Setting: Pick 'em with care

Here's a great way to spice up the drama in your story. Pick a great setting.

Your setting should be chosen to produce conflict and interest. Elements of the setting include location, time and circumstance.

This can be done at the story level, the sequence level and the scene level.

Examples:

Jaws: Spielberg is a master of setting. Jaws is not just another "Shark Bites Town!" story because,... does the the shark attack just any town, at any time? No, it attacks a resort town dependent on tourism just before the 4th of July weekend. Does Mr. Shark pick on just any protagonist? No, he picks a protagonist who's afraid of water, who must conquer that fear to face shark. Boy, did that shark have a sense of drama or what? Spielberg gets all the credit for the film but IMHO, the shark deserves a big bite of it.

Kramer vs Kramer: The act 2 sequence where Ted gets fired is awesome for drama and suspense. The drama is magnified because Ted is fired just before Christmas, the worst possible time to get fired. The setting, in this case based on time (Christmas) and circumstance (a custody battle pending) greatly magnifies the drama.