This is my response to theinkwell's fast and furious festival day two task. The festival challenges writers to spend 25 minutes/day (or more if you'd like) writing a post based on a creative prompt.
Today’s prompt and challenge revolves around setting and asked us to write from a choice of four prompts, responding to as many of them as we'd like. I chose to respond to two of the setting prompts.
Task 1:
Describe a room (eg kitchen, bedroom, living room) in a character's house in such a way that it tells us about a person's greatest hopes and fears.
Quote from The Ink Well Fast and Furious Festival - Day Two
My response:
Dust hung in the fading light. A large mahogany wardrobe loomed next to the window, door half open with clothes spilling out from its packed depths. A faded white tutu caught my eye and I glanced down to see torn ballerina's shoes. In the mish-mash of hangers dresses mingled with jumpers, trousers with t-shirts, blouses with crop tops.
Next to a large oak bed stood a dressing table, a lone picture sat on the dresser with an empty glass and a box of pills. Framed in that picture a young woman smiled as she pirouetted in the sun. Sand kicked up from her spinning feet as waves crashed behind her spraying crystalline diamonds into the sun-drenched air. Blue sky shone vividly, mirroring the flash of her eyes.
A single crutch lay on the floor next to the bed, its metal frame stark against the polished floorboards.
Task 4:
Write notes for a story setting inspired by the image above.
Quote from The Ink Well Fast and Furious Festival - Day Two
My response:
The curse of Thang Lan
The town of Thang Lan in northern Vietnam is now known simply as the rainy place. The streets used to be bustling with market tellers selling Pho and Goi cuon. Women would wave as you passed by, beckoning you to peruse the rainbow arrangements of fruits in straw baskets. Mangosteen, Star Fruit, Dragon Fruit and the furry pink eyes of Chôm Chôm winked out from the emerald cascade of limes. The smell swayed the senses like a snake under the spell of the charmer. Citrus tang sang a mingled melody with the sour reek of fish, and the hoot of drunken revelers serenaded the night.
It was around the time the stranger moved to town that the rain started and never stopped. It got more intense, like Kinh Dương Vương wept for the sorrow of the earth. Street stores were washed away, buildings started to rot and soon you could canoe down main street. Now the stranger walks the streets every day weeping for who knows what. The rain continues to wash away crops, spoil fruit and swell the river like a bloated python.
As you can see in my response to task one, a lot can be inferred by describing the setting of your story. What are the items in the room telling the reader? Are they painting a picture of the characters that drive your story forward? This technique is part of the 'show don't tell' rule. Instead of writing passages that state (tell) the history of a character you can instead describe (show) the setting to hint at that history. If you think about it, this is often how we form our first impressions of people in real life, through deduction.
As I talked about in my last fast and furious festival post, it becomes a satisfying moment for the reader when something they have deduced through the hints in the setting, such as their possessions, are clarified as true later on in the story through actions or dialogue.
In my response to task two I tried to show how setting can be used to build a strong atmosphere that informs an important part of the plot structure. I don't want to elaborate too much on this as it might colour your impression of what is happening in the fictional town of Thang Lan. Let me know in the comments what impression this setting description gave you, and if it did hint at any future plot in your mind.
Thanks for reading 🙂
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The first thing that comes to mind after reading your task responses is the ease with which you switch from one setting to another.
The dancer--is she self medicating because of her lost skills? Or has she taken too many pills and does your scene suggest a long absence of the occupant?
The village--a curse of perpetual rain that travels with the stranger. A curse of sorrow with which the village is now afflicted.
What a switch, though now that I write a response I see loss and sorrow at the core of each. It's the setting (wow, that's the exercise!) that tells a different story.
Bravo!
Hi agmoore
You came really close with your guesses about the dancer in the first scene, although it is a sadder story as the crutch at the end was meant to show that it was an injury that had cut her career short. the pills on the sideboard were pain killers, maybe I should have specified them as such. Hmnnnn, this is one of the great things about this festival's format, it is like mini writing workshops that help you pin point areas of possible ambiguity in your writing.
Aye, there was a melancholy at the core of both settings. ha ha, maybe I'll try and write a cheerful setting in my next story... god knows the world could do with some more cheer 🤓 😂
Thanks for reading, and your insightful comment 👍
Hi Raj: Your crutch clue was clear. I did understand it was an injury that led to the end of her career. That's what I meant by 'loss of skills', but I said it inartfully. You are a master of scene setting ;)
Task 1 has me worried about that young lady, for real ... the picture of the dancer, the crutch on the floor, the empty pill box, and the fact that dust is just hanging in the room ... well done there ... and then, "the rainy place" ... you have me out here learning about Vietnamese folk religion to catch up with the depth of that story! WELL DONE
That's great to hear that the first setting inspired an emotional reaction. I'm always sure the writing is solid when it makes me feel sad, or angry, or even happy. Any emotion really shows that the narrative is doing its job.
ha ha, I always like to use google to research a setting, especially if I haven't visited that place. I backpacked in Laos, Thailand and in Malaysia for a short time around 10 years ago, but I didn't make it to Vietnam. Next time maybe 😂
Thanks for reading, and your insightful comment 🙂
Thanks for commenting and caring @deeanndmathews!
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I did struggle some with the first task - reading yours, has given me ideas and how I could have injected a little bit more so the reader can see what's in my head :D
My mind is spinning on the stranger though. Is it a he or she? Why stay when there's nothing really left... perhaps a lover? hmmmm
Always glad to inspire through my writing 😊
Ha ha, yes it is a mystery. I was intrigued with the idea of the curse, and the stranger as I wrote it. I'm thinking I may well expand it to write a full short story in this setting. That is the great thing about these exercises, they can inspire further works.
Thanks for reading kaerpediem 😗
ooooh, will be looking out for it :D
Thank you for your comment on this post, @kaerpediem. It's a goal of #fastandfurious, so it's great to see writers supporting one another.
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I always enjoy reading your work. 😊😊
The first task tells of a rather sad story of a former ballerina who never quite reached her ultimate goal. #sadreality
The second is truly interesting. I would love to see it expanded even more. 😉👍🏼
Happy weekend!
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Thank you for engaging with this post and providing writer-to-writer encouragement, @iamraincrystal!
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Thanks for reading iamraincrystal
Yes, I was intrigued with the idea of the curse, and the stranger as I wrote it lol
I'm thinking I may well expand it to write a full short story in this setting. That is the great thing about these exercises, they can inspire full stories or poems.
Have a gr8 weekend 🙂
The atmosphere of the scene describes an injured dancer, who has to take medication to relieve pain but when she leaves the room that holds her, she can again experience the sensation of flying through the air feeling the warmth and joy that she once had, only memories of her forgotten success.
In task 4, I read the story of his story, I liked how he develops the story he sees through the image.
However, I understood that the task was to create "story notes" inspired by the image, that is, the notes should serve to develop a story later.
Perhaps you did the task as it should have been done and I was the one who made the mistake. @theinkwell
thanks for your post @raj808
I think you were probably right soyunasantacruz, although it didn't specifically state this to be the case. I'm not sure it is a case of a mistake vs the right way to do it. I decided to use creative license with the first prompt and especially as in the first task I stuck to strict description. In the second task it was in a second person narrative, like a friend telling you a story of a place they knew and how it has changed. I think that there is much more to that story than the brief description of the cursed town. But you are right, it wasn't written as notes.
Thanks for reading, and for your insightful feedback 🙂
I didn't do the second task because I didn't understand the question, that also happens, besides I use a translator sometimes things change the meaning.
Thank you very much for responding to my comments 😘
Thank you for taking the time to write a thoughtful and interesting comment on this post, @soyunasantacruz! It's so great to see engagement.
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It has been a pleasure to participate, I am having fun and learning.
Thanks for your comment @jayna
I like the setting for the ballerina's room. Glory days of youth depicted in the photo seem to be no longer the case as the crutch tells of an injury that may have ended her career. In any event, the pills speak to the relief of pain she's experiencing.
I agree with the events of the city that looks deserted except for a few individuals who've ventured out.
Thank you for providing a thoughtful comment on this post, @justclickindiva. Engagement supports our community!
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Hi justclickindiva.
You got it spot on what I was trying to convey with the first descriptive passage. Absolutely as I was thinking it, she was indeed a ballerina who had to give up dancing due to injury, and now needs to medicate with pain killers due to her injury. The clothes and general dusty disheveled nature of the room was meant to show a sadness, or lack of care, in her over these circumstances.
Thanks for reading, and your insightful comment 🙂
I loved both of these pieces very much, @raj808. It's so good to see you here, taking up the pen! Your writing always inspires me. It's so sensory and visually rich.
Thanks jayna.
I appreciate your kind words, and praise for my writing from you means a lot. I think I need to find the time to try and join in with at least one write club month out of the next 6. Once I feel more human, and am sure I can effectively workshop many drafts, I'll DM you about joining in. I feel like I've finally reigned in my purple prose to the point where there is more of a balance between imagery and action, while retaining my (imagery-centric) voice/style 😂
Thanks for reading 😗
Of course we would love to see you in Write Club, @raj808!
Hello @raj808. Without reading your final explanations I realized the intention of the deduction in your narrative of task 1.
It's nice to discover the characters by their objects. It's an enjoyment of the reader that the writer must anticipate.
In the second story the narrative is fluid and without jumps. We perceive sensations at the same time as the character does. (It was brilliant!)
It was a great pleasure to read you. Greetings!
This is great to know Marcy as that is a good indicator that the descriptive prose was effective.
I completely agree with what you say about part of the pleasure in reading a good story is learning about the characters through their environment, dialogue and actions.
And so glad you enjoyed the second mini story. I was pleased with it at the end as I was trying to create a sense of mystery through that setting. And when I read it back it seemed to work to inspire that feeling of wanting to know more about what was going on the town.
Thanks for reading, and for your comment 🙂