The Importance of Setting in a Story

There were several points that Josip Novakovich writes about in his chapter on setting that I could relate to.  First, he points out that while setting is important to a story, it doesn't have to be described in detail.  Like in a drama, the reader needs to know where the action takes place, but it shouldn't dominate the story.  Otherwise, the reader gets bogged down in the detail of the setting and gets bored reading it.  In Ernest Hemingway's short story "Hills Like White Elephants," he uses minimal descriptive words to describe the train station.  Another point that Novakovich makes is how the characters in a story need a background that they can interact with.  For example, I have used the mountains of Colorado as a backdrop for several short stories and creative nonfiction essays.  Just like Novakovich mentioned, the mountains are the place that my characters move on and play out their drama.

Novakovich makes a valid point when he says the author should use an authentic setting - it is easier to describe the place if you have intimate knowledge of it.  For example I find it easy to describe the Colorado mountains because I have spent a lot of time there and so I am familiar with the mountain trails, flora, and fauna of the Rockies.  He also points out that the writer can set the mood using descriptive verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.  Hemingway illustrates this point with the words he uses not only to describe the hills, but also the mood of the characters.  Even though Jig and her boyfriend (husband) seem happy on the surface, they are masking their true feelings.

The last point that I thought was important in the chapter on settings was how the author can use it to characterize the people in the story.  He used a wonderful example with the passage he chose from Dead Souls.  After reading that paragraph the reader can visualize the stinginess of the character.  I never thought of describing a room to characterize a story!