Setting is defined as the place and the time a story takes place, and is one of the most important elements of a story. Writers often focus on creating immersive characters and compelling plots, and don’t pay as much attention as they need to creating a realistic setting to immerse readers in their stories. 

The amount of preparation and research writers need to make for the setting of their story depends on whether the setting is based in a real or fictional place and what kind of story they are writing (contemporary, historical, paranormal, fantasy, romantasy).
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Different kinds of setting
Real setting
Fictional setting
Setting vs info-dumping
Linking setting to characters
Setting questionnaire
Worldbuilding questionnaire

Different kinds of setting
There are many different kinds of settings that a writer needs to include to craft a realistic story for their readers.

Macro setting: It refers to the general area of your story, such as a planet, country, or city. 

Micro setting: It refers to a specific location where the story takes place, such as an apartment or school.

Temporal setting: It refers to the period during which the story takes place, such as the 1950s or 2005.

Seasonal setting: It refers to the season(s) the story takes place in, such as winter or summer.

Real setting
If your story includes real settings, make sure to research the particular locations you want to include in your story and get your facts right, even if you are familiar with the locations because you live in the general area or you have visited those places in the past. Use trusted resources, such as published books, journals and educational websites.

Fictional setting
If you are creating a fictional setting that is based on a real setting, you can fictionalize a real setting that not many readers are familiar with.  You can fictionalize a local place or a location that is not well-known.

In this way, you will have more flexibility to add, delete or move details and descriptions in your fictional world without being concerned that many readers would find the world unrealistic. 

You can also create your own fictional setting. If you decide to create a fictional setting, create a map and take down notes about the main places on your map.

You don’t need to create anything complicated. Just a sketch with the main towns and buildings of your story so that you always know where they are and how far they are from each other. Accuracy and consistency are key to creating a realistic and believable story.

Setting vs info-dumping
Info-dumping occurs when writers provide a large amount of background information or exposition to the story that is unnecessary or irrelevant to the specific chapter.

Often, writers try to incorporate large descriptions of the setting in their attempt to create a realistic and believable setting for the reader.

As a result, they end up providing paragraphs of unnecessary details of the story’s setting that bore the reader and drag the pacing of the story.

To make sure you are writing a compelling story for the readers, keep only the most important and relevant information about the setting in a specific chapter.

Linking setting to characters
Instead of just mentioning various details of the setting, the pov character of your story can describe the setting from their perspective. The way the pov character notices, experiences, describes and interacts with their setting in a particular chapter shows their personality.

​When describing the setting in a particular chapter, it is important to ask yourself what elements of the setting your pov character would be observing based on his personality and the plot of the chapter.

Setting questionnaire
Here are some questions about the setting to help you brainstorm your fiction story.

1. Where does your story take place ( country, city, apartment)?
2. When does your story take place (time period, season)?
3. Is the setting realistic, believable and plausible?
4. Is the setting real or fictional? If the setting is based on real locations, have you done research to accurately describe it?
5. Do you integrate the details of setting into the plot of the story?

Worldbuilding questionnaire
Once you find the answers to the above questions, you might want to flesh out the worldbuilding elements of your story. Depending on the kind of story you are writing (contemporary, historical, paranormal, fantasy, romantasy), you will want to focus on specific world-building elements.

Below is a list of categories and questions to help you brainstorm the world of your story. This is by no means an exhaustive list of questions. This is just a guide to get you started. 
Government

• What is the structure of the government, and who is the leader?
• How many political parties are there, and do they interact with each other?
• How does your main character feel about the government and the laws of the world? 
• Do different species, races and social classes have different opinions about the laws?

People

•  Are there any intelligent or supernatural species, such as aliens, werewolves, vampires or witches, besides humans, and how do they get along with each other?
•  How is your world divided into countries, towns, nations, or societies, and how do they get along with each other?

Languages

• What language(s) do people speak in your world?
•  Do different countries, races or species speak different languages, and how easily do they communicate with each other?

History

• What are the origins of your civilisation?
• What are the major historical events or legends that shaped your civilisation?

Education

• What are the levels of education in your world (kindergarten, middle school, high school, university)?
• How accessible is education for all citizens of your world (public vs private education)?

Employment

• What types of professions exist in your world? Does your world have any unusual or rare types of professions? 
•  Are there any professions that are more reputable than others, and why? 
• Are there any professions different across species and races based on their magic powers or social status?

Arts and entertainment

• What are the most important or famous arts, sports and forms of entertainment, and how do they shape your world?
• What kind of infrastructure is there for these activities, such as theatres, museums, and concert halls?

Magic

• Is there magic in your world?
• Who controls the magic, and what are their roles and status of these people in your world?
• What are the rules, limitations and risks of magic?

Climate

• What is the climate in your world like?
• Are there seasons in your world?

Terrain

• What is the terrain of your world like (sea, forests, desert, rivers)?
• What are the major cities or towns in your world? 

Now you have everything you need to know to create a real and believable setting for your romance story. You are one step closer to writing a compelling story and achieving your writing goals.

If you need more guidance in brainstorming your story, check the further resources section on how to brainstorm the main characters and outline the structure of your manuscript. Good luck!

Additional resources
How to write a romance novel in 5 steps
How to write a romance novel: genre and main characters
How to write a romance novel using the 3-act structure
How to write a novel using Romancing the Beat

​A beta reader is an avid reader of your book’s genre. A beta reader is familiar with the rules and tropes of a particular genre and can provide honest and constructive feedback from the perspective of the intended reader about the big-picture storytelling elements of a story, such as theme, plot and structure, character development, setting, pacing, point of view, genre conventions, and dialogue.

Beta readers are the first people to read a completed manuscript and provide constructive feedback. Writers should seek beta readers after self-editing their manuscript but before giving it to professional developmental editors.

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How many beta readers?
Beta readers vs critique partners
Beta readers vs editors
Why do you need beta readers
Where can you find reliable beta readers
What kind of feedback to expect from a beta reader?

How many beta readers?
An ideal number of reliable and objective beta readers for your manuscript is 3-5. This number provides a balance of feedback without overwhelming you with too many opinions. Too many beta readers can lead to conflicting feedback and make it difficult for you to decide what feedback to implement in your manuscript. You should limit your input to a few trusted beta readers. 

Beta readers vs critique partners
A beta reader is not a critique partner. A critique partner is another writer with whom you exchange your manuscripts and provide feedback about the big-picture storytelling elements of your stories. You don’t exchange manuscripts with beta readers.

Beta readers vs editors
Beta readers are not editors. Beta readers do not edit manuscripts. They don’t explain why anything is going wrong or give potential solutions. They don’t edit the big-picture elements or sentence-level errors of a story. 

Beta readers provide their opinion as readers. Writers who seek to understand how readers will experience their manuscript often seek out beta readers. 

Why do you need beta readers
 You are on a limited budget
The beta reading service is a cheaper alternative to developmental editing. However, beta readers do not replace developmental editors. Beta readers can provide constructive, surface-level feedback about the big-picture elements of your manuscript so that the developmental editor can focus on the more in-depth issues of your story.

The actual cost of beta readers depends on your manuscript’s word count and genre, your desired turnaround time, and the scope of work.

You are a new writer, and you need to learn more about the writing craft
Beta readers will provide you with an overview of the big-picture storytelling issues of your story and help you improve your manuscript without overwhelming you with detailed page edits.

You have no idea how to further improve your manuscript
You are struck. You have edited your story multiple times to the best of your abilities, and you don’t know how to further improve it. If you have finished self-editing your story, then the next step is to find a reliable beta reader who helps you identify and improve the big-picture issues of your manuscript.

Where can you find reliable beta readers
Firstly, you can find reliable beta readers by looking at the people around you. You can ask friends and family to read your story and provide feedback.

However, be aware that friends and family might be biased and they are not usually trained (if they are not writers or editors), so they might not provide you with constructive and objective feedback.

You can also look at free online writing communities. If you are already a member of a writing community, you can ask your writer friends to read your manuscript and provide you with constructive feedback.

There are a lot of free online writing communities where writers can exchange stories, make other writer friends and get advice about writing, editing and publishing their stories, such as the Critique circle, She writes and Writer’s cafe.

You can also find writers’ groups on social media. There are a lot of writer groups on Facebook and Substack that are dedicated to helping writers and providing them with writing, editing and publishing advice. You can ask other writers there to beta-read your story.

You can also check the EFA (Editorial Freelancers’ Association) to find professional and reliable beta readers. You can take a look at the member directory or post a job at the EFA to find reliable beta readers. 

Make sure to include the kind of service you need, the genre, the word count of your story, your estimated budget and your desired deadline when you post a job.

Finally, you can search online at the websites of different beta readers to see what kind of beta reader services they offer.

Every beta reader defines their service differently, so make sure to check what the beta reading service entails, the process, the cost, and the deadline to find the right beta reader for you and your manuscript.

What kind of feedback to expect from a beta reader?
Beta readers provide feedback about the big-picture elements of their story. You shouldn’t expect feedback about sentence-level errors, such as word choice, grammar, spelling, and punctuation, unless there was a prior agreement with the beta reader to correct those mistakes. Feedback can be provided through a reader’s report, margin comments in the manuscript document or both.

You can provide a questionnaire with specific questions to send to all your beta readers so that you can see how different beta readers respond to the same questions.

The questionnaire should include questions about the big-picture elements of a story, such as plot and structure, character development, point of view, pacing, genre conventions, setting, theme and dialogue. 

Beta readers might also have their own questionnaire and provide constructive feedback based on the questions of the questionnaire.

For example, I have a beta reader questionnaire that is divided into 6 categories (plot and structure, character development, point of view, pacing, genre conventions and overall impression).

​Each category includes 3-4 questions. You can see my beta reader questionnaire to get an idea of what kind of questions to ask your beta readers.

Additional resources
What is the beta reading service?
Example of a beta reader questionnaire
What is the developmental editing service?
What is the manuscript critique service?
How to find the right editor for your book?