Last week I wrote about my template for writing a scene. One of the questions I asked in that template was: Is the setting the best place for emotional impact?
How do I answer that question? I use another template. For each setting, I ask myself:
What is the Setting Role in Story:
Who are the Related Characters:
Season:
Unique Features of the Setting:
Description:
Sights:
Sounds:
Smells:
Notes:
This allows me to determine if I’ve described the scene in a vivid manner. If I can’t answer most of the questions, I don’t think the scene is the best place for emotional impact. I don’t believe sight, sound and smell have to be in every scene, but there should be something there.
The real purpose of the template is to make myself think about the scene in a structured way. If you have a way to do this, I’d love to hear about it.
Thanks for reading . . .