Week 4.2 – Setting

Why is setting important?-

I love going to Anfield in Liverpool. Football is my passion and Liverpool is the club i have always supported. Just walking into the stadium is incredible, the huge stands looming above you. The pitch is like a carpet, a sea of green cut into sections by white lines. The atmosphere on a match day is like no other.  Harmonized voices singing “You’ll never walk alone” makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and sends shivers down your spine as the players kick off. There is no where like it in the world, a place with so much history. Being there is simply a privilege.

I don’t like going to London. The concrete jungle of the city is so unsightly and the huge hordes of people make me feel cramped. There is little freedom and around every corner there is just another high rise building looking down on you. The clockwork manor in which the city work doesn’t suit me. It makes me feel out of place and the lack of natural surroundings makes me miserable. I could never live in a place like London.

Building a setting-

1. My setting is real
2. My setting is in 1960’s America
3. There are no unique features
4. Classic vehicles and landline phones
5. New York – Urban
6. Environment is dangerous
7. Weather is cloudy and cold
8. No natural disasters
9. Lots of different people – Segregation is an issue
10. Landscape doesn’t affect them
11. Conflict in Vietnam – men being conscripted / segregation
12. President rules
13. Segregation rules
14. Soldiers are admired
15. Standing in fathers old shop
16. Can see all the things in the shop and traffic outside the windows
17. Picture of father in military during ww2
18. Some people browsing around in the shop
19. People are close
20. Browsing around the shop
21. Can smell tobacco and food
22. Can hear radio talking about the war
23. Feels cold due to the weather
24. Standing behind the counter at the shop
25. Thinking about joining the army like his father

Tips for settings-

1. https://www.nownovel.com/blog/talking-about-setting-time/
2. http://www.writersdigest.com/tip-of-the-day/discover-the-basic-elements-of-setting-in-a-story
3. https://www.novel-writing-help.com/story-setting.html
4. https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/settings-in-your-novel/#

Setting for a short story-

The air was thick with the smell of tobacco as Clinton inhaled a deep breath of morning air. The windows were frosted over with a thin layer of ice, but kept the bitter cold out of his fathers store as distorted figures passed by on the sidewalk outside. It was a Sunday and the regulars were already in the store browsing the neatly stacked shelves for next weeks groceries. Every now and again one would stop to admire the photo of Clinton’s father in his second world war army uniform that stood proudly on the counter next to which Clinton stood. He loved that photo. 15 years had passed since his father had left the military, but he would still follow everything they did around the world. Clinton wanted to be just like him but for some reason his father refused to allow it. He said the army was no place for a boy and only men should serve their country, however it was obvious to Clinton that the heart of the issue was the fact his father was worried he’s be killed. The war in Vietnam was raging and the casualties were mounting day by day, and the government had began conscripting young able bodied men to serve in the conflict. Clinton prayed he’d be picked next, to save him from the heart break of signing up against his fathers permission. As he stood deep in thought an announcement came over the radio that played behind the counter…..