SCENE SETTING

AND ATMOSPHERE
WHO IS MORE
INFLUENTIAL, THE
READER OR THE
WRITER?
As a writer you have to set the tone of your
writing
• Diction
• Syntax
• Sentence Structure
 TONE

• Tone is the approach as a writer.

• ItThe attitude
is the gaseous
of the writer.
• layer
It isthat
evident
blankets in the choice of who or what
yourEarth.
speaker is.
• Speaker’s voice/narrator’s voice is also
called “authorial voice”.
 TONE

This is an author-
centric
 MOOD

• This is a reader-centric.
• This is how the readers react
to your work.
MOOD IS
SYNONYMOUS
WITH
ATMOSPHERE.
 EMOTIONAL
ATMOSPHERE
This is how you describe the mood that
your readers would feel in reading your
story.
Each story has a
setting.
 A detailed setting
draws your readers
into the world
you’ve built,
allowing them to
Writers focus on the tangible details about a
time and place to immerse their readers in a
scene. This can be achieved through literary
devices such as imagery, simile, and
metaphor.
an effective story establishes its setting
early in the story
 My breath escaped in ragged bursts, my
I went to quadriceps burning as I crested the summit.
The lake stretched before me, aquamarine,
the lake. glistening in the hot August afternoon sun.

It was Ponderosa pines lined its shores, dropping their

spicy-scented needles into the clear water.

cool. Despite the heat, the Montana mountain air

tasted crisp.

TELLING SHOWING
Writer might establish
setting in a way which
immerses the reader:
by SHOWING
RATHER THAN
TELLING.
WRITER MIGHT ESTABLISH SETTING IN A WAY WHICH
IMMERSES THE READER: BY SHOWING RATHER THAN TELLING.

VISUAL AUDITORY

OLFACTORY TACTILE

GUSTATORY
 How to Create a Vivid Setting for Your Story

USE PLACE TO YOUR

ADVANTAGE
Place denotes both geographical location and immediate
surroundings. A story that unfolds in the hurried chaos of
New York is not the same if transplanted to an isolated
island in the Pacific.
 How to Create a Vivid Setting for Your Story

MAKE USE OF TIME

Time in setting can be expressed as a time of day, a season
or time of year, or a historical time period. Seasonal
changes—the advent of winter, a blistering summer—
might provide life or death stakes; historical periods define
the behavior of all the characters operating within your
fictional world.
 How to Create a Vivid Setting for Your Story

SHOW THE WORLD

THROUGH YOUR
CHARACTERS’ EYES
Try to reveal the world as the characters interact with it,
since the most resonant setting descriptions are the ones
that come somewhat altered through the lens of an
individual.
 How to Create a Vivid Setting for Your Story

BE AWARE OF HOW
SETTING AFFECTS
EMOTIONS
Allow setting to influence your characters’ actions and
moods. Otherwise, they and the world they live in will
come across as static and lacking nuance. The lives of
humans—or mythical creatures living in fantasy worlds—
are intimately tied to setting.
 SCENE SETTING IN CREATIVE
NONFICTION
INTEGRAL SETTING is a specific place and time that plays
an important role in the story. An integral setting dictates other
societal elements in a story like language, dress, and
transportation.