Pebblepup's Writing Den

Sometimes you see a place that makes you write a story for it. Right now, I’m looking at a green space with a trolley car on railroad tracks under a bridge. Where is this? What kind of story can you build about it? It’s an image from Google that’s on my TV at the moment. Sometimes I see paths in the woods that I would like to walk down. You can do that by creating a story about it. This is what I mean by the phrase “starting with the setting.”

Sometimes the setting can be eerie and this could be the start of something in the horror genre or mystery. Sometimes it’s a star field. That can trigger you all. Find another sci-fi. Story. Add in a few characters to the scene in your mind, or what you see on TV or in a magazine or whatever. Give them a story problem and you’re off. Settings set the stage. There’s a reason the best movies and plays have set spent so much time on the setting. The setting can pull a reader or viewer in. That’s what you want.

“It was a dark and stormy night.” That’s a cliche, of course, but it is a way of starting with the setting. “A pile of jagged rocks jutted out into the ocean, waves crashing in wild abandon on it. The roar of the ocean was deafening.” That’s another way to start with setting. You can do a lot by starting with a setting. You can set the mood of the piece. Like the wild and stormy pile of rocks in the ocean. That could be the start of a mystery, horror, or even adventure. It depends on where you take it.

“The sailboat bobbed on the ocean. Nothing but blue water and blue sky for miles around.” That too could start a horror story, a mystery or even a sci-fi story. it could be something like the story of the Marie Celeste. What is it, about the sailboat, that makes it important? Settings are the places where the action takes place, but they can also be characters. It’s a subtle thing, but it can be a character. I’ve read books where the house supplies everything the main character needed. It was a cozy mystery with paranormal elements. But the house was a character. You can do that. It isn’t as if no one has done it before.

Take a forest. It can be bright and beautiful, full of wildlife, interesting to look at and a good place to place a story. It can also be a darkened, forbidding place. Sometimes it can be both, depending on your intention when you enter it. You can take it from there, build on it and make a story. All you need is a setting and an imagination. Give the place a few characters and find a plot and off you go.

So the next time you see an image that intrigues you, try setting a story there. See what you can come up with. Good luck and keep writing.