Setting is the place (room, landscape, etc.) where the action happens. I was taught that the setting is so important, it should be considered as another character that has to appear in every scene.
It is mainly used to describe the weather or surroundings, but can also be a great tool to set the mood or foreshadow what is about to happen.
Let’s throw our main character John into a setting and see what happens.
The alley laid abandoned, water gushed from the dented gutters and washed the pieces of trash into the already clogged drains. Steam from an exhaust pipe wafted across its expanse. In the distance, a police siren wailed. John’s steps echoed eerily from the brick walls. He wiped the wet strands of hair out of his eyes and pulled his damp collar closer to his neck.
Or
Sunlight slanted into the abandoned alley and teased the dandelion blooms from their green shells anchored in the concrete’s cracks. The laughter of children on a playground echoed from the red brick walls. John skipped over some empty bottles and made his way to the other side.
See how that works? It is the same alley, but the first is rainy and ominous. The second cheerful and ordinary. If the plot calls for John to be in trouble for the rest of the chapter, we would pick option one. If we have him hanging out until his sweetheart arrives, we would pick option two.
Just be mindful of what setting you used. If we picked option one and John is about to get clobbered plot-wise, we must keep in mind that his nerves are probably already on edge and he is wet and cold. This condition will have to carry over even if he enters a building. If we have him sneaking into somebody’s office, we have to make sure we mention he either wipes up his wet footprints to erase any trace he was there, or he forgets he left them behind and the mess is noticed and John might be found out.
Keep everything consistent.
If you forget the setting or only give it a passing comment, we’ll get “talking heads, empty stage” syndrome. It means we have two (or more) people in dialogue or some action happening, but we (the reader) have no idea where we are or what is around them. This is especially bad if one of the characters reaches for an object and interacts with it, even though there was no mention of it being there and readily available to be used.
A word of caution about overdoing it. Setting is necessary, but I’ve seen descriptions go way overboard. You must keep in mind who your audience is. If you are writing literary fiction, go ahead, go nuts. Long live purple prose (the blatant overdoing of setting.)
But if you are going for a gangster mystery for guys, you might want to keep it simple. Generally, chicks seem to dig two paragraphs of flowery description, guys not so much.
