Writing Exercise #1: Mood Through Setting
Posted by Star on 29 Dec 2009 at 12:40 pm | Tagged as: Misc Writing
Exercise paraphrased and slightly modified from Fiction Writer’s Workshop by Josip Novakovich.
This one should take about two pages, and runs from Monday, January 4 to Sunday, January 10.
The exercise is all about description and setting — no narrative required or involved. (Or, OK, not much.) Start by recalling a favorite place in nature. Novakovich suggests a bridge, but we changed this because I don’t actually have a favorite bridge. I do have a favorite beach, and I’ll be using that; you could use whatever sort of location you’re familiar enough with to describe it in detail.
Got it? Okay. Now you’re going to write two descriptions of that place (one page each), seeking to capture two different moods. In the first one, describe the place from the perspective of someone who has just been offered a really good job. In the second, describe from the perspective of someone whose significant other has just committed suicide. Don’t tell us about the person’s emotions directly. Don’t describe the person’s plans, regrets, thoughts at all. Show us how he or she feels by the way the details of the setting are perceived. In the example of the bridge, Novakovich suggests looking at the stones of the bridge, the river traffic, the vegetation along the banks, the water.
Have fun!
