Story Plan Checklist: Setting part 2

[ladyseishou]

Setting exists so that the character has someplace to stand,
something that can help define him, something he can pick up and throw,
if necessary, or eat, or give to his girlfriend.

- John Gardner



And more about the the "where" for our story...

Yesterday we took a brief look at the physical description for our story. Today, we're going to consider the more social aspects of our worlds - what is sometimes called Human Geography.

Working from my thumbnail setting description from yesterday:

One of my protagonist owns a tavern, the only tavern in a small, border town. It is early morning (the tavern is empty) and he sees and hears that a wooden barrel of ale he has tapped is emptier than he would like when two local boys come in with news that several strangers have arrived in town.

There are many details about my world here that imply a larger social structure:

Political: a small town that has been established on or near the border of two countries

Economic: commerce (a tavern)

Cultural: food and drink (ale), family groups (boys)

Technology: wooden barrel for storage

These observations are all from my main character's POV. From these notes, I will expand the descriptions as the story develops.

A very important cultural aspect that I have not addressed specifically in my setting sketch is the naming of things. Fine beginner's advice is offered by Holly Lisle:

...it does pay to know what the dialects or languages would be like, how the grammar works, and what sounds the native speaker can and cannot comfortably form in casual conversation. This will allow you to hint at accents, suggest alien grammars, and whisper of far away places and foreign climes...

Here are several websites that Nano Writers may find helpful as they create the social aspects of their worlds:

How Much of My World Do I Build by Holly Lisle (mentioned before but deserving of another if just for the advice she offers for naming your characters)

A Naming Language - "Inventing a language for naming people and places" (good overview of a complex topic)

Words Maketh the Culture

What's In A Name?

I also like the advice offered by John Scalzi:

I try to build my worlds at least two questions deep — that is, you make your creations robust enough to stand up to a general question and then a more specific followup question.

As an example:

Question (to my main character): what kind of drink can I buy in your tavern?

Answer: A good, honest ale.

Follow up question: (after tasting the copper-amber drink) Earthy, sweet. What am I tasting here?

Answer: A winter brew. Six-spike barley. Potato. Wheat if it's been a good year. (smiles) Mostly potato.


So how about you, Nano Writer? Post something about your world and we'll ask your character about it... can you pass the two-question test?

Comments

[cheyinka]

She gets closer to them by necessity at first - she's very strongly introverted, and during launch preparation and the trip to the Moon, she's content enough to interact no more often than necessary. Once they've left the Moon, though, she realizes these are the people with whom she'll be spending the next five years - isolating herself will only make her miserable and less able to concentrate on her work.

She loves them, but they're only part of this one breakfast variety during the trip; on Mars there'll be dried blueberries in granola, but there's also enough gravity there to keep cereal in a bowl. She'll be eating mostly food that they've brought from Earth, with some locally-grown hydroponic vegetables. Once they find the Cavern-Dwellers, she'll be offered mushrooms, beans, eels, and frogs to eat.