Today you’ll practice settings. Choose two opposing settings, such as a beach and mountainous area. Think of a specific place and don’t pick the obvious time of year. Winter on the Atlantic Seaboard leaves the beach looking far different than summer. The waves on a particularly chilly day can actually become frozen mid-crest coming in to shore. It looks like an ice sculpture all along the beach edge thawing out as the ocean keeps rolling in, but the frozen crust of a frigid crest remains in place. The sand crunches like broken glass, and the salt air stings your face. As for mountains, the Cuyamaca Mountains in California are far different from the Blue Mountains of western Oregon which have a tint of blue gray vagueness and a sense of just being dropped in place without warning or preamble of foothills. Pick a specific setting, detail it out and then switch to the other. Flex your descriptive muscles as you change between your chosen dramatic scenes.
