I traveled to Colquitt in Southwest Georgia a few times recently to visit a fan of Hardscrabble Road whose father was friends with the real-life inspiration for Roger “Bud” MacLeod. He has become a good friend and a gracious host on these trips. The other reason was to reconnect with the setting of that book and its forthcoming sequel, Return to Hardscrabble Road (coming out on October 11), so I could make sure I included key sensory details in the final draft.

The brilliant author and teacher Steven James tells us that setting serves numerous purposes in our stories:

1. Above all, the physicality of the location must be clear, so the reader will not only envision it but feel it as you intended.

2. The time period of the setting must be apparent as well, avoiding anachronisms in historical fiction but also ensuring that, in a contemporary story, the influences of modern life are apparent, too.

3. Setting must also reinforce the emotions and mood you want to evoke in your story through description and by affecting the characters’ experiences.

4. Ideally, the setting is so important that the significant actions in the story could not have occurred in the same way anywhere else in the world.

5. The locale either assists the protagonist or interferes with their pursuits, depending on the tone you want to convey.

6. Overall, the setting should reflect the goals for your story in terms of its meaning and purpose—what your point was in writing it.

Even if I can’t always convey the more ephemeral qualities Steven achieves in his work, I do like to make the setting visceral, especially when the location is outside of the cities and suburbs in which most of us live. I don’t need to tell you what walking on concrete is like or describe all the sensations of driving a car. In Return to Hardscrabble Road, though, I do need to describe the big sky—during the day and at night—and how the sandy loam of the topsoil crumbles and compacts underfoot like you’re walking on pie crust.

In addition to the images and feel of the setting, the smells, sounds, and even flavors can put and hold your readers in a scene and touch them at an emotional level. I think that’s the key to getting people to connect with your work. If your words can evoke your intended feelings in them, they’ll become fans even partway through your story and, by the end of it, evangelists who will make it their mission to tell everyone that they need to experience your writing, too. Because when your setting and your other story elements reach someone at the emotional level, people won’t just passively read your work—they’ll live it. And you’ll have fans for life, and new friends, too, if you’re lucky—much like I am.