Environment and Character

A Generative Prose Prompt from B.B. Garin

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The quaint costal town. The big city. The intergalactic space station. We tend to think of settings as fixed items. Even the word, “set”, implies something permanent, decided, unmoving. But there is nothing set about the spaces we inhabit. So, why do we place our characters into such painted boxes?

Perhaps, the fault lies in the language. Instead of giving your story a setting, consider giving it an environment. Environments are dynamic things, and we’re already primed to think of them that way. The seasons. Migratory patterns. Weather. And yes, your story may already feature day and night. It might move through the seasons. It may even rain. But environment is so much more than these stalwart markers of time. It is the smell of yeast and fresh coffee growing stale as you sit in the café. It’s the rhythm of traffic outside your office window. It’s the polish wearing off your front doorknob.