SETTING PART TWO
Make your fictional settings effective by concentrating on how they influence the mood of the character and plot, advises author and tutor Ian Ayris
Inthe second of two articles on The Building Block of Setting, I want to examine how to create Mood or Atmosphere (I prefer the term Mood as it implies an emotional element that I’m not sure the word Atmosphere does), the importance – or not – of researching a Setting and the treatment of Setting in different Genres. We will also be taking a brief look at how a few famous writers used the Building Block of Setting in their work.
Mood
To evoke the Mood of a Setting you have to first know what Mood you want to create, and how you want the Setting to affect the characters. And why? The writing aspect of creating the Mood relies heavily on your word choices and the elements of the Setting you choose to focus upon. Most of all, it relies on your writer’s ability to see, to feel, to listen, to experience the Setting as if you are a part of it.
Just as in life, nothing stands still. Mood is no exception. For example, a busy school during the day could be a fun, lively place. At night, though, empty of all but the spirits that reside in its darkest corners, the only sounds those of frightened tears from children long gone from this world and the scraping of chairs unseen and nails upon blackboards that are no more and, well, you see how that works.
Focus
In the previous article I referred to a famous crime writer who wrote a novel about black drug gangs in South London, without seemingly knowing anything about black drug gangs in South London. So what do you do when you want to write about a Setting you know very little about?