See Your Setting As A Film Set

For some authors, describing a setting is a challenge. Action, dialogue and conflict all flow easily from the imagination to the page or computer screen, whereas the minutiae of the room or scenery proves tricky to say the least.
Here is an exercise to help with those details which bring a scene to life for the reader.

Choose a picture. This can be a photograph, a picture in a magazine or newspaper, a book cover or you can even pause a scene on a DVD/television programme. Now ask yourself the following:

• If it is a building or room, who does it belong to and where is it situated?
• If it is a landscape or townscape, where is it?
• Make a list of the various elements in the picture.
• Now describe each one - colours, shapes, position, fabric or substance made of.
• Add any smells there might be.
• What might a character hear in this place?

For the second part of the exercise, write a brief description of the setting. It might help to set a kitchen timer or something similar.


For the third part of the exercise, write a scene between two characters in that setting or who are concerned with it in some way. Imagine the scene is happening on a film set. How do they interact with their surroundings?


You could also describe the setting from the point of view of a person who likes the place and then an alternative word picture from the standpoint of someone who doesn't like it.


You don't have to stick rigidly to your picture. Let the ideas flow and go where they take you.




Good luck! Heather King

A Hands-up!

Blog post – 16^th April 2014

 

This is an exercise that can be done anywhere – on a bus or train, in a supermarket or in a café.

Focus on a pair of hands. Think about the following:

What is the first thing you notice about them? For instance, is the person wearing a lot of dramatic-looking silver rings? Are the nails an intriguing shade of purple? Or are the nails bitten and ragged?

• Jot down a few details – including a few lines about where you’re sitting. Use the senses. Think about what you can smell, hear and taste.
   
• Write a brief biography for the person (approximately 150 words). Without staring at them too obviously, think about the clues you pick up from their behaviour, voice and how they are dressed.
   
• For the third part of this exercise – go into reverse! For instance, if you’ve created a nice character from the hands you’ve observed, think about doing the opposite. What if the nails are broken and the hands ingrained with dirt – or blood? What has that character been doing?

Find a way for the two characters to meet in some way. For instance, what if character number two is a long-lost parent, a being from another planet or a murderer? What happens next?


See how many story lines you can create.

Sue Johnson