Make It Happen! #BeatTheBlock

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There is a new show just hit out TV screens, directed by Stephen Spielberg called Terra Nova (not bragging or anything, but I knew that was Latin for New Earth as soon as I saw it) and it's about dinosaurs and going back in time etc.but that isn't the point--I might make that point in a different post, however this post is about setting and the scene.





I originally thought that it was going to be about a bunch of people going back in time and living in huts and as I fondly remember Lenny's voice from Of Mice and Men say "We could live offa the fatta the lan'." and that's what I thought they were going to do. Turns out they're not. And I digress.




So the setting is where it's all at. You can't just have heads bobbing around on a white canvas now. Also, another little tidbit of information about settings is here: Somewhere Only We Know this part of the #Writer's Tool page. I assume some of you have read that already and some of you have just read it....yeah! Now let's get started on kicking the [insert expletive of choice here] out of your writer's block.



I don't always do this exercise out of writer's block, sometimes when I don't have any time to write I do this, or if I'm not feeling in a writerly way I think up places and setting and create around them, just like people create around characters, it's just as plausible to create around a setting.





Creating a setting is as simple as taking in your surrounding and mentally picking up words that would best describe it. I do this all of the time...in fact, I was walking home from the cinema, it's really dark and the only light came from the street lamps and the sky was clouded over but you could see the moon brightly lit from afar. I then notice that I'm treading through a thin layer of foliage, red leaves, brown leaves, wet leaves. I'm kicking them about, the street is quiet, deserted almost, but what do you expect for 2am with a road full of cars; empty glass panes and your reflection is badly lit to mimic a ghostly figure. [I note everything down as I go, and it's become second nature to me now because I've done it for so long.]



You might find that picking a setting from Google images or drawing a blank sheet will help with this exercise. In fact, you might choose to do both [or so I would recommend].



EXERCISE 1

Have a mental image of the place or pull one up on Google and take a minute to absorb the setting, or imagine what the setting holds and then after that minute is up just write on that plain piece of paper everything that you got.






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So for me it would be things like-- "crystal water", "murky lake", "marsh lands", "tall pine trees", "lone palm tree", "clear sky" and "sandy beach" of course not all of these things at once, but little snippets like that. And you'll soon start to see your setting shape all on its own, because it's all alright having it in your head, you just need to spit the words out for your reader to suck in.



EXERCISE 2

Two exercises for one post...I must be crazy to have thought have two...but I did.

So this might mean you have to do the first exercise because it involves you mixing it up a bit. Why should you live with what's before your eyes...reading is a form of escapism to some, why shouldn't writing be the same, I know it is for me.



In this task you challenge the norms of society and everything else really...people, weather, migration etc. you need to mix it up.



Take some pieces of paper or some index cards, and write down several pieces of setting from EXERCISE 1 and you might wish to section them off into 'Housing', 'Area', 'Nature' --setting related topics like this. I did a quick one before and got "a log cabin", "white beach" and "pine forest" :O all I can say is, whoa! That is a very twisted turn of events, but your task is to work with it and break the build up of stress or whatever it is that's causes your block.



Just relax :)



Now you've got your initial setting, you might want to ask yourself some questions.

-Who lives in that house?

-Why was it built there?

-A white beach? Is it on an island?

etc.



Now you're armed with some more knowledge on breaking down that wall, why don't you give it a kick and see what else comes through the flood gates. All good I hope.



-Joseph



Keep Writing guys!!