Non-linear Setting Exercise
1. In 90 seconds, write a list of words associated with the word ‘hospital’.
2. Using as many of the words as possible, write a scene NOT set in a hospital.
Extended Setting Exercise
Task:
Describe a room where two people live.
They could be roommates, siblings, lovers, husband/wife etc.
Use only the details of setting that reveal the relationship between the two people.
Describe the room in one paragraph.
The Writing:
1st description: the room when the two people live in harmony.
2nd description: the room when there has been an argument between the two people.
3rd description: the room after one of the people has moved out.
Notes:
Describe only the room. There are no people in any of the scenes.
Use objects, furniture, clothes, etc. to distinguish between the two people.
Don't list the objects.
Write a description that reveals the people who live in the room
and how their emotions change with their changing circumstances.
Questions the scenes should answer:
Who are these two people? What are their ages?
How long have they lived together?
What was the argument about? Who started it?
How did they deal with it? Who moved out?
Using the image below, write a paragraph or two describing the cityscape from the person’s perspective.
Tap into their senses to capture a mood/atmosphere.
What can they hear, see, smell, taste, feel?
Try using description in such a way to “show” how they are feeling.
Consider how the “sound” of your language (serious, sad, thoughtful etc.) can reflect their headspace.
Write in either first person or third person subjective (an external narrator sympathetic to the character).
Image from Pixabay