Confession – I struggle to describe setting.
I know, shameful.
But for some reason setting is hard for me. I can create a pretty dynamic world in my mind, but it’s challenging to translate that onto the page. It always feels flatter to me in black and white.
In a lot of ways setting is about sense memory. It’s not just what you see, it’s what you feel. I can tell readers it’s warm out, but it will be so much more effective if I get them to remember warm and associate it with the scene. That means I’ve got to tap into their senses. I find that very tricky.
I spend a lot of my practice writing time describing setting details that could add color and life into the flat world on my page.
This is a great time of year for that kind of practice. Whenever the seasons change there is a lot to write about. Go outside today and see what you can see. Ask yourself what the air feels like? What the sun feels like? What do buildings, lawns, parks, kids, animals look like this time of year? What do you smell? What’s changing in the world around you? Then grab your notebooks and find the words to capture spring.
Here’s my practice from yesterday. Remember it’s not perfect, it’s practice.
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I’ve stopped pulling my bedrooms curtains closed tight. No need. When the winter sun rises in the morning it rises behind a sky of dull, gray clouds. Morning will be dark, no need to pull the shade and make it darker.
But through some kind of spring miracle, I opened my eyes this morning and golden sun was pushing itself through my bedroom windows. Like a spring laser, the sun cut the gray sky into two pieces and it fell away to reveal a shade of balmy blue I thought no longer existed.
The neighbors must be just as excited as I am. After freeing themselves from months of winter hibernation, the neighborhood is crawling with people. Babies in strollers and happy moms in sunglasses. Kids on bikes with last year’s helmets forced onto their now bigger heads. A park so crammed with children they are using each other as climbing equipment.
Both my backyard neighbors just stopped by. I haven’t seen either of them since the snow flew over 6 months ago. Instead of inviting them in, we stood on my driveway in the sun and analyzed my lawn. North facing is hard on grass. It literally gets crushed under the mounds of heavy, wet snow, but spring hope is evident even in my battered lawn. Beneath the mashed, dead grass little flecks of green are already starting to push their way to the surface. A good raking would perk this lawn right up, but I’m drunk with sun, so I don’t see myself raking today.
I pulled out my porch furniture and leaned my head back against the porch rail. I closed my eyes and marveled at the light I could still sense on the other side of my eyelids.
The girls came home from school happy and running. One snuggled under my arm on the bench and one just laid right down on the porch, all stretched out so she could get sun on every square inch of herself.
“Mom, mom, you’ll never guess what I saw today,” little sister tells me.
“What?”
“I was walking to school and I looked at the trees and the flowers are wearing their little green jackets, getting ready to pop right out.”
There was just enough chill in the air today to tingle your arms, so I looked at the weather tonight – two days of sun and snow on Sunday. Better enjoy the days I’ve got. Only two days before I have to say good bye to the neighbors, cover up the porch furniture and go back inside. Only two days of waking up to a warm morning sun. I don’t think I’ll pull my the shades tonight. No need.
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Happy spring,
Lisa
P.S. Two posts in a week?!? Yep, I’m pretty proud of myself.