Yesterday, I made a video on Setting and Enveloping Action and why each is important. This is something I have been working on with my students over the last few years, and I finally thought it might be helpful to have a video resource for them to reference.
When I ask my students, “What is setting?” I usually get only a partial answer. Generally, the answer I get is, “It’s where a story takes place.” And this is half true. Setting isn’t just where a story takes place, but when it takes place. That is an important element that is often forgotten, and one that is as integral to the story as characters, conflict, and plot.
In this video, I also use setting to help discuss enveloping action, which is a technique to increase tension by adding elements that are engaging for readers. The example I give is: ChinaTown, during The Depression, in a heatwave.
This enveloping action gives the readers more to go off of than simply, “San Francisco.” It gives us more to work with and more importantly, it makes the reader feel more.
Just by using elements like these, you can make stories have higher stakes, engage your readers more, and ultimately, make the story more interesting.
So, please, enjoy the Youtube video! I think I’m getting better at making them, and I have seen more engagement with them as well.
Thank you so much for tuning in!
