Even with great characters, a gripping plot and outstanding dialogue, a story isn't complete without the appropriate setting-the unifying element in most fiction. Jack Bickham shows how to use sensual detail, vivid language and keen observations to craft settings which help tell credible, interesting stories and heighten dramatic and thematic effects. Over the course of his esteemed career, Jack Bickham published more than novels and instructional books, including Writing Novels That Sell and The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them). A former creative writing professor, he instructed thousands of writers through his classes, seminars and Writer's Digest magazine articles.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
There's nothing more tiresome, either at the outset of a novel or thrust into the middle of one, than a lengthy description. So the sky was blue and the clouds a billowy white and a sheepdog lolled in the middle of the dusty lane. Get on with it, already. This is not to say that setting is not of utmost consideration to a fiction writer (or to any other writer). Jack Bickham applies the tip-of-the-iceberg theory to setting: "You should have a rich lode of factual information on hand before you begin to write," he advises here, "and should know how to sprinkle in those facts a few at a time." In Setting, from the Writer's Digest Elements of Fiction Writing series, Bickham explores the ways in which the setting one chooses affects the other elements of the story. "In real life as well as in fiction," Bickham warns, setting "tends to form character." The setting you opt for will determine what else you may and may not include in your story. Bickham has advice on how to communicate your setting to your readers, how to research a given setting, and how setting varies according to genre. He includes a "setting research form" that would be a nifty thing to take along when you're on the road. And remember, he says: "you must never deviate from verifiable facts." Even if the southern town you've chosen is completely imagined, you must never let the crape myrtles bloom before late summer. --Jane Steinberg
About the Author
Over the course of his esteemed career, Jack Bickham published more than 80 novels and instructional books, including Writing Novels That Sell and The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them). A former creative writing professor, he instructed thousands of writers through his classes, seminars and Writer's Digest magazine articles.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
72 of 73 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I've read all the books in the Elements of Fiction Writing series and this is how I'd rank them.
"Scene & Structure" "Characters & Viewpoint" "Beginnings, Middles & Ends"
The above three books are invaluable -- must reads. They are the best of the series, in my opinion, and are packed with good information on every page. Well-done.
"Conflict, Action & Suspense" "Description" "Plot" "Manuscript Submission" "Setting"
The above five books are good, solid reads. Again, they contain good information and cover the subject decently.
"Voice & Style" "Dialogue"
To me, the last two books need to be rewritten. They are by far the weakest of the series. Both suffer from an annoying style, particularly Dialogue, and both are very skimpy on real information. Neither one is very helpful.
This is the order in which I'd recommend reading them.
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Another Writer's Digest book that offers a multitude of ways ensure that your reader has a visual and sensual focus on place and time in your stories. The author not only tells you why setting is so important in supporting the plot and characters, but gives pleanty of exercises to help you create a clear picture of where and when your story takes place.
15 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As a "mature" student I was in awe of the insights the author was giving us which he has obviously learned on the anvil of experience. As an avid reader I was able to relate to his comments and advice and found myself nodding in agreement. This book is easy to read and full of practical advice, and examples, just the book for budding writers.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
what to leave in, what to leave out
from book blogger Margaret Yang <...>
The importance of setting can't be stated strongly enough. Read more
The importance of setting can't be stated strongly enough. Read more
Published 2 months ago by margaret_yang
Setting: a discovery
This was actually the second copy of this book I've bought. I enjoyed the first one so much I bought the second for a friend. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Teresa J. Reasor
Instructive & Concise
As one version of the cover claims, this book is designed to help new writers "create and sustain a sharp sense of time and place in [their] fiction." Jack M. Read more
Published 23 months ago by BookBuff9293
One of the best
This is probably one of the best books out there on Setting. Some of the chapters get a bit long winded, but all in all this is the worth getting.
Published on June 3, 2008 by R. Haun
Solid advice
Another excellent effort by Jack Bickham. Unfortunately his last book as he died afterwards.
Many nuggets of information that are indespensible for the writer. Read more
Many nuggets of information that are indespensible for the writer. Read more
Published on March 5, 2006 by B. Abernethy
Exhaustive Information - A Good Reference
Who knew there was so much to setting? This is a difficult read from cover to cover (as I trudged through it), but it is a good book to keep around as a reference. Read more
Published on October 14, 2004 by James Duckett
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