Examples of Good Setting (Request)

[Cyrus the virus]

Guys, yo. Link me to some quests that scored high in setting. I need to work on my setting skills.

If my setting score goes up, I'll consistently score rather high... Then I can work on another aspect of my writing.

[Caerah]

I've actually been looking for some too, as almost all threads have low setting score. This is the only really high one I found...

http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=116

[Cyrus the virus]

Setting = My lowest score just about every time. Usually around 5 since I describe it fine, but nothing beyond that.

Figures Letho (Cinderella Man) would have a high setting score. He's so manly.

I should also work on dialogue, since the best I get is 8's with Izvilvin because he can't communicate :p My actual spoken dialogue needs work.

Any tips for setting, people of Althanas? We can all benefit.

[Ter-Thok]

Avoid the dark corners of taverns. Althanas taverns appear to be dodecahedronal, they have so many damn dark corners...

And while we're at it, I'm startin' to think that taverns themselves are really, really overused. Avoid taverns. And pubs. And bars. And waterin' holes. And inns.

There are other eating establishments on Althanas, damnit!

[Breaker]

Yeah, but the inns are the only place where people can eat, drink, AND be spending the night.

For setting, I suggest anything by Pavel. He's excellent.

[Storm Veritas]

Call it formulaic, but I like kicking in a mixture of setting elements. Large, obvious descriptions - size of place, nature of place (forest? building?), etc are critical, but a character tends to remember the little things.

It's the little things... the way a picture hangs funny on a wall, the way a tree turns it's limbs to the sun- that tend to help.

Also, you need to USE your setting in the quest. Think strategically about how your environment can add roadblocks or help your character.

[Alberdyne_Cormyr]

Matt I recommend reading books by Terry Goodkind. He has superbly awesome background descriptions.

[Cyrus the virus]

Haha, good idea, but I wasn't expecting to spend money because I'm oober poor.

[Alberdyne_Cormyr]

You can find Wizard's First Rule and the second book Amber something in most libraries my friend.

[AsukaStrikes]

Please don't tell me that's "Loaded Dice"...

*grumbles*

Yeah, what Storm said. Saying that there are things around the character(s) is not enough. Feel it with the hair on your arms, smell it with your noses, taste the salty air and so on so on. Hell, even trip on a tiny rock or something even counts for interacting with the setting.

Post #5 in particular used a lot of setting to move the story. Quite a "hero down the drain" moment for character development as well.

[Daggertail]

A lot of people forget that people can also be part of a setting. Like an angry mob or just a bunch of stupid shoppers can really add some flavor to the setting. Also keep the setting relevant to character, tripping over a stone has to mean more than a 5 second incontinence or it might as well be skipped, maybe it puts him in a bad position in a sword fight or just ruins his day and makes your character angry for the rest of the day. The little things need a reason to be there. If your character doesn't give a shit about the smell of seawater then neither will the reader but if the smell makes the character happy, sad, horny, ect... then the reader will care. It's tough to do and even I have lots of trouble but that's what makes the setting matter.

[grim137]

I find it helps to only put a lot of emphasis on things your character actually notices/experiances whatever. For instance because my character's blind I put more emphasis on things that can be heard, smelled or felt by him than I do on the visiual elements of the enviornment because my character can't see. Mind you, don't ignore such things, I will still mention trees in the forest or any visiual description that I feel would help make the setting stand out but I focus more on what my character would actually notice.