This month, we’re talking about ways to approach plotting your story, but you also need to consider where that story is set.  If your setting feels generic, it will be hard for the reader to imagine actually being there, and thus taking part in the story.

Think about the place where you live, or places you’ve enjoyed visiting.  These locations have a “personality.”  When you read a story set somewhere you know well, you can usually tell if the writer knows the place too, or has taken the time to thoroughly research it to understand the local architectural style, food culture, business mindset, conflicts, etc.  It is only once the setting starts to feel like a character in the story that it becomes exciting.  This doesn’t mean that you have to bog the narrative down with tons of details, just that the ones you pick feel appropriate, and that they show unique aspects of the place in question.

The pic for this post is the entrance to a hostel in Japan.  The idea is that if you get lost, you can explain the unique sculpture outside your door, and someone will know where it is.  Talk about a specific detail!