4. Establish the setting

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Consider this line from Pride and Prejudice:

"What are men to rocks and mountains?"

This line glides smoothly from the page when Elizabeth Bennett takes a trip to the Peak District in Georgian Era England. If, on the other hand, the book took place in modern-day Texas and a 20-year old Elizabeth Bennett spoke those words, it would stick out like a sore thumb.

The key here is context — and the context or setting of your novel will dictate everything about it, from character to plot to conflict, and beyond.

If you are planning to write about a setting outside of your own immediate knowledge, make sure you do adequate research. If your novel is historical, in our free, ten-day course. Or if you are writing about a place or culture outside your own.

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