Setting Generator

What a setting needs besides a description

A setting that only looks good is scenery. A setting that works has three things: a way things are done there, a pressure that is about to change them, and a surface the reader can see, hear and smell. Every result here has all three, in that order of importance. The rule tells you how people behave, the trouble tells you why the story starts now, and the sensory detail gives you the first paragraph.

The rule is the part to spend time on. A rule such as "a stranger must be fed before a name is asked" says more about a place than a page of description, because it implies a history of hunger, hospitality or feuds. Ask who made the rule, who benefits from it and who has quietly stopped following it. Those people are your characters.

Let the trouble choose the story

The pressure in each result is not a plot, but it is a good place to start one. A failing harvest, a closing school or a supply ship three weeks late all ask the same question: who will pay for this, and who will be blamed? Put your protagonist in the way of that question. Someone who wants to leave, someone who wants to stay and someone who profits from the crisis make three good starting points.

Keep the rule and the trouble in conflict. If the rule is that debts are paid in favours and the trouble is that a distant power wants coin, you have a place that is about to be forced to change what it values. That is a plot waiting for a protagonist.

Writing the first impression

Open a scene with the sensory detail, but let the character notice it with an opinion. A newcomer sees the blue roofs as strange. A local does not see them at all until something is missing. The same detail then tells the reader who is looking, and the setting stops being a backdrop.

When you have a setting you like, test it with a scene in which someone breaks the rule. How the place reacts, and who steps forward to enforce it, will tell you more about it than any list of facts.

Ten example settings

• Fantasy A harbour city that trades only in secrets. Here, a stranger must be fed before a name is asked. Right now, an army is camped a day's march away and has not said what it wants. The first thing visitors notice is bells that ring without a church.
• Fantasy A monastery carved from a single cliff. Lately, the temple bells have started ringing at night, and nobody is ringing them. Locals will tell you that the dead have a say in matters of property, and visitors say the first thing they notice is the lack of birds.
• Fantasy Ask anyone about a river port that moves a mile every year, and they will tell you the same thing: bread must be broken and never cut. The trouble is that someone is buying up every well. Visitors remember the smell of rain on hot stone.
• Fantasy A walled garden that sleeps through the winter. Here, the guild of weavers decides who may marry. Right now, the old ruler is dying and has named no heir. The first thing visitors notice is carved eyes over every door.
• Science fiction A generation ship that was never meant to be permanent. Here, children are taught to repair before they are taught to read. Right now, a sealed section of the hull has begun to make noise. The first thing visitors notice is the smell of hot solder and oranges.
• Science fiction Ask anyone about a mining colony where the air is sold by the hour, and they will tell you the same thing: nobody sleeps in the same bunk two nights in a row. The trouble is that a supply ship is three weeks overdue. Visitors remember the hum of the ventilation, which changes pitch when a storm is near.
• Science fiction A floating city run by a council chosen by lottery. Lately, the lottery for the next council has been rigged, and everyone knows. Locals will tell you that every ship that docks must leave something behind, and visitors say the first thing they notice is the glow of old screens in the windows of apartments.
• Contemporary A seaside resort that empties out every winter. Here, neighbours leave bread on the doorstep after a death. Right now, a developer has made an offer nobody can afford to refuse. The first thing visitors notice is the sound of gulls over the empty car park.
• Contemporary Ask anyone about a mill town built around a factory that closed ten years ago, and they will tell you the same thing: nobody asks what happened in the old mill. The trouble is that someone has been writing anonymous letters to every door. Visitors remember a window box in every window, and a different flower in each.
• Contemporary An island community where the lighthouse still turns though no ships come. Lately, the doctor is retiring, and no one has applied for the job. Locals will tell you that what is said in the café stays in the café, and visitors say the first thing they notice is the slow sweep of the lighthouse across the water.