How to choose a Setting for Your Story or World
Article by Carter Cada - Written 7/14/2023
The time has come. After a lot of deliberation, you’ve decided to do it: to tell a story. Only problem? You’re not exactly sure where it should happen.
For a lot of my writings, I’ve struggled with the same thing. You have a message to share, but aren’t certain which backdrop would convey the message the best.
Or maybe, you don’t have the story together at all, and just need some inspiration from a setting. Imagining a dingy, pirate-ridden town, or a bustling 1800’s city can do much for you in the way of procuring ideas.
So how do you make that choice? Here are a few tips that should (hopefully) make it easy for you.
Table of contents:
Use a prompt
Find what gets the creative juices flowing
Do background research
Use your own favorite
How do I choose a setting?
1) Use a prompt
A blank slate or empty canvas can be one of the artist’s greatest foes. A blank page, an empty book - so much opportunity, and so little direction.
Most artists (myself included) need a prompt in order to begin creating.
A really fun exercise I was taught in college was to take a random picture, and imagine a story behind it. For example, let’s take the picture below:
A lot of stories, from horror to fantasy, are set around cabins just like this one.
Pulling up an entirely random picture, let’s get right to it. In the focus of the picture is this nice cabin. While it appears worn by nature, it doesn’t seem to be in poor condition.
The six windows along the face of the building seem to indicate that this is either a large home, or a small inn. The forested setting seems to indicate to me the latter.
Faded in the background is a mountain, shrouded by light. This gives it an element of mystery, but not foreboding. Taking all of these things into account, here is how a story might look set in this scene:
As sunlight filtered into his room, a single ray of sunlight struck Emile’s closed eyelids, stirring him from slumber. Within a few minutes, he was on his feet, stretching himself awake. He stepped sleepily to the window and opened it, relishing in the fragrant forest breeze. It was hard to beleive that it had been just a few days before that he’d been sent on his quest; and now, shrouded in light, lay his final destination: Mount Elihoff.
From here, you have even more prompts. Who is Emile? Why is he on a quest? What is the story behind Mount Elihoff? Just a simple prompt can really get the ball rolling.
If you’re looking for a few pre-made prompts, check out my list here. I’d love to hear how they've inspired you!
2) Find what gets the creative juices flowing
I cannot imagine where I would be if it weren’t for my “creative spaces”. If you’ve ever tried to write anything at all ever (should be all of us), you know that you can’t just write anywhere. For example, at the breakfast table with my ten siblings? Not the best place for ideas. Too much noise, too much distraction.
On the other hand, though, my best stories don’t come from complete silence, either. I’m pretty ADHD, and silence and solitary for me usually mean I end up scrolling YouTube shorts for three hours.
I’ve found a couple of ways that work for me, but keep in mind that these can be different for every person.
Personal favorite: A walk in nature and some good music.
For me, a little bit of motion, a generous helping of nature, and a dash of music is a recipe for creativity.
When it come to generating ideas, there’s nothing I love more than a walk around my local hiking trail. The vibrancy of the leaves, and fresh lake air…nothing beats it.
Listening to music while I walk serves a dual purpose: firstly, it helps me to tune out any distractions. A lot of other people, kids, and pets like to walk, jog, and bike the lake.
Secondly, it helps set a backdrop for my mind. A lot of what I write falls within the fantasy genre, so most of my music is connected to that. If you’re interested, this is one of my favorite playlists.
Finding the right environment and right music for your story are surefire ways to spark an idea for your setting.
Another great option: Stories from history.
It has been said that no work of art is ever truly original, but that every work is inspired, to some degree, by another.
Often, stories from history provide the basis for this inspiration. Take, for example, the original Star Wars film. Towards the end of the movie is a dramatic space battle between rebel and empire spacecraft.
Both the scene in general and the flight patterns of the ships in particular were inspired by footage from a WWII dogfight.
It’s not unoriginal to use an event from history to give you some direction. Could you take the Custard’s Last Stand, rename the characters, and sell the story as your own? Not really.
But if you were to take the story, move the setting to, say, a naval battle between pirates, and throw in a twist ending? You might have something really interesting.
Don’t disregard a story from history just because it isn’t your favorite. With a little tweaking, it can become something completely unique.
3) Do background research
Of any of the steps involved in choosing a setting, this is absolutely critical. While not as important for a true work of fiction, it would pay to do a little more research for historical fiction or science fiction.
Of course, if writing something non-fiction, this should go without saying.
One of the most crucial aspects of storytelling is immersion. That being the case, we need to ask ourselves two questions:
What is immersion, and how do we maintain it?
Immersion, in the context of storytelling, is your ability to make your reader or listener feel that they are a part of the story. It’s the difference between telling someone what’s going on and having them experience it themselves.
For tips on creating immersion, check out another article of mine here.
Some of the greatest enemies of maintaining immersion are historical inaccuracies.
Like trust, immersion is hard to build, but easy to lose. You don’t want a reader to lose interest in your writing because they got distracted by your character is using a Smith & Wesson in the 1820’s.
You might not notice the difference, but a dedicated fanbase will. It pays to do just a little research before hand.
That being said, don’t get so caught up in the details that you miss the bigger picture. The year a certain invention came out isn’t as important as the story itself. Don’t miss the forest for the trees.
“To play a wrong note is insignificant; to play without passion is inexcusable”
4) Use your own favorite
At the end of the day, most people don’t have difficulty coming up with a setting; they have difficulty trying to choose one they feel is original.
A lot of us get caught up in the idea that, to be original, an idea has to be one we’ve never thought of before.
Don’t get me wrong, you should avoid clichés like kids do vegetables. No one is going to be impressed.
But don’t think that means you can’t use a popular genre or troupe. Westerns are still some of the best-selling movies and books, despite being pretty dated by now.
Whether you’re an old-world aficionado or fantasy fanatic, be true to the story you want to tell, not to what’s popular. Being a writer isn’t about chasing the dollar, it’s about creating something incredible.
And hey; if you’d like, you can check out my list on my favorite sources of inspiration for any genre.
Now that you’ve got a few ideas, don’t be afraid to launch right in and give it a go! Even if the story doesn’t feel quite right at the beginning, don’t give up.
Many times I’ve started a story I didn’t like, but kept with it until the end. Looking back, they’re some of my favorites.
Even if it doesn’t end up being the one, the practice in learning how to start a story is invaluable.
Don’t give up! You’ll get there eventually. And when you do, your story will be something amazing.
Something inspiring.
About the author
Carter John Cada is the founder of and main author for Quips from the Quiver. In his free time, he loves to read, spend time with his 10 siblings, read, work out, read, work on his manuscript, read, and read.
He also enjoys eating.
