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Exercise #664: Craft
Posted 4/1/16
Today’s exercise comes from Darren. (Miss you, Darren!)
A Sense of Place
We often hear the writing adage “Write what you know.” But what if we have to write about something or somewhere we know nothing about? What happens when we are asked to set a story in a far flung foreign land that is totally alien to us?
When it comes to locations in my stories my wife believes I am anal to the extreme in my quest for “authenticity”; I think she might be right. I often spend hours looking at Google maps, street view or using review sites to see what the local restaurants serve as their specials. I’ll then go and research weather patterns, local customs, annual events, street names, local personalities and things that happened that would “stick” in people’s memories.
And then I hardly use any of it. But what I will have is a grounding of what the area is like without actually having been there.
In this exercise choose a location where you have never been; another town, country or continent. Place a character there and tell us a small “local” tale from his or her perspective. Your character can be a visitor or a resident but please, make us believe you have trod on that soil.
Critiquers, along with a technical review you might answer these questions:
* Was this exercise helpful to you as a writer?
* Why or why not?
* Do you feel the author has visited this place?
Word limit: 1200
Please use the subject line
SUB: Exercise #664/yourname
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