Robin Burden answered
Setting is the term used to refer to the time and place where a story takes place.
Whilst it might not seem that obvious, setting can effect a plot in a number of ways:
How setting affects plot
The setting of a story is often the first thing to be established - as, without giving your reader information about the setting, their imagination might place events in a completely different context.
Imagine someone was telling you the story of Robin Hood. If you didn't know that the story was set in 14th/15th century England, you might easily imagine Robin 'robbing the rich and giving to the poor' in a completely different setting:
Whilst it might not seem that obvious, setting can effect a plot in a number of ways:
How setting affects plot
The setting of a story is often the first thing to be established - as, without giving your reader information about the setting, their imagination might place events in a completely different context.
Imagine someone was telling you the story of Robin Hood. If you didn't know that the story was set in 14th/15th century England, you might easily imagine Robin 'robbing the rich and giving to the poor' in a completely different setting:
- He could be a futuristic robot which robs from an elite race of alien invaders and gives to poor, enslaved humans.
- He might be a wily young boy from the slums of Mumbai stealing from rich steel magnates and sharing with his fellow slum-dwellers.
