Teacher’s Notes
on Imaginative Writing: The Elements of Craft, by Janet Burroway
by
Geraldine Cannon Becker
Chapter 4: Setting



Location, Location, Location...and then some....

I highlight this: Dont think that any place is typical (130)--Steven Schoen.

I agree with JB that the writer must create the setting for readers, if readers are to actually experience it (130).

Setting as the world: You know your setting like the back of your hand, and you need to make it seem as familiar to the reader as the readers own hand (130-131).

The try this on page 131 is worthy of attention--and trying. Write a story or poem based upon the memories this try it inspires.

Describe the setting to clue readers in on time, place, and characters who move in certain, specific and interesting ways because of or in relation to their surroundings (131).

The specific and concrete details you choose to evoke place will also, if you choose them well, signal the period (132). Sue was telling us earlier that editors can sometimes get clues like age of author from the details presented in a work. This can help or hinder--so choose details with great care. These details can age a work (signal the period in a positive way--or stagnate the material for the reader) as well. Do we want to choose details that readers in the future might not be familiar with?
Do I want to tell the reader how I turned on the television? I used the remote control.
Do I want to describe how I watched it go off? The picture slowly faded and disappeared in the shape of a circle that kept getting smaller and smaller as I watched--until it was just a little dot of light in the center of the screen, until--bloop--it was gone and it was time for me to go to bed. What do such details tell you?
In the future the walls may be our screens that play by word of mouth and show us anything we ask to see for however long we ask to see it.

How much detail do we need to give our readers? As much detail as we think they will need. No more. No less. Walk a mile in the shoes of your intended audience and they may be more willing to walk several miles with you. Do some audience analysis first.

Setting as camera: What do you want to show your reader first? The try this on page 135 is a perfect tool for illustration of concepts in this section. I would try it.

Setting as Mood and Symbol: Atmosphere How would you like to describe it and what do you want it to mean to your reader(s) for how long?
JB says: Our relation to place, time, and weather, like our relation to clothes and other objects, is charged with emotion more or less subtle, more or less profound. It is filled with judgment mellow or harsh. And it alters according to what happens to us (137).

Setting as Action: Will the setting be in harmony or conflict with the character(s)?
Setting can be comforting and nurturing or full of tension and conflict--interactions can tell readers a great deal about the characters and the world the writer has created (135-139).

Try the try this on page 139: The Road Taken or The Road Not Taken.

Your Notes: