How Atmosphere Is Developed

Establishing atmosphere depends primarily on two things: the situation and what
emotional reaction it should provoke within the reader. Setting and plot are key, as
these elements inform what kind of imagery and description will best set the stage.
Writers then have to consider what kind of emotional response they want to elicit.
Joy? Anger? Fear? Sadness? When they know how they want readers to react, writers
can use a variety of elements to encourage the intended response.

Some genres are distinctly atmospheric. Readers associate them with certain feelings,
and many continually read within these genres to chase those feelings.

 Dystopian fiction often features a dark atmosphere tinged with pessimism or

bleakness, as does The Road by Cormac McCarthy.
 Fairy tales and fantasy are regularly imbued with a sense of wonder, hope, and
whimsy, such as in C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia.
 The horror fiction produced by writers like H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King
would lose its potency without the genre’s iconic unsettling atmosphere.