. Otherwise it loomed and was in its way a constant threat.
Some say the planet in Dune is a character.
 
Setting is character... Moody stuff. Noir. Daredevil comes to mind a la Hell's Kitchen. Gotham. Sci-Fi. Alien(s).
 
Setting has characteristics... My winner, is one. Future/somewhat dystopian Houston. Hot, too hot. Desert surrounding it. Adult toy shops. I set a mood with an itemized list.
The Spider Man movies. Queens is just Queens until Spidey needs to fly from building to building, stop a train, spin off lamp posts and tie up cars. These are things in the setting that play a bigger part than say, Sci-Fi / space being a character/non character. Go in it, die, otherwise it's irrelevant. And it isn't a character because it doesn't interact with or affect the MCs - like in HP.
 
Anyway, the thing I'm most interested in is Setting IS A Character. Three of the biggest selling series of all time have that in common. Makes me think, next story I conceive will have some kind of character/setting combo.
 

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Posted : July 17, 2023 9:42 am
Spencer_S and James (Ease) reacted
Spencer_S
 Spencer_S
(@spencer_s)
Posts: 180
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I 100% agree with this. Too often setting is left in the background, not active or "deep" in any way, whereas some of the best stories I have read have tied the setting so close to the character and vice versa that they are inseparable. This also reminds of me something I read about in Donald Maass's books on writing. The psychology of place - how the setting is seen from the character's POV, their opinion and feeling, and how that changes throughout the story as the person and world change. Even if the setting is not "alive" in a kinetic sense, it can be alive in an emotional sense, be it the memories it holds, the seasons as they pass, and the way the world touches the human heart of the characters of your story.


“Stories are the collective wisdom of everyone who has ever lived. Your job as a storyteller is not simply to entertain. Nor is it to be noticed for the way your turn a phrase. You have a very important job—one of the most important. Your job is to let people know that everyone shares their feelings—and that these feelings bind us. Your job is a healing art, and like all healers, you have a responsibility. Let people know they are not alone. You must make people understand that we are all the same.”
Brian McDonald
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Check out my fiction and more at spencersekulin.net

 
Posted : July 17, 2023 6:25 pm
James (Ease) reacted
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