See the four prior posts for an explanation of the prompts.

Reflecting on the emotional connection to place.

First time I saw [a place important to me]:	[that place] today:

How is setting working in your story?

Setting at the Beginning of your story
What are the physical characteristics of the place?	What are the emotional features of the place?

Setting at the end of your story
How do the physical characteristics of the place change?	How does the character’s emotional state change in the place?

Prompts for Writing Emotionally Resonant Settings

What are the physical characteristics of the place?	What are the emotional features of the place?
Type of place Landscape, natural, or artificial Objects Other geography Are there symbolic elements to the setting?Where does the character interact with others? School? Public places? In nature?	Positive/negative experiences Other people or social connections What need does the place satisfy/fail to satisfy? Is there a cultural perspective (religion? school?) How does it support: survival, security, personal goals, memories, a sense of belonging, relaxation, or other positive emotions (hope, pride)? How does it undermine those? (shadow side)

How do the physical characteristics of the place change?

How does the character’s emotional state change in the place?

Addition/lossIs there a physical form that is replicated/reconstructed after a move? Is there continuity between past and present? Is there a rupture with the past in their physical environment?

Is the character having a milestone experience? Is there a change in their social attachments? What meaning do they tie to any change in the environment? What changes in behavior result from their experience in place? How does the place relate to the personal myth/story the character tells about their self? Is there continuity between past and present or a rupture with the past in their behavior or emotional state?

Examples of setting in writing for children and young adults

Reference Text	What are the physical characteristics of the place?	What are the emotional features of the place?
The Wild Robot Peter Brown   Young Middle Grade novel	Unfamiliar Island. Natural setting: woods, lake, field, and cliffs. Untamed and “wild”.	Threatening or dangerous Unforgiving, life and death are part of the natural order of things. Animals and setting are hostile to an invasive “creature”.
	How do the physical characteristics of the place change?	How does the character’s emotional state change in the place?
	The Robot changes the landscape to meet its needs by building a lodge.T he Robot helps the animals survive the winter in the lodge. The accidental fire destroys part of the island and attracts outside attention.	The robot learns from the animals and environment. At the dance, the robot has become more “wild” like the setting.

Reference Text	What are the physical characteristics of the place?	What are the emotional features of the place?
North to Benjamin Alan Cumyn   Middle Grade Novel	Unfamiliar Alaska. Frozen River. Settlement across the river.	Threatening or dangerous. Warm human and dog connections. Edgar can’t talk here, can’t express his needs.
	How do the physical characteristics of the place change?	How does the character’s emotional state change in the place?
	River melts and Edgar is isolated from his mother.	Edgar makes the journey across the river alone with Benjamin and it transforms his relationships to other people. Benjamin’s rescue becomes part of Edgar’s inner myth of survival. He is alone, transformed and self-reliant.

Reference Text	What are the physical characteristics of the place?	What are the emotional features of the place?
The Visitor Antje Damm   Picture Book	The home is shown in shades of gray.	The main character, Elise, is alone.
	How do the physical characteristics of the place change?	How does the character’s emotional state change in the place?
	When the boy arrives, he trails color into the setting.	Elise is transformed (colored in) at the end, and so is her home, because she has made an emotional connection to the boy and herself as a child.

Reference Text	What are the physical characteristics of the place?	What are the emotional features of the place?
Marwan’s Journey Patricia De Aria and Laura Borràs (illustrator)   Picture Book	Home is shown in color	The mother is associated with home through setting and color. He longs to return to home
	How do the physical characteristics of the place change?	How does the character’s emotional state change in the place?
	The journey is earth-toned, black ink, and the home village at the end of the story (as imagined) is jumbled. The closing image is of a colorful, rebuilt home village	He has been forced to leave; he says he’ll return. His memories of mother are positive. When he imagines rebuilding his home, it is in color and his mother hovers in the sky.

Reference Text	What are the physical characteristics of the place?	What are the emotional features of the place?
Keesha’s House Helen Frost   Young Adult, novel in verse, multiple points of view.	Each character experiences a threat or physical harm in their family home. Joe’s house is a refuge, plain and spare.	Keesha’s House is a safe contrast (haven) to each POV character’s family home (shadow side of home).
	How do the physical characteristics of the place change?	How does the character’s emotional state change in the place?
	Characters add possessions to their space (books, clothing, furniture). They paint the inner walls. Keesha takes over Joe’s house, and it has flowers on the windowsill.	Each character heals in some way by moving into the new house. Some characters repair family relationships and move back home, once home is transformed.
Reference Text	What are the physical characteristics of the place?	What are the emotional features of the place?
Sidewalk Flowers Jon Arno Lawson and Sydney Smith (illustrator)   Wordless Picture Book	Urban scenes are gray-toned with color used to show the girl (red) and the flowers	Curiosity, novelty, noticing the details of the setting. Father is distracted; reader focuses on  girl’s actions
	How do the physical characteristics of the place change?	How does the character’s emotional state change in the place?
	Story moves from urban center to residential neighborhood with detached homesThe gray-tone is replaced with color in the neighborhood	The color shows us where to focus our emotional energy, on the details, sharing the flowers, noticing the unusual to home, which is colorful, full of flowers, and love (hug, family)

Reference Text	What are the physical characteristics of the place?	What are the emotional features of the place?
There is No Dog Meg Rosoff   Young Adult Novel Note: This nearly setting-free book is offers an interesting counter example of an absent setting. For the most part, characters feel timeless and “out of place”	Disembodied neighborhoods. Only Luke’s bedroom is clearly described in the middle of the book and the zoo at the end of the book.	God (as a teenage boy) lives in the disembodied spaces. There is no emotional connection to the setting.
	How do the physical characteristics of the place change?	How does the character’s emotional state change in the place?
	God’s reckless actions cause flooding and destruction of the city	We finally feel Lucy and Luke’s characters as fully human at the end of the book when they’re in the zoo, which we can now see.

Select Place Attachment References

Research article focused on children’s place attachment:

Chawla, Louise. “Childhood Place Attachment.” Place Attachment: Human Behavior and the Environment, Advances in Theory and Research, Volume 12, edited by Irwin Altman and Setha M. Low, Plenum Press, New York, 1992, 63-86.

Non-fiction, room-by-room exploration of place, entertaining and thought-provoking:

Gallagher, Winifred. The Power of Place: How Our Surroundings Shape Our Thoughts, Emotions, and Actions. Harper Perennial, 1993.

Deep dive into psychology of childhood stories and how they shape our behaviors and lives:

McAdams, Dan P. The Stories We Live By: Personal Myths and the Making of the Self. William Morrow and Company, 1993.

Non-fiction Jungian exploration of meaning of home with illustrated “maps”:

Marcus, Clare Cooper. House As A Mirror of Self: exploring the deeper meaning of home. Conari Press, 1995.

Research article, includes shadow side of place attachment:

Manzo, Lynne C. Beyond house and haven: toward a revisioning of emotional relationships with places. Journal of Environmental Psychology 23 (2003) 47–61.