--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If character is the foreground of…" description: "\"If character is the foreground of fiction, setting is the background, and as in a painting's composition, the foreground may be in harmony or in confli..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/74b/janet-burroway-32021_backgrounds_if-character-is-the-foreground-of-fictio_1193250.png" --- # If character is the foreground of fiction, setting is the… ![“If character is the foreground of fiction, setting is the background, and as in a painting's composition, the foreground may be in harmony or in conflict with the background.” quote by Janet Burroway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/74b/janet-burroway-32021_backgrounds_if-character-is-the-foreground-of-fictio_1193250.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/74b/janet-burroway-32021_backgrounds_if-character-is-the-foreground-of-fictio_1193250.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/74b/janet-burroway-32021_backgrounds_if-character-is-the-foreground-of-fictio_1193250.png) > “If character is the foreground of fiction, setting is the background, and as in a painting's composition, the foreground may be in harmony or in conflict with the background.” [Janet Burroway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-burroway/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The relationship between characters and setting shapes a story’s emotional tone, either complementing or opposing each other. **In simple terms:** Characters and setting interact to affect mood. Key Takeaway Balance or contrast character and setting deliberately. Themes storytelling structure conflict Mood reflective analytical Type literary educational When to use this quote - novel writing - screenwriting - game design - creative workshops Key Concepts Narrative theory spatial dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How does setting influence character decisions? - When should setting dominate a scene? A Different Perspective Overemphasizing setting can drown out character development. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Conflict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conflict/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Harmony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harmony/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [Setting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/setting/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [Whenever you deal with science fiction you are setting up a world of rules. I think you work hard to establish the rules. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-edgerton/whenever-you-deal-with-science-fiction-you-are-setting-up-a-world-of/) [Joel Edgerton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-edgerton/) > [“Character is the very life of fiction. Setting exists only so that the character has someplace to stand. Plot exists so the character can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/character-is-the-very-life-of-fiction-setting-exists-only-so-that-the/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [If I came out a photographer it's because I knew about painting, composition, and the handling of light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lola-alvarez-bravo/if-i-came-out-a-photographer-it-s-because-i-knew-about-painting/) Lola Alvarez Bravo > [A landscape painting in which composition is ignored is like a line taken from a poem at random: it lacks context, and may or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-j-phillips/a-landscape-painting-in-which-composition-is-ignored-is-like-a-line/) [Walter J. Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-j-phillips/) > [We often hear the terms 'positional' and 'tactical' used as opposites. But this is as wrong as to consider a painting's composition unrelated to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-reshevsky/we-often-hear-the-terms-positional-and-tactical-used-as-opposites-but/) [Samuel Reshevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-reshevsky/) > [It is a curious fact that with every great revolutionary movement the question of 'free love' comes into the foreground.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/it-is-a-curious-fact-that-with-every-great-revolutionary-movement-the/) [Friedrich Engels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/) > [In England especially, poetry's woven into the background fabric of society. And in Ireland, it's in the foreground. The place of the poet in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/in-england-especially-poetry-s-woven-into-the-background-fabric-of/) [David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/) > [Avoid distant views, paint objects close up. If the foreground is well done the distance will take care of itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-webster-hawthorne/avoid-distant-views-paint-objects-close-up-if-the-foreground-is-well/) [Charles Webster Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-webster-hawthorne/) > [N.T. Wright foregrounds what the Bible backgrounds, and backgrounds what the Bible foregrounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/n-t-wright-foregrounds-what-the-bible-backgrounds-and-backgrounds/) [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) > [I wanted to see what it means to think about taking responsibility for one's own desires and choosing to foreground desire as an ethical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-marshall/i-wanted-to-see-what-it-means-to-think-about-taking-responsibility/) [Richard Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-marshall/) > [There is no foreground or background, only a continuity of interlacing relationships](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyonel-feininger/there-is-no-foreground-or-background-only-a-continuity-of-interlacing/) Lyonel Feininger > [“I dream of a sort of music in which the musical forms provide both a foreground and a background for each other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/per-n-rg-rd/i-dream-of-a-sort-of-music-in-which-the-musical-forms-provide-both-a/) Per Nørgård > [Childhood is like a mirror, which reflects in afterlife the images first presented to it. The first thing continues forever with the child. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/childhood-is-like-a-mirror-which-reflects-in-afterlife-the-images/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The principle I adhere to when directing, is that I make good use of everything my staff creates. Even if they make foregrounds that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hayao-miyazaki/the-principle-i-adhere-to-when-directing-is-that-i-make-good-use-of/) [Hayao Miyazaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hayao-miyazaki/) > [I get told I'm a confessional songwriter, which gets on my tits because I think of negative connotations attached to the word "confessional". I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-orton/i-get-told-i-m-a-confessional-songwriter-which-gets-on-my-tits/) [Beth Orton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-orton/) ## More by Janet Burroway > [The mystique and the false glamour of the writing profession grow partly out of a mistaken belief that people who can express profound ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-burroway/the-mystique-and-the-false-glamour-of-the-writing-profession-grow/) [Janet Burroway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-burroway/) > [What is the pattern of change?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-burroway/what-is-the-pattern-of-change/) [Janet Burroway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-burroway/) > [The sensation of writing a book is the sensation of spinning, blinded by love and daring. It is the sensation of rearing and peering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-burroway/the-sensation-of-writing-a-book-is-the-sensation-of-spinning-blinded-2/) [Janet Burroway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-burroway/) > [Most writing is done between the mind and the hand, not between the hand and the page.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-burroway/most-writing-is-done-between-the-mind-and-the-hand-not-between-the/) [Janet Burroway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-burroway/) > [In literature only trouble is interesting. It takes trouble to turn the great themes of life into a story: birth, love, sex, work, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-burroway/in-literature-only-trouble-is-interesting-it-takes-trouble-to-turn/) [Janet Burroway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-burroway/) > [I sit and pass judgment on myself: this is dull, this is unclear, this is insignificant: ergo I am dull, I am unclear, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-burroway/i-sit-and-pass-judgment-on-myself-this-is-dull-this-is-unclear-this/) [Janet Burroway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-burroway/) > [The only justification for writing a novel is that it should be wonderful. Adequate is inadequate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-burroway/the-only-justification-for-writing-a-novel-is-that-it-should-be/) [Janet Burroway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-burroway/) > [Good girls like myself need subversion. Being solemn, I aspire to comedy. Being a novelist, I aspire to the musical. Being organized, I aspire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-burroway/good-girls-like-myself-need-subversion-being-solemn-i-aspire-to/) [Janet Burroway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-burroway/) > [In Literature, only trouble is interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-burroway/in-literature-only-trouble-is-interesting/) [Janet Burroway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-burroway/) > [What matters is not publication or success (success is bad for your prose) but the practice of the imaginative act. Our damaged values depend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-burroway/what-matters-is-not-publication-or-success-success-is-bad-for-your/) [Janet Burroway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-burroway/) > [The human desire to know why is as powerful as the desire to know what happened next, and it is a desire of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-burroway/the-human-desire-to-know-why-is-as-powerful-as-the-desire-to-know/) [Janet Burroway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-burroway/) > [“Don't dread. Do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-burroway/don-t-dread-do/) [Janet Burroway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-burroway/) > [Reject without regret whatever seems on reflection wrongheaded, dull, destructive, or irrelevant to your vision. It’s just as important to be able to discriminate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-burroway/reject-without-regret-whatever-seems-on-reflection-wrongheaded-dull/) [Janet Burroway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-burroway/) > [Right now-whether you're in writing courses getting "paid" in credit for writing, or burdened and distracted by earning a living and changing diapers-figure out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-burroway/right-now-whether-you-re-in-writing-courses-getting-paid-in-credit/) [Janet Burroway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-burroway/) > [Part of the trouble is that I've never properly understood that some disasters accumulate, that they don't all land like a child out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-burroway/part-of-the-trouble-is-that-i-ve-never-properly-understood-that-some/) [Janet Burroway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-burroway/) [Explore all 16 Janet Burroway quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-burroway/) ## More Backgrounds quotes > [We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-biko/we-do-not-want-to-be-reminded-that-it-is-we-the-indigenous-people-who/) [Steven Biko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-biko/) > [When you see how fragile and delicate life can be, all else fades into the background.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenna-morasca/when-you-see-how-fragile-and-delicate-life-can-be-all-else-fades-into/) [Jenna Morasca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenna-morasca/) > [Worship is not about personality, temperament, personal limitations, church background, or comfort. It is about God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wimber/worship-is-not-about-personality-temperament-personal-limitations/) [John Wimber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wimber/) > [Eventually the consumer will come to appreciate the editorial point of view of every different brand. User-generated content without editorial oversight will simply be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eisner/eventually-the-consumer-will-come-to-appreciate-the-editorial-point/) [Michael Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eisner/) > [I bring my classical training - some of it, but not all of it - and also my background and culture, to spirituals. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-battle/i-bring-my-classical-training-some-of-it-but-not-all-of-it-and-also/) [Kathleen Battle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-battle/) > [The acting background helped a lot when I started writing. I was training for it. In acting class they teach you about the stakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-higgins-clark/the-acting-background-helped-a-lot-when-i-started-writing-i-was/) [Carol Higgins Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-higgins-clark/) > [In the dim background of our mind we know meanwhile what we ought to be doing: getting up, dressing ourselves, answering the person who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/in-the-dim-background-of-our-mind-we-know-meanwhile-what-we-ought-to/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [I think it is a sin to look at another person as inferior to yourself because of race or because of ethnic background and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/i-think-it-is-a-sin-to-look-at-another-person-as-inferior-to-yourself/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [The thing that is making jazz healthy today is that people are coming out of other backgrounds - from rock, folk, from ethnic music.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-taylor/the-thing-that-is-making-jazz-healthy-today-is-that-people-are-coming/) Billy Taylor > [We do not have to be ashamed of what we are. As sentient beings we have wonderful backgrounds. These backgrounds may not be particularly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/we-do-not-have-to-be-ashamed-of-what-we-are-as-sentient-beings-we/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [People from my sort of background needed grammar schools to compete with children from privileged homes like Shirley Williams and Anthony Wedgwood Benn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/people-from-my-sort-of-background-needed-grammar-schools-to-compete/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [Persons who have cleansed themselves of any transgression and who have shown their ability to deal with homosexual inclinations and put them in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallin-h-oaks/persons-who-have-cleansed-themselves-of-any-transgression-and-who/) [Dallin H. Oaks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallin-h-oaks/) > [I come from a theater background, so I always like to dissect the scene and try to get some hint about what the author…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adina-porter/i-come-from-a-theater-background-so-i-always-like-to-dissect-the/) [Adina Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adina-porter/) > [And, of course, some SF is set close enough to here and now that Anglo and European do apply. Since many of the writers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-schmidt/and-of-course-some-sf-is-set-close-enough-to-here-and-now-that-anglo/) [Stanley Schmidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-schmidt/) > [For me, I try to look at a person's swagger and a little background on them if I already haven't liked them as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bivins/for-me-i-try-to-look-at-a-person-s-swagger-and-a-little-background-on/) [Michael Bivins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bivins/) Browse all 1,648 Backgrounds quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If character is the foreground of fiction, setting is the background, and as in a painting's composition, the foreground may be in harmony or in conflict with the background.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Janet Burroway" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-burroway/if-character-is-the-foreground-of-fiction-setting-is-the-background/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Backgrounds" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-burroway/if-character-is-the-foreground-of-fiction-setting-is-the-background/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/74b/janet-burroway-32021_backgrounds_if-character-is-the-foreground-of-fictio_1193250.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/74b/janet-burroway-32021_backgrounds_if-character-is-the-foreground-of-fictio_1193250.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/74b/janet-burroway-32021_backgrounds_if-character-is-the-foreground-of-fictio_1193250.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If character is the foreground of fiction, setting is the background, and as in a painting's composition…” — Janet Burroway", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Janet Burroway", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-burroway/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If character is the foreground of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-burroway/if-character-is-the-foreground-of-fiction-setting-is-the-background/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-burroway/if-character-is-the-foreground-of-fiction-setting-is-the-background/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```