If you haven’t yet watched the Writing About Places course, you might want to do that first. It is a good introduction to setting and its importance to your stories.

Now knowing the significance of place in writing, let’s discuss how to write settings. It is tempting to write long, descriptive paragraphs that set the stage before moving on to your story’s action, but that will slow the pace.

In this course, I’ll give you practical tips and an assignment that will bring your places to life with just a few well-chosen, significant, and sense-awakening details.

This outline will help you keep track of everything as you watch. Here’s a chart to use while setting the stage for your story.