SPA Girls Podcast – EP327 – 8 Steps To Build Your Fictional Setting

Today we share our SPA Girls patented 😉 foolproof steps to create an awesome fictional setting for your book or series.

Working through these steps will help solidify that setting in your mind, give your characters a realistic and compelling “stage” and help you build a complete world (whether contemporary, historical or futuristic) that resonates with readers.

1. Location – where on the map is your setting located? What’s the geography, flora and fauna of the setting?
2. Time – what time is it in your setting (present day, Regency etc), what are the seasons like, what is the climate?
3. Connection to the outside world – what main centres are nearby your fictional setting? How do your characters travel (is there a local airport? / roads / highways) outside of your setting. Do outsiders travel to or through your setting, how and why?
4. Population – what is the demographic and psychographic makeup of your setting, what languages are spoken?
5. Characters – what side characters (that may well reappear in a series of books) occur in your setting, how do they interact with your main characters? Are they human or animal?
6. Governance and Law Enforcement – how is your fictional town/city/country/world “run” ? Who enforces the rules?
7. History – what events shaped your setting? Natural disasters? Feuds? When was it founded and by whom?

8.Customs and Culture – what unique customs and events occur in your setting? what’s the culture / vibe / mood of the setting?

Further resources:

How to Build Atmosphere: https://www.ignitedinkwriting.com/ignite-your-ink-blog-for-writers/how-to-build-atmosphere-in-creative-writing/2019

Create a Fictional Culture: https://www.masterclass.com/articles/creating-a-fictional-culture#how-to-create-a-fictional-culture