I noticed that some of Shakespeare's plays are set in Italian or Danish or Scottish settings. I suspect that if I want people to get into a story, it might be better to use a setting that seems romantic or mysterious or scary or whatever. It may be easier for people to transport themselves far away and into another time. Many people seem unwilling or unable to believe their time and their location could be as full of import or feeling as a time and place specifically chosen for a well-told story.
Daniel Gilbert has the book "Stumbling on Happiness" and TED talks that show that our minds cannot envision very much detail. If I tell you that you are in paradise now, you will probably immediately think of the table that needs dusting, the bills that are due, your headache that are part of your current life. It will probably not seem like paradise - there is too much wrong for it to be heaven.
But when I ask you to imagine yourself on a Hawaiian beach on warm sand with your favorite person and your favorite drink and your favorite music, you will probably not ask which way the wind is blowing or what day of the week to imagine. You won't trouble yourself with the latest crime waves there or the current cost of gasoline. We know that it is not a story until something goes wrong. In this case, you find that the lovely music is interrupted with the emergency information that a giant tsunami, approximately half a mile wide and 600 feet high is tearing across the ocean right toward your lovely beach. The crash will be quite devastating and you really should avail yourself of the helicopter service to get you and your favorite up and away to Tahiti, which has completely bypassed. All accounts have it that Tahiti is lovely this time of year, just heavenly.
