The Importance of Setting in Storytelling

[@QuotidianWriter]

Hi there, viewers! You can read an adapted text version of this video on Medium. I’ve reframed the content around “6 Questions to Consider When Choosing Your Story's Setting.” 1. How does the setting create conflict? 2. What’s significant about the time period? 3. How does culture impact the story? 4. How does the geography affect the characters? 5. How can you subvert tropes with your setting? 6. How would you describe your setting as a character? medium.com/@quotidianwriter/6-questions-to-consider-when-choosing-your-storys-setting-ddf05f0bd842

[@ZariDV]

I think a huge part of Harry Potter's success and why it became such a phenomenon for my generation was because Hogwarts was such a captivating setting for the books and that felt so real to so many kids. I still remember sitting with my friends talking about what we'd do if we ever got a Hogwarts letter. I remember how disappointed we each felt when another one of us turned 11 years old and the fantasy of receiving that letter sort of crumbled. We all knew it was fiction and there was no such thing as Hogwarts, but we could still pretend that, until we hit 11 and as much as we knew it wasn't going to happen, there was still a tiny chance. I think that's what had kids lining up outside bookstores overnight and waiting all day to get a copy. As long as there was a new book, we got the chance to go to school in this magical world. In some books, the setting can become even more powerful than the characters or the plot.

[@CaitlinsKk]

I love that your videos always leave me wanting to write and inspired instead of feeling overwhelmed with this monster of a task like so many other peoples advice has done.

[@alysellin8730]

Your voice is soothing. The content in your video’s are 👌

[@Kat-jv3gt]

Debris littered the streets, the sound of fighting was in the air. This wasn't how the day was supposed to go. This was supposed to be a day of celebration and appreciation for those brave enough to risk their lives for others; For heroes. But instead was tarnished by death and destruction. I sat crouched behind a mangled car, on my knees, with my hands over my head hoping and praying that someone noticed the little girl injured in the street. Why was I the only one who noticed? A powerless teenager with dreams far brighter and bigger than her life has in store for her. I untangled my hands from my hair and stood on shaky legs closing my eyes, breathing in and out, I rushed into the chaos. With a pounding heart and burning lungs I thought to myself if someone like me, weak and powerless, could be a hero too. This is a story I've been thinking about for a while now set in the future where being a superhero is a normal job. The story follows a girl born into a hero family with seemingly no powers. I really like the idea and hope to write it out soon. P. S great video by the way!

[@QuotidianWriter]

You could definitely incorporate some cool technology or changes to daily life with that type of setting. I'm a fan of stories where "muggles" are born into a magical family; it promises to be an underdog tale. Pursue that idea kernel! :)

[@mehwishmanha9250]

@@QuotidianWriter You mean squib stories because that's what non-magical folk born into magical families are usually called.

[@QuotidianWriter]

@@mehwishmanha9250 Haha, good point!

[@vaughnjohnson8767]

@@QuotidianWriter This is my description for the book series that I’m writing. Here we go! The overlord Zeroneus has ruled for over a decade, and the 7 Governments of Springside are in submission. The conquerer has created 7 different Masters to rule each and every kingdom. 13 year old, Shear Rift lives with her father, Heath, and her brother, Ethen in the Fossil Kingdom. But a few months ago, it was found that her mother was trying to found a rebellion. She was captured, and Shear has never seen her since. But since then, another revolution has started. Inspired by what her mother did, their leader has tried to gain supporters in all of Springside. But the Master of the Fossil Kingdom, Earthmaster, is trying to stop them. Shear never even knew about this revolution. But now she is caught up with this group and trying to survive amid a corrupt world.

[@user-fh1pu9os7n]

May be late to the party here, but try using something like "legs like noodles" instead of saying shaky legs. Love the concept and hope you are well on your way to finishing😊

[@mooodlemip4779]

I’m not a writer but the beauty in your videos and your amazing voice and the fact that i feel educated and inspired after each one keeps me watching them. You deserve way more views.

[@benjamingrist6539]

Famous western author Louis L'amour always made a point to visit the area he planned on setting his next book. It helped give an authenticity to his stories, drawing the reader in. It's no wonder so many of his books have been adapted into films.

[@pyrosnickenson2649]

That sounds like a good idea! What could go wrong? *checks what the setting of the book I’m writing is* Damn, I need to go space.

[@mrnnhnz]

I think quite a few authors have done that, and it's not a bad idea. One of my favourites, Desmond Bagley, did that a bit, as I understand. He wrote in settings all over the planet, but he was successful enough to be able to afford to check out a lot of places I guess. Incidentally, my dad was a huge Louis L'amour fan - must've had at least 50 of his books (perhaps a lot more, it's been a while.)

[@LatiNoble]

I was looking for an introductory to story setting and I ended up getting so much more. Thank you for this lesson. I got much more value out of this video than I thought I would. Liked and subscribed.

[@travis_approved]

I just found your channel and it's quickly becoming my favorite writing channel on youtube! You're fantastic. Thank you for making these.

[@jodyclaggett786]

I've been searching for someone creating video essay's on writing. Your videos are great! Thank you.

[@rdjazzboy1944]

A time, and a place is everything. You can't move forward without that. Every story needs momentum. I know this, but thanks for illuminating this simple truth.

[@mrnnhnz]

Another great presentation Diane, thanks for uploading. I chose: Genre - Children's; Time Period - Stone Age; Big Setting - The Moon; Small Setting - In a home where a church cell-group meeting is taking place. And the blurb? [Imagine this is being read by James Earl Jones 🙂] "In a vast subsurface cavern on the Moon, Davide and Eudora are happy at school, learning about the progress of humans down on Earth. They're quite content in their superiority over them, living, as the humans do, at a time when wearing a freshly-skinned sabre-tooth tiger hide was considered high fashion. But when the adults are supposedly just finishing up from their home church-group meeting, the kids are eavesdropping, and they learn of terrifying news that spurs them onto a course of action which could change human history! They hope..."

[@ten-chan1015]

This video made me think... I first thought that my settings were pretty boring. Usually depicting a similar world to that which I myself live in. A small town in Germany, not big, not small, not diverse and not uniform. Just... something in the middle. The stories came from the characters. In a way, the "blank canvas" that was my setting, allowed for intricate character interactions, because there was no outside threat, or other big thing that influenced them. All decisions were theirs alone. But then I remembered, that there was a time before that, when I had one story that I poured my heart into. It was set far in the future, after our earth had long burnt out. Six waves of migration traveled through space for many generations to reach "the new earth"... It's similar to our earth, but different still. UV radiation from the "new sun" is much stronger, making life as we knew it impossible. So new generations of scientists worked to force human evolution to work faster. Day-dwelling humans were created, people who could survive the strong radiation with no damage. But others stayed under the earth, eventually building large cities under a dark roof... Night-dwellig humans. Inspired by old-earthian literature, the two species were called lycantropes and vampires respectively, though neither truly had much in common with their literary counterparts. Gender, culture, species, status and science play large roles in this new world... and in it lived two characters who should be happy as they are... but aren't.

[@JaneDoe-wm6zx]

I want to read that second story😳 that’s such a genius play on that

[@Scientastic-iy4xd]

You are one of the great writing adviser I have ever known!

[@nathelm8693]

"What ever you do.. Keep writing." Wow. I really felt that. MUST KEEP WRITING O.o

[@andrewjacks2716]

I adore your videos. I'm new to writing, but the joy and wonder for the craft your videos convey is inspiring :) I'm excited to give your exercises a try! I hope your videos get some more exposure, they are a pleasure to take in.

[@jamesrichey]

My most beloved story setting was Anne McCaffrey's "Dragonriders of Pern" series. A science fiction with teleporting dragons and their telepathic riders, and the dreaded 'thread' falling from the skies needing to be burned by dragon's breath before they touch the ground. A medieval colony world with spaceships and dragons. As a teenager reading this, it blew my mind.

[@littlestbroccoli]

I just reread the Renegades of Pern, where they find the old Southern relics, and it is still such a wonderful world to return to. I always leave wanting to practice woodworking and embroidery.

[@davidmcleod1760]

I love the Dragonriders of Pern series. Dragondawn is my favourite. I love seeing how the dragons were created from the dragonets.

[@quillakiller]

It's a Monday in Mumbai and the city appears unstoppable. Not for Shapur. He's just gotten fired, dumped, spilled coffee on, and dropped a wet brown wad of seagull kachera on his shoulder. Follow the full-time failure of a regular man, as he turns the worst day of his life into a most epic opportunity: leaving the corporate world to pursue a career in comedy. Will he succeed? Only the inhabitants of the city can decide, including the birds.

[@idakohu5905]

Inside the cave of Mr Tumnus in The lion, the witch and the wardrobe has always been one of my favourite settings. There is something about the way C.S Lewis describes it makes me want to sit down to toast, tea and sardines with the characters.

[@angeramirez25]

Me too 😍😍😍

[@warmflash]

I’ve learned more from Diane Callahan than anyone • She’s brilliant •

[@barbarabunn86]

Again, Thank you. Although I have a few ideas started, they feed after educational needs I've encountered in the past (i.e. a book for middle/high school children that read on a 2nd grade level or educational advice.) I love this exercise. At the moment, I am enjoying all the new prospective you are discussing . I see your exercise challenge as a great exercise for where I am in my writing journey. I couldn't list all the genres of writing. (but will be something I plan to correct!) I love the idea of summarizing what hasn't been done but summarizing what is possible. Thanks again. Barbara

[@Hermit_mouse]

Ok, we got a Romanian romance in a burned out library, 5000 years ago: Ahzi, the eldest of five boys, has lost two of the family's five goats in the last month. When the last three go missing on his watch, he is forced to track them over the barrowland horizon and deep into unknown lands of swamps and dead cities. When he finally catches one of them drinking from a mire known as Deadmyth, he finds that the goat has been reclaimed by Sonia, a young Romi girl, whose tribe of wandering gypsys has taken up residence in a cursed ruin of the same name. The Romi, outcasted for hundreds of years for their mystical and heretical ways claim to know the histories and secrets of all the dead cities of this land, and when Sonja leads Ahzi to an ancient library haunted by Djinn, and filled with stone tablets said to be engraved with the secrets of the Gods, he finds out their lives may be interwoven more deeply than he ever could have imagined.

[@QuotidianWriter]

Oooh, I love that! The mysteries and magic build incrementally in an intriguing setting, yet you keep the story tied to the characters, the most important element of all. Very impressive. :)

[@jaydj9179]

I would totally read this! 😍

[@felixfifeauthor]

I like the setting imagery or burned cities and libraries. Evocative

[@mburu.gaiti-vl2jm]

A breath-taking insight into and capture of the importance of setting in storytelling.

[@domingovibar8193]

thank you for your videos! I had not picked up the pen for years, but you are helping my jump back into worlds I'd forgotten.

[@QuotidianWriter]

Keep going!!!

[@Chindiify]

I am re-reading Ursula LeGuins Left hand of Darkness...it is a masterpiece of setting.

[@helenetrstrup4817]

I really enjoy settings that has roots in something we all know, yet there is something magical or fantastic about it :P So a good mix of fact and fiction :) For instance a setting with Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack The Ripper is very fascinating.

[@Hermit_mouse]

I had to another one. This is so fun. This one is a coming-of-age story in the 1980s in Slab City, California in an undiscovered graveyard. Aryn is a 14 year old who just escaped his sorry-ass hometown of Nowheresville, Arizona and his church-going family that he refers to as the Cleaver's. Armed with a butterfly knife and a fishtail skateboard, he gives the last of his candy cigarettes to his little sister, steals his neighbors wood-panelled station wagon and sets out for the infamous and Lawless California town of Slab City. After six cases of Jolt Cola and 16 straight hours of Guns and Roses, he arrives to find the place cracking with Hobo's, Drifters and renegades, living in burned-out cars, abandoned RVs and a giant concrete bunker nicknamed the Bum Church. He eventually takes up with a local biker gang that distribute speed out of an Indian burial ground nearby, but stakes run high when they try to muscle him into robbing the oldest and most respected citizen of Slab City, a soul-man musician and shaman named deaf Rudy Jackson

[@QuotidianWriter]

Amazing details!!! Even in a single paragraph, the story is brimming with a unique voice and setting. Excellent work. :D

[@felixfifeauthor]

The rich and vast world of a Middle Earth is my favorite setting. So real and inspiring, you just want to explore it.

[@deepaamandal1753]

This video is informative in brief and have greatly covered everything. However it will be nice if you can do a specific video about Fantasy setting. Look forward to it.

[@daffodilshaw1998]

Your voice is so soothing.

[@heal41hp]

I can't remember many settings, but I've recently been reminded of The Dresden Files. I at least used to really enjoy how Jim Butcher meshes lore from all over, tweaked but recognizable, into his urban fantasy. I almost didn't try the writing exercise. I don't have much energy to expend on anything, let alone creativity. And when I did decide to try it, I was plagued by indecision. (I may have stolen some of your examples...) This took me a lot longer than it probably should have to produce: It started out as déjà vu. Then Alice started encountering her dreams in her waking life. People she’d never met before greeted her, and the train was late when she dreamed it would be. Worried the stress of a looming deadline at work was getting to her, she talked to her doctor and was prescribed a vacation. Alice couldn’t bring herself to abandon her team at such a critical time, though, so she put it off like she had so many things before. That night she dreamed she was gifted a silver necklace, luminous in its polish and heavy with a purpose she couldn’t comprehend. That morning she was still wearing it. And when she went to fetch the paper, the sky was burnt orange and the grass crystalline blue. Alice found herself lingering beside the mailbox, waiting. For what? She didn’t know. I'm not able to imagine things in much detail, so it's a constant but enjoyable challenge for me to work the setting into my writing. I try really hard to keep a scene's surroundings present through sensory information, characters interacting with it, and even weather when available. Maybe I do that because of my lack of visual imagination? I have problems keeping track of it so I try to compensate for the sake of others, too? I endeavor to walk an organic line, though, not going too heavy and bogging down the pace. I might at times go a little heavy to intentionally slow the pace or even go particularly light to speed up the pace. Totally depends on the circumstances.

[@QuotidianWriter]

It's cool when authors can recycle myths and legends to create something fresh. I was worried the writing exercise might be too involved, and you're the first one to post a blurb! Here, take this invisible trophy. I love the idea of strangers greeting the protagonist and the mystery building on itself through odd occurrences. I can see how you kept creating questions for yourself to answer, like with the mailbox at the end. It almost sounds like a retelling of Alice in Wonderland. I just enjoy little exercises like this that remind me that my imagination is limitless. Knowing when to include those setting details is a valuable skill. Some writers get lost in the details of their world, and they end up with paragraphs upon paragraphs of description, which sometimes works if the writing is skillful. I often struggle to visualize places other writers create, no matter how precise the language, but it's the feelings that those settings evoke in the characters that stick with me.

[@heal41hp]

I'm seriously the first? Wow! Well, I guess no one else realizes what they missed out on. This is a mighty fine trophy. The elements I picked were mystery for specific genre, modern day for time period, astral plane for big setting, and mailbox for small setting. I felt a little lame choosing the first two since they're pretty comfortable and easy for me, but then I realized comfortable would just aid me in doing something I was struggling with. My inability to visualize stuff has (generally) prevented me from getting to the point where I have paragraphs upon paragraphs of description. I've grown into a philosophy of keeping description minimal to let readers customize the things that aren't integral and integrating it as much as possible into the narrative. I endeavor to never even give entire paragraphs to just describing something unless it's absolutely necessary. If I may be so bold as to share something from "War for the Sun" to illustrate this. It's the most description I allowed anything in the first six chapters I rewrote. Castinet (the character I mentioned elsewhere who has amnesia) is meeting his gold-covered sword for the first time after losing his memories. It's ridiculously more fancy than anything he could imagine having, yet it feels familiar. Despite his conflicted feelings, he couldn’t help but be awed by the craftsmanship of the scabbard. He remembered seeing a painting in a temple of the very same embossed scene. Armor-clad Vocavia fought alongside a long-dead king against the Vaarii oppressors of old. This version, however, was less colorful and more scarred. He couldn’t help but wonder about the story behind each of those marks, especially the gash up on the elaborately woven gold locket. It didn’t correspond with anything on the sword’s cross-guard. Once he’d had his fill of the scabbard, he turned his attention to the simpler sword. A fraying braid of faded red threads was tied off the round gold pommel, which was marred but unbroken. He brushed it aside and wrapped his hand around the worn leather grip. It fit too well, even considering his glove. He felt comfort from this, also, at the same time it added to his growing unease. Extending a finger, he brushed aside fur from the scabbard’s lining and caressed the worn gold of the cross-guard, two rays of a rising sun. Two others, shorter and thinner, jutted off at angles while a fifth, he saw as he drew the sword, reached halfway down the blade along the fuller. That was hardly what held his attention, though. The steel of the blade itself, bright with oil, was tinged red. He’d never seen anything like it before.

[@QuotidianWriter]

Readers definitely have different tastes when it comes to the level of description. Like you, I prefer a more minimalist approach, in both writing and reading. Sometimes that leads to me having to add more details during revision because the scenery feels too spare and hard to visualize. "Castinet" is a cool name. I like the flow of your writing style; I can tell that you've done your sword research. Be careful about overusing the phrase "couldn't help but," as I know a writer who has a habit of inserting that everywhere, and it has become quite noticeable to me. Swords are always fun to describe, though, especially in fantasy stories. :)

[@heal41hp]

I seem to remember having to layer in more detail throughout various revisions of "War for the Sun"--at least before The Great Rewriting. Re-reading those parts leaves me feeling satisfied with the descriptions, at least currently. (Maybe that's a symptom of the plateau I'm mired in, though? It's often said that writers are never satisfied with what they've crafted...) Thank you! I was in need of a bit of a boost today... I'm rather fond of "Castinet", too, and I've striven for a smooth flow to my writing through laser-precision focus on chronology and word-efficiency. Ooh, I will definitely keep an eye out for "couldn't help but" phrases. I have historically had issues with latching onto phrase trends and overusing them like crazy!

[@hectorps653]

The Wood between the Worlds in The Magician's Nephew. Great content! You should have a Patreon page.

[@bettyamiina3933]

Hector PS I agree, i'm reading it.

[@mooodlemip4779]

That whole book was so eerie

[@NeilRoy]

I always found time travel stories to be the most fascinating. The paradoxes encountered can be interesting. The possibilities are endless, examine real life history and say "What if...", or perhaps look at where the world is heading and apply the same question, then write around that. I watched a video with Stephen King and I liked how he said he likes to follow his characters and see what they would do next. Sometimes he would have a story idea and how he would like it to turn out, but it won't go that way because he will follow the character and do what the character would do in any given situation. It was an interesting way to look at story writing.

[@hotnoggin]

I've lived in New London the past ten years and never knew this book existed! It's a shame more people don't realize the inventions that stem from tragedy.

[@keziarica]

Grazie, Diane. a wonderful and helpful video. I love the exercize at the end as, of course, all others things in it. The main character in a story is setting. You can have a great idea, create perfect characters, but if you put 'em in a flat setting, your story will be a flop.

[@paulapoetry]

Insightful, detailed and inspiring - thank you. I'm loving your videos. 😃💝

[@borskavin6395]

I like to keep in mind that no setting has inherent character; a cold room in winter can become cozy if people tuck into their bedsheets, cuddling while a blizzard freezes the outside, Grandmother's lovely cottage in the summer can become a trap when a family member becomes hostile, the 1920s high society party in New York is the last place our protagonist wants to be in right now because other people act subtly but absolutely inappropriate towards them etc. It's fun to play with that, plus, I love to really entangle the characters into the setting, like grabbing food, stubbing their toe, having an opinion on & feelings about the place they're in. Two characters can have totally contradicting relationships with the same setting in the same moment, or have it changed slightly/drastically over time. Creating an anatomy of the places can add realism & makes both the setting & the worldbuilding richer; it drags you in. Even if it's not your top priority, just a bit of it completes scenes & entire novels

[@janhavidevatha9358]

I saw N.K.J's masterclass on fantasy world building and it was amazing. She talks about her book and its a really good book

[@Leto85]

This is amazing. I learn something new while listening to your soothing ASMR voice at the same time! Life's beautiful and I hope you'll one day will do a face reveal.

[@zomalfa4363]

The island of Calypso in the Odyssey, Che Gueverra in Bolivia, Down and out in Paris and London, the hotel room in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

[@doublerainbow-44]

i adore your videos diane and agree your voice is so calming - thank you!

[@davidmcleod1760]

That prologue at the start instantly made me want to read the rest of the story.

[@neigh102]

A young adult novel set in present day China. A teenager girl get's dropped off at the orphanage, after her widow mother remarries, where she forms an unlikely friendship with a little girl. When she finds out that the girl is going to be adopted by a couple in America, they run away. They find a cave, behind a waterfall, which they plan to make home. While admiring the beautiful waterfall, and trying to come up with a way to survive, she begins to wonder if she is ruining a great opportunity for her young friend. I might actually research China and then write this story, after I finish the story I am currently working on.

[@QuotidianWriter]

You're a badass.

[@neigh102]

Thanks! I was not expecting that.

[@GabrielleEvangelista-g6k]

You are so talented. Thank you

[@connorcoltrane1777]

Genres: Gothic Horror, Cyberpunk, *Slice-of-Life*, Survival, Tragedy Time Periods: 2002, Present Day, 1955, The Elizabethan Era, *2242* Big Settings: Enchanted Forest, Hollywood, *Suburbia*, Space, Scandinavia Small Settings: Diner, *Underground*, College, Church, Seedy Motel When a group of youths discover a system of buried tunnels and streets beneath their home community of Leyland Heights, they start to explore the ruined depths of the past, and with it, themselves.

[@mrussoart]

The videos are great, but that channel name.. Quotidian LOL it's awesome. Cracks me up every time 😆

[@hectorps653]

I remember the setting on Isac Asimov's "I, robot" story called reason, a space station that was far away from Earth and needed to be monitored by both robots and humans so it could send energy.

[@QuotidianWriter]

That's one of my favorite stories from that collection! The technology of the setting is crucial for the plot.

[@itsamaniarts]

N.K Jemisin now has a Masterclass too talking about this. It's so interesting to see how she builds her worlds!

[@Kitsambler]

Wonderful piece!

[@forfreedomssake4315]

Lovely. Thank you Diane

[@Jasonwolf1495]

I find it strange that I've almost never heard of another writer that has a setting well past the apocalypse. My story is centuries past the fall and is on the next rise coming up. Maybe its just because I have an anthropology background so the idea of building up a whole new culture from the ground up.

[@jasonfenton8250]

Jeffrey Off the top of my head: Shannara. I think Fallout could also apply by the time of New Vegas.

[@fyviane]

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind I think, at least the manga.

[@schlaubischlumpf211]

It's not a novel, but the video game Horizon:Zero Dawn works with such setting. I find it quite interesting!

[@futurestoryteller]

The opportunity for the setting is easily missed. Why tell a story after an apocalypse, if you want to tell an apolypse story tell that? Why build up a new culture from the ground up, that's what fantasy is for?

[@zrebbesh]

There was no gravity in the tubecar, and they both bobbed gently against their harnesses. Occasionally they coasted silently through a station. Grimly silent people floated in the dusty air waiting for their own tubecars to arrive, while hurried, angry-looking people were grabbing and pulling and pushing tethers and handles and each other, jostling between the exits and the waiting areas. Most of them were loudly talking, but never to each other unless the grabbing got a bit too rough or personal. The air filters never quite kept up with the trash. Vendors with huge net bags of produce loudly hawked them to the crowds. Pigeons swooped through the stations snagging bits of carelessly spilled food and drink out of the air and shitting in random directions. Once in a while feral cats and monkeys could be seen, stalking the pigeons and trying to avoid the people. Wiley was glad they didn't have to get off in the Swirl.

[@ari-cowan]

Endlessly, thank you.

[@thecreativebookwritingpen37]

Very nice. Loved all your wonderful videos.

[@rdjazzboy1944]

Write what you need to know... almost the same as your advice. Cheers.

[@davidblau1477]

Hello Diana, thank you so much for your excellent podcasts. You give us a wealth of useful information and you are clearly a pro in both content and presentation. Chapeau!! Yet I have a couple of suggestions by way of feedback. 1) why do you have to cram a 40Minute lecture into 15some minutes? why to speak SOO fast? is it so we have to listen to everything at least twice (which if indeed a "strategy" for commercial purposes, I would gladly accept). if not, please speak slower. in a novel setting I would write"she constantly spoke so fast that it seemed to David she was running away from herself " 2) my second suggestion:could you improve your diction , I. e. enunciate your words more clearly? Some things like names and titles swirl by, as often one does not know some of those names(my ignorance, I concede) and hears them for the first time. It would also help to speak less monotonous, you often sound a bit melancholic, which I am sure is not your intention. again thanks for your excellent work, I am learning a lot from you!

[@psychologymajorptsd62]

You have a very nice voice. Very inspiring, thank you.

[@RachelParker-1977]

You do the best videos! Thank you.

[@bg81973]

that's a tough question but i think i'll go with steven kings parallel universe in "the talisman". either that or the first scene of the gunslinger. that first volume of the dark tower was full of great scenes.

[@littlestbroccoli]

The most interesting setting that jumps to mind is a setting so completely mundane it avoids notice entirely: the visit to a 2D planet in A Wind in the Door. The way L'engle describes something so commonplace we'd never consider it as a world to live in makes it as alien and outlandish as the bottom of the ocean, and more interesting. That's a book full of ingenious and creative settings.

[@theletterbleeds]

Such a great video! It could be your best yet!

[@lionkingmatiouz3441]

Interesting and well realized video

[@carolinaquimera]

I really needed this!

[@Roma_eterna]

My story is set in the Roman Empire during the first decades of Christianity, culminating in the Jewish War. When I tell people I’m writing a novel in Ancient Rome, I get reactions like: “Oh, gladiators!” Or: “Cool! Julis Caesar!” But there are no gladiators or Julius Caesar here. You will however, find yourself in the bustling metropolis of Jerusalem during the time of Jesus, with hardly any Roman features except the occasional villa or bath. While I know Roman history backwards and forwards, there’s certainly a lot about the Holy Land in the New Testament era I didn’t know about until I researched it... and still researching. So I’m sort of writing what I know, but more often I’m writing what I want to understand: What early Christians may have believed, what they saw, etc. What’s more, my primary focus is on women in early Christianity.

[@hifaso]

I am writing a story set in the Iron Age. The research work is strenuous and it seems that it is never satisfactory. The compensating part of working on such a difficult epic is to see that similar books are not published. The premise is not new, on the contrary, but the detailed and ethically realistic approach, seeking authenticity in the portrait of an era, is a definitive differential that makes the project such a stimulating challenge. I am less concerned with being recognized as the winner of the challenge, and more concerned with offering my best to create something interesting and that favors, in the process, my personal growth. Writing, for me, is like breathing life into a dream and taking the opportunity to learn some things in the process.

[@nijahjones2028]

Great Silent Hill Reference lol!! Knew that story sounded familiar

[@rafeaashfaqqureshi8401]

Thank you so much it was very helpful 😊

[@whenkey5304]

Truly heartwarming mam I'm telling beneath my heart, nice video and keep going mam. 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@uncleanunicorn4571]

Commander Bryce Al-Ghazali didn't know he'd signed up for a war with temporal weapons. After a million year time warp, man has become the aliens.

[@iancrooks8702]

another great one. thanks

[@roisin9401]

great vid

[@TheAnonyomusGuy]

I wonder what a medieval Noir would look like I mean think of it I'll hard boiled City guard trying to figure out who keeps murdering people in the streets at the stroke of midnight or something like that

[@G-Blockster]

Check out "The Name of the Rose" by Umberto Eco. It is a historical murder mystery set in an Italian monastery in the year 1327; an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory. I really enjoyed it. There's also the movie (but the book was infinitely better).

[@ashlisunflower]

I was surprised to see a picture of a landscape from my country - хижа Мазалат.

[@leandroarcher8841]

this is just 👌👌👌👌👌👌👌

[@rockbandny]

My setting from this was 1963 small town Texas mainly in a second hand car deelership and a suburban home domestic horror

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

I like blurbs... Being a practicing GM I can do blurbs, kinda like the first... oh... minute or so of a proper "session 0" where I "sell" the ideals of the game/campaign to my Players. I like this exploration of Setting as more than a "backdrop" to decorate the stage like window dressing. SO... for S&G... I'll play. What about a Steampunk set in 1890's (pseudo) Chicago, a little bit of magic to slow the progression of technology... dragging out the industrial revolution, but not so much as to become a full-on "High Concept" fantasy... Of course, there's enough civility to dictate some of the "dark arts" would be either severely frowned upon (think a whore in a Baptist Church)... or outright banned. Necromancy would be on a list like that... SO our protagonist is an aspiring magae, not practiced enough, nor able to afford the kind of instruction required to be a full Wizard or Sorcerer, but driven to learn the ways of magic and it's many secrets... He finds a Tome of Forbidden Secrets of Necromancy... Only his intentions with things like raising or speaking to the dead are rooted in some ideal for justice... More of a forensic study, than building an invincible army from their graves. ...Not really sure where I'd go with it just now. I'm not even entirely convinced I necessarily want the Necromancer to be male... exactly. It's probably highly advised to have some "inciting moment" to build some overdeveloped sense of duty or justice to put him/her on the path of a forensic use of necromancy... AND the obvious first choice of story would be about defending the "dark art" for purposes of good, and chasing down a serial killer (yes, they had one in Chicago around that time... made headlines around the World's Fair, though I'm not completely sure of the year)... A good tangible second choice would likely fit with some diabolical criminal that's otherwise running the Police in circles and wild goose chases... Here's where we get to ask the hard questions. Is something (like necromancy) really just evil on it's own existence? OR Is it perhaps foolish to declare that, when in fact, it's about the intent behind usage that determines the beneficence or maleficence of it? ;o)

[@QuotidianWriter]

It's cool to see your thinking process in action! Sounds like you've had a lot of good practice coming up with plots on the fly.

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

@@QuotidianWriter Yeah, the practice of plotting "on the fly" comes with the territory of being a GM (Game Master)... I've been doing it since I was about 10, so 32 ish years... Players will throw a curveball or a monkey wrench into plans at the first notice. It's their nature... SO when you're not "buying just enough time" to figure something out, you're busy shifting gears to salvage whatever's left of the old plans and constituents to stitch it together for something that still resembles a plot. (lolz) BUT being a "writer" is a bit more complete... The art of a Plot Line in "pure writing" has a single linear curve to it, or possibly a small group of relatively related curves across the diagram. A "plot line" for a Story arc of an RPG looks more like a technicolor plate of spaghetti slung at a wall... (lolz) That's kind of where I'm still organizing thoughts and working on a product to be worthy of "public scrutiny". ;o)

[@bensonmuturi9777]

Hey diane. I loved the video. For a newbie who wants to learn more about setting, which books would you suggest i read

[@QuotidianWriter]

If you're writing realistic fiction, John Steinbeck's "East of Eden" goes into detail with a California setting. "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini describes Kabul, and "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe is rich with details about Africa. They're all set in the past. What you learn from reading the descriptions in those books can be applied to writing any type of setting or time period. For fantasy/sci-fi settings, "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor and "Dune" by Frank Herbert have strong atmospheres. Keep writing! :)

[@bensonmuturi9777]

@@QuotidianWriter Thank you for those suggestions. WILL KEEP WRITING

[@hamilderen259]

Thanks!

[@Musicwatcher3]

Diane I subscribed to your channel and I was wondering how to research the location for a story what are your suggestions? My story takes place in Baltimore Maryland and I've never been there.

[@QuotidianWriter]

I recommend reading forum posts from people who live in that place. You could look at the subreddit r/Baltimore (www.reddit.com/r/baltimore/) for locals' perspectives. I also tend to search things like "what's it like to live in ____?" You could take a "virtual tour" of the city using Google Street View and perhaps reach out to a local to interview them about what it's like to live there. Hope that helps! Keep writing! :)

[@lakeshagadson357]

i would like to tell those kind of stories to my children.

[@Li0nX]

Subscribed! Wow! You put so much information in here, always backing it with great books. Really helped continue writing

[@ESteveMcLaughlin]

More positive ideas and guidance. The very nice map you lay out is an enjoyable watch. I wish I could print out some of it??? Again, thank you for your excellent work and narrative. Alis volat propriis! Excelsior... I would also offer this link from Diane's Pinterest collection for her Word bank: www.pinterest.com/quotidianw/word-bank/

[@A.J.Carter]

God, I love this channel.

[@shantarammeshram9958]

Can anybody tell me, do we need to hire editors if we are going to publish our book traditionally. I mean do the traditional publishers have their own editors?

[@QuotidianWriter]

You don't need to have your book professionally edited before querying literary agents if you want to publish traditionally. Some literary agents are "editorial agents" who will help you edit your book prior to submission to publishing houses. If a publishing house accepts your work, they will provide additional developmental editing, copy editing, and proofreading so that it meets their quality standards. However, agents expect a polished, coherent, and largely error-free manuscript, so hiring a professional editor could increase your chances of landing an agent, in addition to helping you refine your craft. :)

[@evelynsierra2004]

Real life scene : My sister-in-law, for over a decade As I am in her presence is always like an out of Body Experience for me. Her Interaction with me is robotic and I am invisible.

[@dragolia1603]

I want to create a setting in which its mediviel fantasy but with sci fi elements I love both there’s a certain…authenticity to medieval fantasy thats hard to describe but with sci fi it feels like there’s just so much contrast and I would love to blend the two together I’m thinking it would have a historical kinda aesthetic but there are advanced technology that casually pops up but I’m trying to figure out a way in my head but may try to get it on a google doc to see if that works

[@QuotidianWriter]

That sounds like a cool blend of settings! HEIR APPARENT by Vivian Vande Velde comes to mind for me. The protagonist gets trapped in a virtual reality game set in a medieval fantasy world. Keep writing! :)

[@futurestoryteller]

This sounds remarkably similar to Ivalice, the one time rare instance of a recurring setting in Final Fantasy games, which used to be known for creating whole new worlds complete with unique characters and lore that had only a calculated smattering of trademark flourishes, mainly names, animals and basic enemy types, and almost always with fantasy archetypes like dragons. They rarely strayed from the cliched fantasy formula before getting creative with parts six and seven, which have been weirdly pigeonholed into genres they definitely don't belong to like "futuristic sci-fi" and "steampunk" Ivalice was the first time they went all in on "medieval fantasy sci-fi". I'd suggest you find a way to research those games if you need inspiration. If you were hoping to do something unique you might have to find it in your world's minutiae

[@wallywest5804]

Uuumm oh I loved it's simplicity but still I had to reread a few sections but huh "the galactic gourmet" James white...loved it...pretty funny 😁oh uuuhh "Dragon riders of pern" that was like intense drama...did not expect that🤣🤣🤣oohh..ooohhh uuuhh "dark is the sun" wait let me go take a look it's been a long long while since I read it philip jose' farmer...I think...it had that weirdo centaur in it...but I kept saying I would do this I would do that in it...but still it was cool kinda complicated 🤷

[@gurjindersingh3843]

Dawn of Planet of the Apes is one of my favourite apocalyptic stories, not a book though.

[@authorKatClark]

You get a sub

[@TM-xz1mi]

It is great video that open our idea wider. Thanks a lot. Btw, I'm shock at 7:23 while i'm lonely awaken at night, i thought it was japanese ghost 😭.

[@ismirdochegal4804]

Epic Fantasy - Industriel Age - New York - Drama school After an earthquake, a group of adventurers find themselves trapped in an abandoned drama school. Why has the vault been abandoned, what dangerous creatures now roam it and what does a demon-worshipping cult have to do with it?

[@QuotidianWriter]

Hot damn, I'd read that, haha!

[@ismirdochegal4804]

@@QuotidianWriter That is accually a Dungeons&Dragons-Session I played turned into a book blurb.

[@sharonjansen6875]

I did a Red rRding Hood retelling

[@maxiapalucci2511]

The starless sea

[@mel8008]

Narnia and The Road.

[@madcircle7311]

An orbital ring colony where an emo teen was to jump off to Earth for suicide

[@xChikyx]

it's cool that she say the same thing i said with my writing advice videos at the end of the videos xd

[@obito1882]

who else is here for a school assignment

[@quangnhat6494]

Some how some way it just like Arknight :v

[@markrich7693]

I’m not a fan of storytelling and why is that my question

[@vedant4613]

Insert some soft background music