In a post on Writers Helping Writers, Becca Puglisi offers advice on using your setting to add to characterization. “It may not seem like the obvious choice, but the setting can be one of the best tools through which to organically reveal truths about your characters,” she says. Her two quick tips include:
- Choose Emotionally Relevant Locations. Don’t mistake your setting for simply background scenery against which your characters interact. “Every character has a history of blissful interludes, toxic run-ins, embarrassing moments, and traumatic episodes,” Puglisi writes. “And long after these formative events have been forgotten or buried, their settings will continue to hold significance for the characters involved.” Choose locations that resonate with your characters and ramp up the emotional content of your scene.
- Get Personal with the Details. Use your setting to highlight what’s important to your character and how they feel about it. Specific details will tell the reader more about the characters who inhabit the scene and what it means to them. “Personal spaces can be quite telling,” Puglisi writes. “Make them do more than simply set the scene by zooming in on those details that reveal something about your characters.”
