Setting In Fiction

I hated scene descriptions. I hated them with a passion of a few burning suns, but they’re necessary for fiction. Without scenery, your characters are nothing more than a few talking heads floating in an unknown void. Maybe an astute reader could piece together where the characters are through dialogue what the characters observe. While this is good for deep POV, there’s no need to make the reader work too hard. There's no choice but to throw in enough clues.

I’ll be honest. I usually skip over what seems like excessive descriptions in books I read. Sometimes I miss out on critical information that way. Other times nothing of value is missed at all. That's a shame, since the goal of the writer is to make sure that there is nothing the reader wants to skip over. Sometimes that means making words so heart-achingly beautiful that readers are glued to the page. Other times it means getting to the point. I don’t always care about what color the sun is casting against the sky when it sets.

Of course scenery is a good way of setting the mood of the scene. That’s why it’s called “setting,” after all. (Don’t quote me on that.) There is a vast difference between a pale and ashen sky and a golden plume spreading across the heavens. Which one sounds more optimistic? I know which place I’m going to with a picnic basket.

The best way to set the scene in my opinion, is to do so as needed. Say outright where the characters are, then fill in the rest with the character’s observations, or better, interactions with the scenery. Then maybe color those interactions and observations to suit the character’s mood.

The story I’m working on takes place in an old house on a hill. Well, it’s a very large house, so maybe we’ll call it a manor. The house belonged to the richest, most ornery miser in town, before his very late demise. Maybe the death was suspicious, maybe not, but no one is surprised because the previous owner was so old.

The house is just as you would suspect: grand and beautiful, but falling apart, thanks to age, disrepair, and the previous occupant’s general cheapness. There are the usual hints of its previous grandness in its art and items of intrigue. Neat stuff, is what I’m trying to say. And of course, there is the dust and the cobwebs. Why? Because the man was not only cheap, but private, and hired only the minimal staff for its upkeep.

So far, bog standard. But what do the characters see to make it stand out?

What are your views on setting? Do you ever skim over wordy descriptions, or do you savor the word buffets? Let me know in the comments below!