THE ICE PICK

Setting, by Jack M. Bickham. Cincinnati : Writer’s Digest Books, 1993. (The Elements of Fiction Writing series) ISBN 0-89879-635-0. $14.95.

Especially important in SF/H/F stories, "setting is a topic seldom discussed at length in writers’ workshops or addressed in any detail in texts for creators of fiction." It is not merely the physical backdrop, but the historical and cultural background including the mood of the place and time, and the attitudes and even the language of the characters involved.

Bickham begins by discussing the use of the five senses in creating sharp realism in your story, and how important accuracy is in convincing your reader. He also emphasizes accuracy when he talks about the pitfalls of making up a town or other place without knowing the factual background that makes that place believable. There must be "an internal factual consistency" in both the background and your characters’ responses to it even in fantasy and science fiction.

One thing he recommends, which is very helpful to beginners, is to keep files of interesting clippings, personal research notes, pictures, and so forth. Most of us who have been writing any length of time do this automatically because we’ve found that you never know when something may be useful. He includes more details about organizing (and gathering) this information in his final chapter. I would have preferred these items closer together, but the excellent index links them for you.

Bickham includes a chapter on the needs of specialized settings in romances, suspense stories, historicals (much of which applies to fantasy, as well), and science fiction.

The next seven chapters contain practical techniques on how to create and use setting in your story, in advancing your plot, in characterization and viewpoint, in adding ideas, depth, and meaning to your story, and in creating mood.

Bickham ends the book with substantial exercises to help the beginner and with an appendix on research sources and techniques. And then he includes "Nancy Berland’s Setting Research Form." Berland is a romance writer, and the form is for a real-life place you might visit and want to use as a setting. But I found it a fascinating tool to use in creating an imaginary place, and it quickly became my favorite part of the book.

As Bickham says, "Even if you’re writing a science fiction tale of an alien universe, you’ll have to know the prevailing attitudes there, and you’ll have to invent a history that would credibly create those attitudes."

{Published in SF & Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Nov. 2000.}