What’s a Story Without the Setting? - Part Three

Photo Courtesy: Ronnie Bergeron

This week we will continue to work on the setting of our novel.

Setting Exercise Five
Objective: To show how different places affect character

A woman character whom you now relatively well is going on a blind date with a man whom she is to meet at a specific place. She has seen his picture, so she knows what he looks like.
Write a brief scene of 4-8 sentences in which these two characters meet for the first time in the following settings. Her blind date has chosen the place in which they are to meet. Be sure to include sensory descriptions. Note how each place influences the characters in specific ways, including dress, speech, emotions and reactions to each other.

1. A California fern bar
2. An amusement park
3. A bowling alley
4. A performance of the opera, Madame Butterfly

Setting Exercise Six
Objective: to eliminate period inaccuracies

Part 1
Read the following scene set in the American Revolutionary War. Look for period inconsistencies. Some are obvious, some are more subtle.

Elizabeth sat in the library, trying to compose a letter to her sister, Mildred. Just as her pen ran out of ink, she heard a noise at the door and in bounded Rex, her father’s golden retriever. The dog slid over the linoleum floor and bumped against Elizabeth’s bare leg.
“Daddy!” cried Elizabeth as her father entered the room. “did you speak to Tobias?” She caught her breath; even the mention of her beloved’s name made her heart race.
“Liza, I’m afraid I have some bad news for you, dear,” said her father. His shoulders were hunched and his gray eyes, normally so bright, looked as dull as cardboard. “Tobias already has a wife.”
Liza took a sharp breath. So now her father knew as well. “It doesn’t matter to me, Daddy,” she said softly. “I shan’t care if I ever get married. I’ve decided to visit him in Boston anyway.”
Her father nodded. “Perhaps that is best,” he said. “You’re a woman now, almost seventeen. You know your own mind better than anyone else. But be careful, daughter. I fear Tobias is not to be trusted.”

Part 2
Rewrite this scene removing any modern rferences and replacing them with appropriate period ones so that the reader will believe she is vicariously experiencing the scene. Some points to consider are: What items and terms seem out of place? What attitudes are being expressed toward adultery? The role of women? The role of parents and children? Do they seem appropriate for the time?

What’s a Story Without the Setting? - Part One
What’s a Story Without the Setting? - Part Two

For more helpful tips and exercises, visit www.sterlinghouse-bookstore.com and check out:
Writing Aerobics I by C. Sterling and M. Davidson

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