Week four of the class has me focusing on Setting and Theme. I will start with theme because I believe I am the second kind of author. The first kind being those that start a book with a theme or message in mind that they want to convey. The second kind, including myself, write a story, and after it is done the theme floats to the surface and the reader shouts “Yes! That’s it!”
Setting is important because it is yet another way to show movement within a story. There are, of course, books (I have not read them but the grapevine is unavoidable) that take place in a single building, room, town, etc. However, why write in fantasy where I have the ability to creature at will, and then have it confined to a single sunny forest glade?
Setting can also convey mood. The same forest can convey feelings of happiness, love, dread, fear, or anger, all depending on how you describe it, and what takes place within.