Holly Bellebuono
Accredited Herbal Medicine School
Coaching for Writers & Authors
+ Global Travel & Retreats
The Craft of Writing
Holly teaches how to increase the impact of a story through setting by developing a strong and memorable Sense of Place. Where an adventure takes place influences a character’s outcome as much as the process or plot and can be pivotal in advancing the story. Done right, setting can be a rich source of dynamic tension and can lead characters toward decisions, danger, and growth. Whether it is a farmhouse, a prison, a classroom, or a submarine, your setting is at the heart of your story. It is the PLACE not only where action happens but where characters change and grow.
In particular, Holly's workshops share how fiction writers can elevate the story's impact by crafting compelling, memorable settings. Writers learn when to use strong versus neutral settings and how to develop setting naturally for the reader. Students learn how to create setting to influence a character’s perception of Self that leads to ultimate transformation.
Holly teaches three types of settings:
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General Fiction Settings
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Neutral Background Settings
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Mythic Settings
Her book Once Upon a Place: Forests, Caverns, and Other Places of Transformation in Myth, Fairy Tales and Film (foreword by Jack Zipes; Llewellyn Worldwide/print and Tantor Media/audiobook 2025), identifies 5 mythic settings found in fantasy, epics, quests, and adventures. Teachings from this book guide writers to explore the Hero's Journey with fresh eyes, looking not only at the process a character goes through but WHERE the action happens. Writers learn why the dual symbols of Chaos & Void and Descent & Resurrection can only happen through proper establishment of landscapes, and why SETTING is so important to crafting the specific and harrowing challenges the characters will face.
Quick Video Samples for writing Mythic Seettings
If you're a novelist, screenwriter or playwright crafting an epic journey or adventure, these locations are key for your characters. In these quick videos (based on my book Once Upon a Place), I walk you through the five locations of transformation: the Cavern, the Deep, the Vessel, the Forest, and the Labyrinth. In these settings your character will face obstacles and challenges that move your plot forward and develop a stronger character whose quest/questions are answered. I also share three of the most important dual metaphors: Descent and Resurrection; Chaos and Void; and Beast and Guide. Writers will be able to use these in their storytelling to develop depth in their character arcs that readers find inspiring and compelling.
Check this site for details about upcoming in-person or online writing workshops.
To book Holly for a panel, conference, or lecture, email here.