There is a literary concept called pathetic fallacy, where something non-living mirrors the feelings of the characters. This is often used with weather, where it is rainy during a sad scene, thundering during a tense or scary scene and bright and sunny for a happy scene. However, as writers, if we use this device, we…
Tag: setting
Muse on Monday – November 2, 2026
One of the standard trope for car-related creepy stories is driving alone at night in the country. No one is around, no cellphone service, maybe the weather is bad. Then something happens: the main character runs out of gas or has an accident or a stranger shows up in a car behind them, trying to…
Muse on Monday – September 28, 2026
I recently attended a wedding online, meaning the bride, the groom, and the officiant were all in different locations, even in different countries for some of them. It got me thinking of the unique setting for stories that online video calls present. For example: You cannot smell anything online You can be doing something else…
Muse on Monday – September 14, 2026
Back when I lived in Korea, I used to like to visit abandoned buildings. Sometimes you would be hiking through the woods and come across a house that had just been left as it was, sometimes with everything still in it. My wife and I explored an abandoned school one night with the textbooks and…
Muse on Monday – February 9, 2026
I will admit I have not seen the 2002 movie Phone Booth, but I find the premise intriguing: a man is trapped in a phone booth and will be killed if he leaves. The whole movie takes place there. There is something limiting about having all the action in a story happen in one place,…
Muse on Monday – September 15, 2025
We often think of settings as discrete things: this story takes place in a city or in the countryside or on a boat, etc. However, it’s interesting when various settings are blended together. One that fascinates me is the post-apocalyptic city, where nature is starting to reclaim the city and trees are growing up out…
Muse on Monday – August 11, 2025
Writers, almost by definition, love books, and so a lot of story characters love books by extension. There are probably more stories about libraries than, say, dentist offices. I don’t have the stats but it’s a good guess. Story Prompt: August 11, 2025 Write a story that takes place in a library. There are a…
Muse on Monday – June 03, 2024
So it’s not officially summer yet but it is June, so we’re getting there (if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, at least). Beaches are a great place to hang out in the summer. Even my little city of Erie, PA has 11 beaches, which are very popular in the summer. What do you think of…
Muse on Monday – October 16, 2023
A lot of horror stories or thrillers are set in a particularly scary location, such as an old house or an abandoned mental institution. However, anywhere can be scary. Here are some things that make a place scary. The people or creatures (or spirits) living there Not being able to leave there. This could be…
Muse on Monday – June 26, 2023
Think about somewhere you go often. Work is the most common place for me, obviously, but probably the next is Panera since I go there every week to write. That’s a bit big to get to know the people well, but I’ve written at other coffee shops where you get to know everyone there: the…
