Setting
Evoking a Vivid Sense of
Place and Time
Setting=Character=Plot. It's that important. But detailed
descriptions of setting is often very dull, compared to
action or psychological drama. While there are
some writing techniques to deal with this problem,
Professor Novakovich's best general advise is to
"defamiliarize"
your immediate enviornment - to see the common as exotic
and unique.
"With sharply observed bits of the world, you convince."
- Josip Novakovich
Exercise #12: With few or no descriptions of the
person, make a character visible and alive through his/her
surroundings. Portraiture through setting.
(1 page)
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Koreen felt uncomfortably fatigued after
traversing several hundred meters of earth gravity. "The
thin air," she deliberately sighed in mute rebellion at
the unreasonable rule of walk as the only permissible mode
of transport within the community of Lake Telleran.
But she had to return. The accidental
death of her mother had left her a restless ghost,
disconnected from the daily life of Winco Colony VI. Every
mirror, every chance reflection there seemed like a static
screen.
Koreen had no recollection of the two
head high stone pillars before her. The surmise that it
is new was instantly cancelled by blotches of lichen
growth, and her intruding image of excavats weilding
lightchisels. That initial confusion of perhaps having
arrived at the wrong lot returned to Koreen momentarily as
she passed between the pillars. Without a fieldwall, it
was a gate which served no purpose.
Except to frame her most cherished
childhood memories.
The house was unchanged. Across the
carpet of lush grass it stood slightly raised upon its
supports, the entire front half a roofed open air wooden
platform. Koreen thought she detected movement from
the vegetable garden, but decided it was just the gentle
cascade of the water fountain. It was smaller than she
remembered, and she held back her desire to study again,
with adult eyes, the strange birdlike reliefs carved on
its wet pedestal. With each even eager stride toward
the house, the tightness in her legs, thinned by years
of space life, began to lift.
Stepping up to the large single stone
step landing, Koreen smiled and sighed. The large
screen against the far right wall was a blank grey, and
Koreen realized now that it perhaps doesn't work. There
were no components or controls. The set of eight wooden
dancing figurines, placed on the shallow edge of the
monitor, still remained. Clad in the most vibrantly
colored costumes, each wearing a unique mask both
grotesque and somehow beautiful, these intricate dolls
captivated Koreen as a child. She longed to sink into
the gelchairs and be entranced by the distant songs of
their eternal dances.
A large painting of swirling and
swishing patterns of yellow hues hung above. Koreen
made a mental note to take some time to create a more
pleasing mosaic of shapes in blue, her favorite color.
At the other end of the open air house
was a large wooden dining table, and the sight of it
brought scents of herbs and freshly baked bread to her
memory. Taking two quick steps, she reached for the
colorful glass bowl in the center of the table next to
two wrought iron candle holders, thirsty for the sweet
surprise of whatever exotic fruit it would contain
today. She closed her eyes in reflexive satisfaction
at the first bite of the small, shiny purple plum. It
occurred to her that never in her life had she been
so comfortable and secure as when she dined at this
familiar table - half eating, half mesmerized by the
flames dancing in the fireplace, happily lost in
childhood joys. She wondered whether she could as
easily recall all the names and deeds, people and
places, of the two dozen or so framed photographs and
paintings which hung on the wall above the fireplace.
When she opened her eyes, framed against the arch which
led into the kitchen stood a small statured old woman.
Stories, all of Koreen's memories, flooded her as she
ran over to the smiling woman, weeping, "Grama, I missed
you so!"(JH, 10/09/99)
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Self Critique: The narrative ran away
from me, or bogged me down, depending on your viewpoint.
I'll attempt a re-write some time, with more precision
of details, more obvious representations of personality,
and greater emphasis not on the character Koreen, but
on the inhabitant of the house. By the way, this
piece was partially inspired by a Victoria City Forum
Message Post by someone describing her grandmother
as a gifted storyteller, an artist.
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