A Guide to Writing

Settings

Settings can be a difficult thing to write and annoying when an author describes them too much or doesn't describe them at all (which I've seen a lot of wattpaders do and it ticks me off so much, you have no idea.) Settings are what makes a book enjoyable to read and are really important to any book. So I'll try to help with that.

[1] Reveal the Setting in the Right Order
When you write a setting, always write it from general to specific. For example, if you're describing a forest, start off with the overall impression of the forest, as if the reader is seeing it from afar. Little by little, move closer and get more descriptive, mentioning the details that weren't visible from the distance.

Got it? No? Ok, then.

Picture a director filming a movie and he's showing the scene...

In movies, they start out from far away, giving you minimal detail and then they zoom in or cut straight to the close-up view.

Another good way would be to picture the novel's setting in your mind before putting it into words (duh.)

A good principle would also be to move from concrete to abstract. Concrete meaning things you can see and touch, like the dirt or the twigs and leaves. Abstract meaning things like a chill in the air or the earthy scent of nature- these things are more important to a setting than the setting's architecture.

[2] Reveal the Setting Gradually
Now, this isn't as important as gradually introducing the character, which should have so many more layers than the setting. But what you should do is the first time a place is mentioned, describe the whole picture for the readers, it'll help them understand everything a lot better if you do that. Now, I'm not saying you should have six pages of description. That's way too much. More like one short paragraph to six one longs, that's ok.

But the next time the scene takes place in the same location, you clearly don't have to describe it over again. That would be boring and unnecessary. Readers will hate you for that. However, be careful not to make the mistake plenty of writers do and fail to describe a setting at all from its second appearance onwards.

Do this by mentioning a detail you had said when you had painted the picture for the readers the first time. Let's say you had described a creepy forest in the opening chapter, the picture you had painted for them will still be in their mind in Chapter 6. If you mentioned long and twisted branches in the first description, if you mentioned them again they wouldn't annoy the reader, only bring up all the other details you had mention along with it.

Now, the mention of the twisted branches will remind the reader of the original description but you still want to build on this picture for them. The best way to do that would be to add details that you didn't mention in the original description, such as a spiderweb in the twisted branches, or the shadows that are dark and unrevealing even though the day is sunny.

Just remember that you're not trying to particularly deepen the reader's knowledge of the setting in the second scene but to reinforce it and then add details that you didn't bother to mention the first time around.