To start a story with this scene, I’m going to repeat an exercise I used in some writing prompts a couple of years ago. Look at the scene and imagine what you as the character see, hear, feel, smell, and taste. Make a list like the one below.
- Sights–Dark, the full moon throws weird shadows and odd silver light
- Sounds–hushed, still, creepy quiet, drips from soaked pine trees
- Touch–cold, damp, no wind
- Smells–dampness, maybe musty, cold enough to make your nose run, pine
- Taste–?
Now that you have a list of sensations, you can select which ones you want to build into your description to set the scene as you start your story. Here’s mine.
My steps sounded like thunder claps as every time I broke a stick on the dirt path. The air was still. Not a breath of wind. The woods were eerily quiet too. No scurrying animals or bird calls. Only the steady drip from the drenched pine needles.
The light of the full moon was eerie too, layering a silver light over every edge that made the entire forest look not quite real.
No wonder a full moon night was supposed to be the only night the castle appeared.
Your turn. How would you start a story with this scene?
Great job including the senses! When I looked at the picture before reading your start, my first thought was “Runaway foster kid, checking out the mansion she heard rumors about.” Because I instantly got that sliver of her character in my head, I’d probably try to weave her “I’ve experienced things that kids my age shouldn’t know about” background into her descriptions. Maybe the fog reminds her of the smoke when her schizophrenic mom set fire to their house. Maybe the moonlight reminds her of the police spotlight searching for her when she ran out of the burning house and into the woods. And maybe the mansion/castle reminds her of the fairytales her Grandpa told her before he died, back when life made sense and that draws her to keep walking closer.
Wow! That’s amazing what you drew from this picture. And it’s so different from what I thought and the inspiration below.
I’m not sure where it came from! And yes, comparing your ideas with Steve Campbell’s and mine, it’s clear we all have some active imaginations and one spark can lead us down different plots!
I thought ‘danger’ when I saw the picture of the girl standing alone in the middle of the highway at night. Then I thought ‘fear’ and ‘a car without headlights on’ racing toward her. Panic. People in the car trying to escape from the danger. The taste of fear (?) and a dry throat that chokes away all words and any cry of alarm. The girl ‘frozen in fear.’ The ‘prickly fingers’ of it crawling across her back of the neck and shoulders and down the spine. The ‘trembling’ of anxiety that finally sparks the leg muscles to flee from the danger, and the heavy weight sensation of running through waist-high liquid that causes stumbling while trying to get away. Such were my thoughts, which fired off more thoughts as my imagination developed a fright and flight scenario.
Your inspiration is so vivid! Maybe you’ll be able to use it in a story some time.
The images stayed with me and formed chains of events that took me on a journey of possibilities, so I scribbled some notes for future use. Some pictures do that. Yours was a good one.
Glad it was helpful!