About the book
Our mission with this book is to accomplish just one thing: to change the way you view (and use) setting as a tool in your storytelling.
Many authors create flat, one-dimensional settings that fail to engage readers, or else they bury the reader under details that don’t add depth and meaning to the story they’re trying to tell. Some create worlds that are beautifully fleshed out but aren’t anchored to the characters or aren’t an integral part of the plot.
You’re not going to be one of those authors.
Build Better Settings will take you on a journey that will:
- Clear out old attitudes, expand your idea of what setting can do, and ensure that you understand what we mean by character arc.
- Introduce you to the tools we see as the fundamentals of building a meaningful setting including: different levels of setting, your character’s backstory, objects and symbols, and secondary characters.
- Show you how to build your setting to challenge your character, boost conflict and build story tension.
- Reflect the changes occurring within your character’s world so that every detail of your setting adds layers of meaning to your story in a way that readers can see and feel.
If you’re ready to forever change how you view and use setting in your writing, click that buy button now and take the next step in your storyteller’s journey.
Free Resources from Build Better Settings by Eileen Cook and Crystal Hunt
Character Arc Examples | CLICK HERE
You can see a wide variety of examples of how character arc looks in different genres in this online article.
Revealing Questions Cheat Sheet | EDITABLE WORD DOC | PDF VERSION
You can download the “revealing questions” cheat sheet to help you
#BuildBetterSettings Challenge | CLICK HERE
A great way to take some of these ideas about setting and character arc for a test drive is to check out the Build Better Settings Challenge page to find out how you can get social and share what you’ve learned.
The Origin Story of Build Better Settings (Video) | WATCH ON YOUTUBE
If you’re curious where the idea for this book came from, and how it evolved into what it is today you can check out this interview with Stephanie Candiago interviewing Eileen Cook and Crystal Hunt.
Setting and Symbolism in The Hunger Games (Video) | WATCH ON YOUTUBE
In The Hunger Games, the mockingjay is the symbol running throughout the entire series. Eileen Cook and Crystal Hunt chat about how symbols and setting are used throughout The Hunger Games series to show the evolution of Katniss’s character.
How to create symbols & meaning in your fiction (Video) | WATCH ON YOUTUBE
If you’re interested in learning how your can evolve your objects into symbols in an organic way, and add meaning to your fiction writing then you might find this conversation with Eileen Cook and Crystal (CJ) Hunt helpful.
Additional resources mentioned in this book
Books
A Writer’s Guide to Active Setting by Mary Buckham, Writer’s Digest Books, 2015
Build Better Characters: The Psychology of Backstory & How to Use It in Your Writing to Hook Readers by Eileen Cook, The Creative Academy for Writers, 2019
Create Story Conflict: How to Increase Tension in Your Writing & Keep Readers Turning Pages by Eileen Cook, The Creative Academy for Writers, 2020
Description and Setting: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting a Believable World of People, Places, and Events by Ron Rozelle, Writer’s Digest Books, 2005
Full Time Author: How to Build, Grow and Maintain a Successful Writing Career that You Love by Eileen Cook and Crystal Hunt, The Creative Academy for Writers, 2021
On Writing and Worldbuilding: Volume 1 by Timothy Hickson, HFM, 2019
On Writing and Worldbuilding: Volume 2 by Timothy Hickson, HFM, 2021
Save the Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody, Ten Speed Press, 2018
The A–Zs of Worldbuilding: Building a Fictional World from Scratch by Rebekah Loper, Fantasia Hearth Press, 2017
The Emotional Wound Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Psychological Trauma by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi, JADD Publishing, 2017
The Rural Setting Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Personal and Natural Places by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi, JADD Publishing, 2017
The Urban Setting Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to City Spaces by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi, JADD Publishing, 2016
The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers (third edition) by Christopher Vogler and Michel Montez, Michael Wiese Productions, 2007
Online resources
The Creative Academy for Writers (resources, community, workshops and more) CreativeAcademyForWriters.com
Eileen’s newsletter on craft and creativity EileenCook.com/connect/
You can get to know Rivers End and see those settings in action at CJHuntRomance.com and RiversEndBookclub.com
Crystal’s website/newsletter at TheHabitualCreative.com