How to Create Convincing Settings

Great writers draw their readers into the narrative by creating believable and
realistic settings. The key factor to bear in mind here is to paint a vivid picture in
the reader’s imagination. Too much description and you swamp the reader, too
little and the audience is left struggling to picture the world you are attempting to
invoke. Your use of descriptive setting will set the tone, mood and atmosphere of
your piece, so choose your words with diligence and care.

Figurative language helps to imprint a setting in the reader’s

mind. Personification can bring the weather to life for example. The wind howled
like a malevolent demon creates a far more vivid scene than simply stating it was
a windy night. Metaphors and similes create atmosphere, adding vibrancy and
colour, which again helps to immerse the reader in your invented world.
Descriptive use of setting will add marks to any narrative essay. Instead of
describing the tall castle tower take a leaf out of Meryvn Peake’s book and try
something like, “The Tower of Flints arose like a mutilated finger from among the
fists of knuckled masonry, pointing blasphemously at heaven.” Writing as
evocative as this creates atmosphere, adroitly comparing your object to another,
thus widening the reader’s appreciation. Finally descriptive flourishes such as this
allow the best students to demonstrate their flair and expressive vocabularies.
Don’t beat yourself up if your own writing is not quite up to this level yet. Peake’s
literary sorcery above, even after a lifetime of reading, may still be my favourite
opening line ever.
Imagine that your perspective is that of an ever-moving camera that can go
anywhere and describe anything. This cinematic technique will allow you to fully
set the scene in a way that will achieve the highest grades. A good description
might start out describing the environment around a key character before moving
ever closer to flesh out the immediate area. For example: The mountain loomed
menacingly over the school building, casting everything in its shadow. The rain
lashed down driving the small children, who scurried like ants, into the safety of
nearby classrooms. High atop the school, sitting alone in a darkened changing
room Mark waited nervously.

Think Like an Artist

The successful writer needs to think like an artist, painting pictures and evoking
images in the reader’s imagination. Detailed characterisation and effective
creation of setting will allow your story to leap from the page. In search of the
very highest grades a few more advanced techniques will set the seal on your
narrative writing.

Gothic Horror Conventions

1. Setting in a castle. The action takes place in and around an old castle,
sometimes seemingly abandoned,

sometimes occupied. The castle often contains secret passages, trap doors, secret
rooms, dark or hidden staircases,

and possibly ruined sections.

2. An atmosphere of mystery and suspense. The story contains a threatening

feeling, a fear enhanced by the

unknown. This atmosphere is often developed when characters see only a glimpse
of something--was that a person

rushing out the window or only the wind blowing a curtain? Is that creaking sound
coming from someone's step on

the squeaky floor, or only the normal sounds of the night?

3. Supernatural or otherwise inexplicable events. Dramatic, amazing events occur,

such as ghosts or giants walking,

or inanimate objects (such as a suit of armor or painting) coming to life.

4. High emotion. The characters are often overcome by anger, sorrow, surprise,
and especially, terror.

Descriptions to include:
 wind, especially howling

 rain, especially blowing

 doors grating on rusty hinges sighs,

 moans, howls, eerie sounds

 footsteps approaching

 clanking chains

 lights in abandoned rooms

 gusts of wind blowing out lights

 characters trapped in a room

 doors suddenly slamming shut

 ruins of buildings

 baying of distant dogs (or wolves?)

 thunder and lightning

 crazed laughter

Gothic Word Bank:

Mystery: Diabolical, enchantment, ghost, goblins, haunted, infernal, magic,

magician, miracle, necromancer, omens,

ominous, portent, preternatural, prodigy, prophecy, secret, sorcerer, spectre,

spirits, strangeness, talisman, vision
Fear, Terror, or Sorrow: Afflicted, affliction, agony, anguish, apprehensions,
apprehensive, commiseration, concern,

despair, dismal, dismay, dread, dreaded, dreading, fearing, frantic, fright,

frightened, grief, hopeless, horrid, horror,

lamentable, melancholy, miserable, mournfully, panic, sadly, scared, shrieks,

sorrow, sympathy, tears, terrible,

terrified, terror, unhappy, wretched

Surprise: Alarm, amazement, astonished, astonishment, shocking, staring,

surprise, surprised, thunderstruck,

wonder

Haste: Anxious, breathless, flight, frantic, hastened, hastily, impatience,

impatient, impatiently, impetuosity,

precipitately, running, sudden, suddenly

Anger: Anger, angrily, choler, enraged, furious, fury, incense, incensed, provoked,
rage, raving, resentment, temper,

wrath, wrathful, wrathfully

Largeness: Enormous, gigantic, giant, large, tremendous, vast

Darkness: dark, darkness, dismal, shaded, black, night We cannot be too rigid in
our suggestions about the length of

answers, but responses which are very short will be self-penalising. Be prepared
for the unexpected approach.