Alerting Young Writers To The Importance of Setting
E stablishing a clear sense of a story's setting is vitally important if the writer wishes to respect the reader. Inexperienced writers often gloss over this important aspect of writing.. So, recently while working with writing groups at Benton Junior College we devoted time to investigating how experienced writers create a sense of setting and then allow the characters to act out their respective roles in this space. I drew their attention to the fine detail that writers often include to create a clearer picture in the mind of the reader. We talked about familiar settings- large/ small. We talked about imagined settings. We examined books where authors highlighted settings. The aim was for these young writers to garner ideas about how they might go about such crafting in their stories. As a further pre-writing activity, young writers drew their chosen places. They drew scenes from various angles, some commenced to list and label words considered relevant to the writing yet to co...