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00:00Man, this place is spooky.
00:07It's the perfect setting for a scary story.
00:10It was a pitch black night, dense with mist.
00:13The wind was howling wildly and-
00:15Ah!
00:16Oh.
00:17Dear Tim and Moby, does it matter where a story is set?
00:25Huh.
00:26No signature.
00:27Creepy.
00:29Well, whoever you are, you bet it matters.
00:32In a story, the setting tells when and where the action happens.
00:36Like, the movie Star Wars starts by saying it was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far
00:42away.
00:43The setting also includes length of time, like whether a story happens over a day or
00:48a decade.
00:49I want my story to happen right here, right now, on the deserted moors of Yorkshire during
00:56one fateful night.
00:59Eugh.
01:01Sometimes, the writer comes right out and tells you the setting, like in Star Wars.
01:07But more often, you have to figure it out with context clues.
01:10Little hints and suggestions sprinkled throughout the story.
01:14Take the novel Charlotte's Web.
01:16The first chapter talks about a hog house, a wood stove, and a school bus.
01:21And there's no mention of stuff like TV or cell phones.
01:24So we're probably on a farm a long time ago, but not before there were cars.
01:29We also read that the grass is wet and the earth smells of springtime.
01:34Strong settings are described with imagery or sensory language to engage our five senses.
01:40It creates a mood that makes us feel like we're really there.
01:44In my story, I'll write about a midnight sky with a full moon and the eerie howls in the
01:53distance.
01:54That sets up the reader for the seriously scary events about to unfold.
01:59Eugh.
02:00Oh.
02:01No, I can't just change my setting to a bright sunny day.
02:07I mean, I could, but it would change the whole narrative.
02:12Setting is a story element, a key component that makes up a story, along with character,
02:17plot, and conflict.
02:19They all work together, so if you change one, it affects all the others, and results
02:23in a different overall meaning or theme.
02:26The setting sets the rules and possibilities for a story.
02:30So when a shaggy creature appears here in the middle of the night, you expect something
02:35scary to happen.
02:36But in broad daylight, say, at a barbershop, not so much.
02:41Still, choosing something other than a typical setting can sometimes work.
02:46Like, what if I set a scary story on the playground during school recess?
02:52Readers might assume it'll be about kids playing or about the teachers.
02:56So it'll be shocking and dramatic when frightening stuff starts to go down.
03:01Yep, every story has a setting, whether it's fiction, nonfiction, a play, a graphic novel,
03:06whatever.
03:07But setting plays a bigger role in certain genres or types of stories.
03:12Like historical fiction, which takes place during a specific period of the past.
03:17The author has to research the period, how people lived, what was happening.
03:21Convincing period details will support the story, making it seem more real.
03:26Readers will feel transported to the setting, almost like in a dream.
03:32But if a setting feels fake or sketchy, readers will have a hard time getting into the flow.
03:37Even if you know nothing about the period, you can tell when it feels authentic.
03:42Take the novel Esperanza Rising, which starts on a ranch in 1930s Mexico.
03:47It belongs to the family of a 13-year-old girl named Esperanza.
03:51The scene is effectively set by little details in the opening chapters.
03:55We read about the gentle slopes of the vineyard, where Esperanza loves to stroll with her father.
04:00Leafy green vines draped the arbors, and the grapes were ready to drop.
04:05Her father tells her, did you know that when you lie down on the land, you can feel it
04:09breathe?
04:10That you can feel its heart beating?
04:12The setting is established as more than a background, it's a beloved home, which gives
04:16the next part of the story a dramatic punch.
04:19Esperanza's father gets killed by bandits.
04:22The ranch is burned down, and the family loses their wealth and privilege.
04:26Esperanza and her mother flee to California, but her grandmother, Abuelita, is too injured
04:31from the fire to join them.
04:33It's the height of the Great Depression, and everyone is struggling to find work and feed
04:37their families.
04:39Esperanza's new setting is a farming camp where other migrant laborers live.
04:43She has to live in a cramped, shabby cabin that reminds her of a stable.
04:48When she tries to listen to the land, she hears nothing, just the prickly sound of dry
04:53grass.
04:54But Esperanza soon adapts to the new setting.
04:57She starts working in the fields to save up money to send for her grandma.
05:01After nearly a year, Abuelita reunites with her family.
05:05Esperanza climbs a hill to look out over her new home, and is filled with hope.
05:09She lies down on the ground and feels a gentle thumping repeating itself.
05:14Shoomp.
05:15Shoomp.
05:16Shoomp.
05:17The Earth's heartbeat.
05:18Before, home had been her family's vineyard, but now she realizes home is wherever her
05:24family is.
05:27Setting plays a big role in sci-fi and fantasy stories, too.
05:31Only it's kind of like the opposite of historical fiction.
05:34Instead of researching a real place and time, the author invents a whole world with its
05:39own rules, culture, and possibilities.
05:42Like in the fantasy novel, A Wrinkle in Time, a girl named Meg travels to planet Kamazots.
05:48There, the houses were all exactly alike, small square boxes painted gray.
05:54Meg feels like, if she could count the flowers, there would be exactly the same number for
05:59each house.
06:01In front of all the houses, children were playing.
06:03Some were skipping rope, some were bouncing balls.
06:06Everyone's life is exactly the same on Kamazots, and it feels wrong to Meg.
06:11It turns out that the people aren't allowed to be different, or they're punished.
06:15And they can't feel anything.
06:17Back home on Earth, Meg had been struggling to fit in at school.
06:22But here, she learns that being the same as everyone else can be kind of scary.
06:27Sometimes it takes a new setting to really put things in perspective.
06:31Anyway, time to get some shut-eye.
06:38Ah, keep it down.