by PeggySue Wells @PeggySueWells
Settings come in four types: passive, active, like a character, and when the setting is the story.
Setting is
- Time
- Place
- Surroundings
- Mood
- Cultural nuances
- Historical period
- A backdrop for a story
Passive settings are so ordinary as to be nearly invisible and can be described as simply as
- Aboard Air Force One
- In the hospital
- At his office
- Seated in front of the sound board
- Poolside
- Riding along the trail
- Seat-belted into the cockpit
- Meanwhile back at the ranch
Active settings create an environment that contributes to the story. For instance,
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- The Scarlet Pimpernel is set in Paris during the French Revolution. The political climate, modes of travel, communication, societal categories, and madame guillotine had powerful influences on the story.
- The film, Crocodile Dundee, loosely based on Rod Ansel whose story is told in Outback Heart by Joanne Van Os has an active setting in the Australian Outback complete with—well—crocodiles.
- Secrecy Order, takes place in a kibbutz. Deep in Israel’s Negev desert, the communal living isolates our hero in proximity to smugglers of illegal arms.
Following their long-legged host, Marc eyed their surroundings. They were on a hillside overshadowed by higher hills fringing a canyon. Below, the rocky terrain flowed into a wide, dry wadi bed. Two donkeys, a camel, a rust-fringed Mitsubishi truck, and a dusty jeep were parked in the shadow of the hill they descended. The threesome followed a shallow horizontal groove carved into the thirsty hillside. Gradually angling down, the man-made depression disappeared under the base of a rock-lined well.
Perched on the edge of the well, Adi tossed a bucket into the water below. Hand over hand, he pulled the rope that brought the filled container back to the top. Balancing the bucket on the rim, he removed the fabric tied about his head. He strained the water through his scarf into the trough of hewn rock that sat beside the well. Three times he repeated this process. With a wave of his hand, he indicated they should help themselves.
After washing, Marc and Lei climbed into the dusty jeep and Adi steered the vehicle along cliff edges, plunged into deep dry wadi beds, and climbed steep passes. The few times Adi used the brakes, they piercingly squealed their protest at being coaxed to work.
At last, an oasis appeared in the desert and the vehicle sped toward this place. As they drove, the desert gave way to acres of carefully maintained orchards, gardens tented under white plastic, and pasture animals grazing among sparse crops of wild grasses. Adi parked the jeep beside a cluster of well-kept buildings.
“Where are we?” Lei’s legs were wobbly after the wild ride. Before Marc could offer, Adi took her hand to steady the girl as she climbed from the jeep.
Their host gave a grand sweep with his free hand. “This is my home, my kibbutz.”
- In Homeless for the Holidays, the Arctic Artie’s bathroom actively places our hero, Jack Baker, in a contemporary American restaurant where employees make minimum wage and occasionally wear the company’s mascot costume.
Jack looked ridiculous in the Arctic Artie’s penguin mascot costume. He resembled an oversized, out-of-place, non-flight bird.
As if to confirm his thoughts, a tough looking guy emerged from the bathroom stall and smirked. Locking eyes with Jack, the cocky guy washed his hands, dried them on a paper towel, and tucked the used, wet towel into Jack’s white penguin shirt. The man tweaked Jack’s plastic penguin beak and left.
The humiliating experience left a bitter taste in his mouth. Standing in a fast-food restaurant bathroom, making minimum wage, dressed like a penguin was a far cry from the VP office he had worked hard for, deserved, and pridefully occupied.
Whether using a passive or active setting, describe for the reader what is unusual. Smelling of hamburgers, a fast-food restaurant is familiar to the reader, but not an Arctic Artie penguin costume. Paris in the 1700s is different from any other large city of the period when the setting includes the haunting sound of the guillotine.
Chekov’s gun is the Russian author’s reference to active setting. “One must never place a loaded rifle on the stage if it isn't going to go off. It’s wrong to make promises you don’t mean to keep.” Include time, place, surroundings, mood, and cultural nuances necessary to the story, and edit out any background that does not contribute.
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