This prompt is a great one for helping to write about setting in a way that helps your story achieve the tone you want.

The Prompt

Step 1: Choose your setting

Pick one of the four settings below:

1. The Beach
2. A Forest
3. Your Main Character’s Bedroom
4. The City

Feel free to use a different setting better suited to your WIP!

Step 2: Describe your setting through the eyes of a happy young child

You can also describe it through the eyes of your main character when they are happy or in love. Make sure to use as many of the senses as you can: sight, sound, touch, scent, and taste.

Step 3: Describe your setting through the eyes of someone who recently lost a loved one

This might be hard. You’re welcome to avoid the topic of death and instead think of your character suffering from depression or simply in a bad mood. Again, use as many of the five senses as you can.

Try not to make the weather of your setting reflect your character’s mood. Think more about what that character might notice in the setting that resonates with them.

How do the different moods affect your setting?

With an exercise like this, it becomes very clear how your setting can reflect the mood of your characters or the tone of your novel. I have such a hard time with setting and this exercise always helps me bring it back into focus. I hate feeling like I’m just spouting straight description – I love for the setting to become its own character.

Did you give this writing exercise a try? How did it go?