tell me why the setting of a story is soo important?

Answer 1

It adds color to your story. Readers need to know how and where the story takes place. If a writer fails to illustrate a setting, the rest of the story likewise suffers. I have read books when I can't picture the setting and ending up imagining them in some surreal dimension. And it is really not a good reading experience.

Answer 2

The setting can add color to a story, it can also be symbolic. Sometimes it is interesting to mix things up. You expect dark, evil things to take place in dark, evil places. What if you set a dark, evil story in sunny Honolulu? Or a happy ending story in some dark and foreboding place like Transylvania? You use the setting to help set the tone of the story, but the idea of throwing people off guard is kind of interesting, isn't it?

The other reason a setting is important is the idea of sense memory. If I say hospital, you can automatically put yourself there. You hear certain noises, smell certain smells, feel certain cold, sterile surfaces. But if I said monkey cage at the zoo, the sounds, smells etc are totally different.

By using a certain familiar setting, you can actually draw people into your story more. They can feel the hot breezes at the beach or the cold snow in the Alps. It also offers you the opportunity to use a lot of detail to really enhance the sense memories.

Pax - C

Answer 3

Important how? A good writer can tell an entire story, with description of an area and not give it a name or location, but just by the climate, conditions of economy, and population the reader will put that location in an area--somewhere.

Its important only as far as it impacts on the story/plot/characters. Every aspect is important to a good story, and often the setting will tell the reader about the characters.

Consider: A man, unkept living in a houseboat docked at a pier. What does this tell you about him? His financial situation? His attitude to organized society?

A woman living in a Greenvich Village loft. Her situation in life? Her age? As opposed to a woman living in a rent control apartment that is being turned into condo's. First one is probably young and looking for a career in the arts, or is attending college. The second is elderly and on a fixed income, might be limited in her ablitiy to get around.

See what I mean? We all have pretty set ideas about "settings" and what they tell us.

Answer 4

It is important to help reader find its place

Answer 5

Honestly...I have no clue.

Answer 6

nobody said that