The Hostile Landscape: Make Setting Actively Resist Your Character's Goals

Emily Brontë uses this approach in 'Wuthering Heights,' where the Yorkshire moors aren't scenic decoration but an active force that isolates characters, traps them in proximity, and mirrors the wild nature of Heathcliff. The house itself — narrow windows, low ceilings, barred gates — becomes physical manifestation of emotional imprisonment.

To practice, take a scene you've written and rewrite it so the setting opposes the character's goal at least three times. A character trying to propose? The restaurant is too loud, the ring box catches on a pocket lining, the candle keeps guttering into darkness. Each obstacle should escalate slightly, building frustration that makes eventual success or failure land harder.

Avoid making the landscape cartoonishly aggressive. The goal isn't slapstick — it's the accumulating weight of a world that doesn't care about your character's plans. The most effective hostile landscapes feel indifferent rather than malicious, which is far more unsettling.