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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/31319
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

First things first: let's get our terms straight.

DISCLAIMER: I understand that most of my quotes come from Wikipedia. If you find a better source that **succinctly** explains the terms **and** makes sense to a peasant like me, please drop me a link.

### Setting

Setting is a distinct **literary element**. It's a very common one in fiction. I (and Wikipedia) would define it as:

> both the time and geographic location within a narrative or within a work of fiction

Setting can _contribute_ to truth, but not much more. For example, if the Setting of the Hunger Games was the Jurassic period in some desert wasteland, it's a lot harder to create a convincing, oppressive government because they probably don't have access to things like guns, metal fences, the concept of law, and other advanced technologies that help keep people in line. BUT, the Setting alone (place and time) doesn't do so hot on communicating a truth to the reader. That's where **Backdrop** comes in.

### Backdrop

Backdrop is where we can be more creative and start to show events and characters (albeit historic) that _mean_ something. What is Backdrop? I'm glad you asked. Once again, I shamelessly quote Wikipedia to illuminate us on Backdrop:

> the history of characters and other elements that underlie the situation existing at the main narrative's start

History is meaningful, and more often than not relays truth. Why? Because it's made up of people (characters) and actions in a Setting.

### Conclusion regarding the terms

The Setting must work together with Backdrop to create a time, place, and history that feel real. With those things, we have the tools we need to communicate truth.

# So how do I do that?

In short:

# Tell the truth

Sounds ironically unhelpful, doesn't it? Allow me to explain how I'd go about this (keep in mind that I'm not a professional).

First, you stated that the truth you'd like to show is that...

> we are responsible for our actions, rather than the tools we use to perform those actions

My question(s) to you is: **Why is this true to you?** What have you experienced, what have you seen that makes you think this way? Was it a manipulative sibling? Perhaps something more politically charged, like mass shootings? Whatever it is, you need to come to grips with your experience and think about what led you to believe this. If you don't actually believe it, you're going to have trouble coming up with a believable Backdrop and Setting. It's possible, but hard.

Once you've done that, pick an event you witnessed, create a similar, fictional situation in your mind, and let it play out in your Setting. You now have one possibility for a backdrop that has the potential to communicate your truth.

Note the words " **possibility**" and " **potential**". This is not a cut-and-dry procedure. Communicating truth through fiction is hard work, but I think you've chosen a good place to start.

Just to recap: **You need to tell what is true to you.** In my opinion, anything else is way too much work, or pointless.

Best of luck to you.

EDIT: To Mark's point, there's no 100% guarantee of communicating your truth to the reader through fiction (no 100% guarantee for any genre, for that matter), so don't get your hopes up. **But** an author communicating _what they want_ to the reader is really every author's goal--whether they want to craft experiences that their readers are hungry for, or whether they want to communicate truth through Backdrop and Setting, or both.

Original score: 3