When you hear the word setting, you probably look around the room. Where are you? What do you see? And while I agree that, that is a part of the picture, there is so much more to setting than your location.

Settings establish context for characters and plot. They don’t come out of nowhere. Well if yours do, you have a problem 🙂

Settings should be visceral and vivid and allow us to experience the world the author is building as if we are one of the characters within the narrative.

How much detail is necessary? It depends. You should provide lavish detail for  important scenes, settings that you will be going back to time and time again, and settings that are new to the reader requiring more detail to visualize in their minds.

Use only a line or two for less important settings that you will only be visiting once or…