Setting is Mentally Fun (But critical to most stories)
If reading is fundamental, then the setting for a story may be the bedrock it rests on. In Urban Fantasy, that setting is a city, either part of it, like a neighborhood, or specific locations as dictated by the plot. If the city is an analogue of one in the real world, the similarity should be clear and may involve places that are drawn from the real world. Other Fantasy stories may not rely so much on setting, especially if the story is mostly internal, revolves around a single character, or unfolds in a single location that remains mostly in the background. In High Fantasy the locations are perhaps more important than in Urban Fantasy as they are pulled from the author’s imagination to prop up the entire world in which the stories take place.
In any case, the setting should enhance whatever is happening to the characters. Whether the characters are in New York, Paris, or the white city of Gondor, the location should add its distinctive flavor to the story. Real world settings offer familiarity to the reader (even if they have never been to those locations), while wholly imaginary locales allow the reader to see slices of the world in which the author envisions their work. Maybe the protagonist has to ride the subway to Times Square, visits the Louvre, or has to light the beacon fire high above Minas Tirith.
Setting as a Character
In stories where the protagonist must survive the elements (or the mean streets of Chicago for example). The setting can become a character or an antagonist by itself. Obstacles the hero must overcome need only be part of the setting to give the flair or flavor of the story’s location a bigger part to play. How different might “To Build a Fire” have been if the story were set in a deserted town, or along the route to the Caradhras Pass.
And settings as character are not limited to environmental challenges. Zombies on the streets of L.A., a wizard fight in the Roman Coliseum, or a cult uprising in Menzoberranzan are just as dangerous as frigid temperatures, wild animals, or a lightless cavern in the Underdark. The important distinction in any fantasy setting is how it shapes the narrative. What does any given location inform how the story unfolds for the readers.
Setting should not override the Story
No matter how breathtaking the world of a story may be, it should not be more prominent than the characters around which the story revolves. Readers connect with a protagonist, their allies, and to some degree at least, to the antagonist and their allies. If a setting takes preeminence over the characters in a story, an author risks turning their work into a thinly disguised travelogue. It may be pretty, scary, clever, or whatever the author envisions, but it probably won’t be a great story.
That isn’t to dissuade authors from crafting incredible backdrops for the action in their work. Some of the most memorable scenes in Fantasy come from well developed settings. The Emerald City came to life from L. Frank Baum’s imagination, Harry Dresden has fought back supernatural threats all over Chicago, and Wong probably still owes Stephen Strange five bucks for a tuna melt. The emphasis for all of those moments is that the setting enhanced but didn’t overwhelm the situations the characters faced.
I’m still writing, still on my journey. I hope you are pursuing your journey, whether it is reading or writing (or both). Keep at it!