Dream

Podcast Version:

MAL Season 2: Episode 2, 8/19/23

Word of the Week:

Dream: To dream is have a series of sensations, thoughts and images while sleeping.

Also: Something a person strongly desires to accomplish or achieve.

Reading:

It Began With A Dream – My A-muse-ing Life (myamuseinglife.com)

15 Ways to Build Setting in Your Story:

1. Use the weather.  Weather can tell a lot about where your story takes place. For example, if it is snowing and the character expects it, the setting is likely in a colder environment.  If it is snowing and it is a surprise or new, the character may live somewhere warmer.
2. Practice writing setting by going somewhere you’ve never been and then describing that place in writing.
3. Use dialogue between two characters to show where they are and how they interact with the setting.
4. Think sensory.  What does the area smell like?  Look like?  Feel like?  Sound like?  Are there any tastes the setting brings to mind?
5. Consider any backstory the setting has.  What has happened in this area in the past?  What will happen in the future?
6. Consider the culture of the setting.  Who lives there?  What kinds of things are important to them?
7. How does the setting change throughout the story?  How does this impact your character(s)?
8. How do people react to living in this type of setting?  What do they like?  What would they change?
9. Create a map and/ or drawing of your setting to help keep track of important places and provide a visual for where your character lives and will go.
10. Use what you already know and change it a little bit.  Where do you live?  What do you interact with in your setting daily?  Include this in your story but modify it slightly.  For example: If you eat toast every day for breakfast with peanut butter at the kitchen table, maybe your character has toast and eggs everyday on the back porch.
11. Describe the natural world.  What plants are around?  What do they look like? What animals live in the setting?  What do they look like?  How do they interact with the environment?
12. Consider the theme of your story.  For example, if you are writing a dystopian novel, the setting may consist of broken down buildings and catastrophic destruction.  If you are writing a mystery, it could take place in a haunted house or in a wooded area. Use the setting to help build the theme of the story.
13. What is unique about your setting?  How will anyone know where the setting is, and how it is different than their own setting?
14. Use descriptive words such as massive, tiny, expansive, lurking, and horror to give the setting its own feel.
15. Establish the time period.  When does your story take place?  For example, if the story takes place in the 1800’s, your character would not have a cell phone or other technology.  

Writing Prompt: Dream

Write a story with the beginning line: “It began as a dream.”