Icebreaker Exercise For this exercise, you will take five minutes to describe your favourite place. This could be something simple like a room, or the garden, or even your bed. It could be something more complicated like a stately home or a town/city/ place. Imagine yourself there and use your senses and discuss what you can see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. When you have finished, share it with the person sitting next to you!
We have discussed atmosphere and Gothic fiction a lot in this issue, so think about how your setting influences a story. It is important that setting is right to allow the reader the best connection with their story.
Teaching Task Description is so important in fiction, but remember to show and not tell. What is meant by this is describe something rather than saying what it does. For instance rather than say the sunlight shone on her mirror, talk about her squinting and not being able to see in the mirror because of the gleam. Think about what could be said in a story rather than: 1. The fire was hot. 2. The tiles were slippy. 3. The room was dark. ACTIVITY Complete the activity sheet on setting on page 30. Remember that we are showing, not telling. Use setting to create the first scene of a story. Think about how you can develop our story and note down your ideas. Think about character. What character would your setting be perfect for? Why not use the character profile sheet from issue 1?
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