Monteleone's Guide to Writing a Novel, Chapter 8, Setting-Location is Everything

Monteleone says about setting in a novel:
"The key to getting the right amount of information to the reader is balance. You want to strike an equilibrium between the action and dialogue and your descriptive passages."

Sometimes, action can be more interesting if you interrupt it with a location description. Action and setting can be integrated to make the reading more riveting.

A setting can also tell a lot about the character who lives there, like in the movies: just by looking around the character's bedroom you can tell if this person is tidy or not, his/her social and economical status, likes and dislikes, and so on.

Describing a setting is good but don't overwhelm your readers with everything you know about a particular place.

Some writers would never write about a place they don't know. Monteleone disagrees, but he also warns: you will also have to do a lot of research.

Balance is the key: give enough details but don't transfer encyclopedia pages into your narrative.

"Providing the reader with a solid sense of place is an ongoing exercise. As you proceed chapter by chapter, be mindful to include more and more detail each time you return to the same scene."

Time is important: "Is your scene taking place during the day or night?"

Winter, spring, summer or fall?

"You also want to be aware of the passage of time."

In traditional tragedy, for example,
the action should be one whole and take place in one day and in one location: one action, one place, one day.

The effect on the reader is totally different if, instead, the action takes place in many years and many settings. In my opinion, this is one thing that separates theater from novel: the possibility to create a whole universe, rich with actions, places, characters, stories, an on, and on.

Another element of setting is mood. Different moods: caution, vigilance, adventure, hopefulness, urgency, paranoia.

Atmosphere is also part of the setting, and is connected to place, time and mood "because all three contribute to create it. It's the most abstract part of a book's setting, and something you can't just describe or declare."

In order to use detail, you have to "pay attention to the extra aspects of your environment".

For example, right now, in my apartment's eighth floor, in the middle of a noisy and busy big city, ambulances and police sirens, and airplanes, helicopters, trucks, motorcycles, and of course cars, lots of cars, new and old, a church bell tolls and lots of birds sing. The gray rainy sky has opened up, and I can see white clouds, the big blue sky and the sun shining again.

Senses. For me describing what I see and hear is easy but I should not forget about the other senses: smell, taste, and touch, which are more difficult to convey.
Try to avoid clichés.

"A very clever way to inject setting into your narrative is to filter the description through the viewpoint of several of your major characters."

Some tricks to creating believable settings:
- Ask your friends--especially those who live somewhere else or who have traveled to places where you haven't been yourself.
--Keep everything when you travel: maps, postcards, stationary, brochures, etc.
- The Timetables of History, edited by Bernard Grun.
- Rent travel videos, watch The Travel Channel, browse the WWW.

Pacing and balance: "By changing the landscape or locale, or alternating the action among several major sets, you achieve a nice cinematic effect that keeps things moving."

"Avoid the overly familiar. Strive to be original in your inventions and borrowings. When you give readers more than they expect, they love you all the more."