Ideas for writing about setting Archives

And now I’ll reveal what the mystery structure is from last week … a furnace used for separating iron from the rock it was found in. My kids and I are pictured beside Hope Furnace, found at a trailhead in Lake Hope State Park. A poster on IG knew what these were. Can you imagine the heat these furnaces gave off? The iron industry lasted about thirty years in Ohio. The furnace was shut down in 1874. Now I understand better how Nebuchadnezzar threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego into the fiery furnace.

Visit the comments for the prompt last week, and you’ll read how the photo inspired the start of a story with dual timelines. I still think it would be cool if these were structures left by an ancient people. That’s what makes writing so fascinating. A dozen people can look at the same source of inspiration and come up with a dozen different stories.

For more prompts inspired by settings, click here.

I took this photo on a hike this year. Although I know what the structures were used for, there’s something fantastic about them. If you don’t know what they are, what story could you write about this setting? If you do know, let your imagination wander and come up with a story that gives a different purpose to the structures or works with what they really are into a story.

I think they look like abandoned pyramids like the kind the Mayans and Aztecs made. What if hundreds of years before Europeans came to America, a huge Aztec invasion force slowly worked its way north, overwhelming and subjugating the native people, building their pyramids along the way. The various tribes, although they didn’t have the Aztecs’ technology, decided to band together to repel the invaders and regain their freedom. Now I’ve got the outline for an epic.

Now it’s your turn. What are these structures and how could they inspire a story? Next week, I’ll tell you what they are and where I took the photo.

For more writing prompts about setting, click here.

My prompt today is to encourage you to visit a real-world setting and write your impressions. This is what I mean by tune into a setting. Be still and gather impressions through the five senses. Don’t think too much about them. Just dot down what first comes to your mind as you watch, listen, feel, smell, and possibly taste.

In the photo, I’m sitting in the small fenced area behind our house. Beyond me is the rest of our property. My impression are:

Running water in the pond
Blinding, white light
Bird chips, calls, songs
Barely a breeze
Soft cat fur
Yellow dandelions
Buzz or whine of chain saw
Fish swim in cloudy pond
Perfect temperature
Flitting bee among flowers
Blue dots of flowers
Woodpecker

Now I can work these impressions into a story. I don’t have to include them all, and I can add ones that suit the story.

“Walking barefoot across the bricks of the patio already warmed by the white morning light, I crossed the yard to the couch by our pond. The koi and goldfish played tag in the cloudy water. I lowered myself onto the couch with my mug of tea as Friskies rubbed my leg. I scratched him under an ear. Dandelions provided bursts of sunshine among the rejuvenated spring grass. A woodpecker hammered out a cadence.

“I took a long sip of tea. So peaceful, so—

“A chain saw whined to life, overpowering the woodpecker and just about any other round around me.

“I dropped my mug on the small table next to me, tea sloshing out of it.

“Not again.”

For more prompts for writing a setting, click here.

I’d love to read in the comments your impressions when you tune into a setting.

Tag: Ideas for writing about setting

The Mystery Structure Is …

What Story Could You Write about this Setting?

Tune into a Setting

JPC Allen Writes

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