[Creative Nonfiction - SHS

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Setting and Atmosphere

Module 006 Setting and Atmosphere

The setting and atmosphere of a story creates a mood, which helps it

become unforgettable. Some stories that do not have a distinctive
atmosphere fail to create an unforgettable setup. The story itself as a whole
becomes unremarkable.
You may ask, “what about stories with great plots?” You know: those types
that grab you and make you stay put because there are surprise endings,
twisty turns, and ingenious, sometimes sensational themes. Well, those are
stories that will certainly help you enjoy a nice afternoon. However, as they
keep on coming at you that way, without being atmospheric, they become a
dime-a-dozen.
An atmosphere, on the other hand, helps you immerse in the story. You
become part of the narrative, even if you are living in a tropical island
reading about a gloomy mansion in a Germanic country. It is not only the
ending that matters, but also the journey. A book with good atmosphere must
be savored. It is the type of book that really meets our need to live in another
world and experience another life.
At the end of this module, you will be able to:
1. Identify the atmosphere/mood created by the word(s), phrase or
sentence
2. Discriminate between vague and sharp setting descriptions
3. Differentiate between wordy mess and effective atmosphere
4. Draft a paragraph of description that conveys time and/or place to create
atmosphere
The lessons in this module may be used in crafting a wholly imaginable
setting that boosts the realism of your creative nonfiction piece.

Choose a Place
You have to choose a place to situate your story in. Is it as exotic as an African savannah or
the Amazon jungle? Is it confining like a gray-walled office? Is it as mundane as your
classroom? Is it home in which you have managed to trap yourself?
There should be a setting, the address of your little story.
Some writers like to be vague about it. They would not say what state or country the story
has been set in. However, they still have to describe either the warmth or coolness of the
climate, the scenery (natural or artificial), and the place’s relationship to the character(s)
(familiar or strange).

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 In Creative Nonfiction
In literature as a whole, successfully describing the place allows the readers to fully
believe that the events have happened. There is, after all, a logical and tangible place
that one can imagine while reading the story. You probably will not “buy” the idea of
a person wearing cut off shorts and a tank top walking on snowy ground without a
good reason to back up the strange decision to do so.
In creative nonfiction, it is all the more important for the place to stand out. The
readers should be able to fully empathize with what is happening in the creative
nonfiction piece.
For example, you are writing about waiting for a bus for two hours. Check the two
scenarios below:
Scenario One: I was there, carrying a duffel bag, waiting for a bus. It took the next bus
two hours to arrive.
Scenario Two: I was there in a tiny waiting shed, which stank of pee – human or
animal; I didn’t care enough to know or to investigate. My fully-packed duffel bag
strained on my shoulder. I could not even safely lay it down on the cemented bench,
which sported strange discolorations. I glanced at my watch – it was only twenty
minutes past two. I could not have been waiting for only twenty minutes. I had to
entertain myself on my feet for more than an hour more before the bus arrived.
The second scenario is not only noticeably longer, but it also emphasized the
description of the place and the passage of time. We may not feel as much sympathy
for the character if the writer had left the scene at scenario one draft levels. If you
also added a particular actual place, then people might end up nodding in agreement
or realization. Oh, so that happened at Rose Street? Yeah, I have been there. The bus
stop really stank and the buses have terrible schedules. You have just stamped your
creative nonfiction with proof of the facts that you have stated.

Choose a Time
In stories, time is part of the setting. Time covers the actual time: did it happen at four o’
clock in the afternoon? Did it happen at night? It also covers the duration: the whole scene
happened in the course of two hours or the whole story happened in the course of 24
hours. Others are more ambitious, writing about generations of families, with a narrative
that spans years or even decades. The era or period is also important. Is it the Victorian
era? Did it happen during the late seventies? The era decides a lot of the other details: the
places, the clothes, and more.

In Creative Nonfiction
In creative nonfiction, time influences how you should interpret the events
described. For example, the friendship between a white boy and black boy
would have a different depth if the story were set in 1950s America, despite
the current resurging race tensions during the present day. Children of today,
even without the racial tensions, are simply different from the children of
yesteryears. Today, a lot of children have phones and tablets.
If you are going to write about your life abroad, the same thing applies. Living
abroad as a Filipino during the 19th century is certainly different from living
abroad as a Filipino today. Filipinos today are more often than not seeking
better jobs compared to the Filipinos of centuries ago.
 [Creative Nonfiction - SHS
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Setting and Atmosphere

If you are writing creative nonfiction, then you choose a particular duration
in your life (autobiography) or somebody else’s life (biography) to write
about. With autobiographies and biographies, you have to start from the
beginning of the person’s life story. With a memoir, however, you merely
have to select a certain period of time. It may focus on the time you were
admitted to the hospital for months because of a mysterious illness. It may be
about meeting with and understanding your new adopted child. Usually,
these slices of your life are very compelling and different from what the rest
of the world is churning out as true to life stories. They should not be
sensational or treated sensationally if you want your work to be given
literary relevance, instead of tabloid attention.

Build Atmosphere
Now that you have a place and time, you can now use them to build atmosphere. How do
we build atmosphere? Here are some tips:

Use precise vocabulary

To convey what you mean, you should always use precise vocabulary. Here are
some words that may help you create atmosphere:

Target Atmosphere Possible vocabulary

Spooky Ominous, creaking, whispers, shuddered,

peeling, grayish, tiptoes, midnight,
ghostly, shadows, haunt, howl

Somber Tearful, mourning, sepia, nostalgic, tragic,

dewy-eyed, softly, monotonous, ache,
abandonment, alone

Idyllic Calm, quiet, contentment, magical, forest,

breathing, music, floral, vacation, beach,
skipping, linked hands, innocent

Mysterious Obtuse, hidden, baffle, interior, portal,

detective/sleuth, clues, moonlit, prints,
negative, identity, crypt, echoes

Cheerful Circus, candy, traipsing, play, jest, smile,

fellow, party, festivities, laughter, twirl,
popcorn, cotton candy

Humourous Slapstick, guffaw, fire alarm red,

comedian, stomach, puffing, loud,
obnoxious, fart, prim, titter

Romantic Moonlit, candles, dinner for two, smooth,

caress, serenade, jazz, mahogany, wide-
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 eyed, starry, letters, photographs

Immerse yourself in the imagery

The words that you will use will be different from what your friend will use,
obviously. You two will have two different stories to tell. You also have
different points of view.
Whatever your premise is, you will have to learn to embrace it and immerse in
it. If you are writing about yourself, close your eyes and look back to those
experiences that you will need to write your tale.
Was it raining heavily that night the accident happened? Were there witnesses?
What did you feel at that moment? Can you put those emotions into words?
Some stories may be painful to write, especially if you are writing an
autobiography or a personal memoir. However, there are survivors who
simply just want to tell their tale to ease some of the burden. Rape and
holocaust survivors, for example, would have to go through a significant
amount of pain again in order to be able to write an atmospheric account of
what they have been through. Some do shy away from this and go the “plot
path” instead, writing more about what happened, but in a more detached way.

Incorporate appropriate pacing

Pacing also creates atmosphere. A memoir about life in prison could be made
deliberately slow. The chapters can be divided into days or months, depending
on just how much of it the author wants to write about. He does have to
contend with the readers’ interest. While the pace can become very slow, it
does not have to be boring.
Suspenseful stories have a rhythm, too. There are pauses and to ensure that
the readers’ hearts can go pumping according to that rhythm.

In Creative Nonfiction
In creative nonfiction, you use the same exact devices to create the proper pacing.
Even true stories must convey a certain atmosphere or mood. With the appropriate
atmosphere, your audience will better empathize with what is going on.

Glossary
Atmosphere: the mood of the literary piece
Era: a marked and extended period in history
Memoir: a biographical or autobiographical piece that only covers a distinct period in the
life of the main character
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Setting and Atmosphere

Sensational: arousing great public interest because of the scandalous or morbid nature
of the story
Tabloid: a version of the newspaper that deals more with sensational stories

References and Supplementary Materials

Books and Journals
Lopate, P. (2013). To Show and to Tell: The Craft of Literary Nonfiction. Wilmington:
University of North Carolina Wilmington.

Online Supplementary Reading Materials

The Basic Elements of Setting in a Story; http://www.writersdigest.com/tip-of-the-
day/discover-the-basic-elements-of-setting-in-a-story; 14th August 2017
Setting; https://literarydevices.net/setting/; 12th August 2017
The Elements of Literature;
http://www2.nkfust.edu.tw/~emchen/CLit/study_elements.htm; 14th August 2017

Online Instructional Videos

Tone, Mood, and Setting: Elements of Narrative;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXemI1sbWbw; 14th August 2017
How does word choice affect tone and meaning? ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-
Z26ffxZaw; 14th August 2017
The Storytelling Podcast #62 Creating Emotion and Atmosphere;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TLIzaqPANA;August 2017

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