When writing fiction, how much thought do you put into your setting? Do you craft scenes drenched in atmosphere? Do your places drip with detail, oozing menace, gushing romance, shining with delight? Or is your setting simply the place where your fascinating characters bring your stellar plot to life?
I have to admit that while I occasionally focus on developing an atmospheric setting in my short fiction, in my novels the settings tend to simply be the trunk on which my plot branches and my characters grow their leaves.
My goal this year is to take more care in creating my settings. By skimping, I’m missing out on a vital opportunity to further flesh out my writing. To take my characters to the next level by allowing them 
to evolve over the course of the story.
Ask yourself – do your characters feel the same way about certain environments at the end of your story as they did at the beginning? Mine certainly don’t, and by sharing this evolution with my readers, I can make my characters more three dimensional.
Seize any opportunity you have to make your readers care for, identify with, and become invested in your characters!
How do you bring your scenes to life?
Shannon Hollinger 
I love this! I admit I can almost get to carried away with my settings and background. Being descriptive has always come much easier then dialogue. It is so interesting learning what authors are more comfortable with. ❤
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Years ago I wrote big, flowery descriptions, but I had to abandon them to work on ‘showing vs telling’. I think now I’m scared that if I get too descriptive that I’m going to start telling again. 😬
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Since I set a lot of my stories in nature, setting is very important to me. Thanks for stopping by my blog!
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