How to describe a setting.

Discussion in 'Setting Development' started by Sean2112bd, Jan 14, 2011.

  1. impure

    impure New Member

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    Describe it in the same order the main character realizes it.
    And only actually 'describe' the scene when it's not a generic room or something.
    Of course, if there's something unique you may want to point that out.
     
  2. Sean2112bd

    Sean2112bd New Member

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    Hey guys, I kind of came up with a paragraph:

    Sister Elizabeth languished in the stagecoach seat half-awake and dazed, her head throbbing like a drum keeping in tempo with the horses hoof beets. Her eyelids were heavy with the weights of fatigue, and her face cried tears of sweat from the Dutch oven heat that filled the atmosphere. She stared outside the stagecoach window with a glazed expression, and for hours she saw nothing but the hanging sun on the skyline and the open, sun-baked plains that stretched for miles. Even farther across the plains, she could hear the quiet roar of thunder echoing in the distance, and it bellowed to her as if warning her to turn back. She wished she could turn back.

    It wasn't so much setting as it was mood. Westerns, especially if their set in the desert or plains, are quite dull in the sense that the character will feel lulled by being in that environment. So, is this paragraph good? Or should I go into more detail with the mood and setting?
     
  3. Trilby

    Trilby Contributor Contributor

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    I think if you want people to comment on your writing, you'll need to post it in the review room. I will say one thing - too many adjectives.
     
  4. Sean2112bd

    Sean2112bd New Member

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    Whoops, sorry. Anyway, I think I figured out how to create an effective setting, but it's difficult. Well, it's difficult for me at least. From what I've read, you shouldn't use too many adverbs or adjectives since they are modifiers, so the best thing to use is verbs. I can do this if it's a person or an animal, but if it's not sentient, then its more difficult because you got to imagine a setting like it's a person or an animal. Therefore, an effective setting requires one to anthropomorphise nature. I believe in poetry it's called personification. So, using verbs to convey a setting is in most cases more effective than using adjectives.

    This to me is annoying because using verbs to describe something makes the sentences too short and simple (at least to me) and it's really hard to connect sentences together without somehow becoming incoherent unless you're really good at it. Idk, maybe it's just me.
     
  5. Spacer

    Spacer Active Member

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    West Texas, out around Big Bend. It's called "Lush Desert" terrain.
     
  6. Trilby

    Trilby Contributor Contributor

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    Mention the word desert and most people will picture a hot, dry, sand covered barren land. They will not picture a lush desert terrain.
    You don't explain but I imagine with a name like Lush Desert terrain you are talking about a desert that isn't barren, if this be the case, then this is an exception, therefore that would be worth describing, because it is not the image the springs to mind. Like I said in my post 'was it snowing' snow in the desert would be worth while describing, because it is out of the ordinary as is a lush desert terrain.

    Edit: Just checked the dictionary - desert n, a dry, barren region, able to support little or no life; a place lacking in some essential quality.

    If the place you mention is called 'lush desert terrain' is it still technically a desert?
     

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