Thursday, October 9, 2014
Strategy # 4 Hungry Territory: Danger
Build Your Story: 8 Strategies for Writing Innovative Setting with Impact
Continue to ask these questions of each key territory spot you choose.
2. Is it man-made?
What welcome animals live within—how much care do they need—is the
person elderly and in danger of tripping over a skittish cat? Unwelcome:
mice—roof rats—snakes under the foundation—spiders. Looking for a way to drive
your comfortable heroine in her lovely home into high stress? Have her return
from vacation and find her home literally jumping with fleas. (True story)
Don’t just examine the historical data but the animal as well.
Perhaps a species has been driven out of their natural habitat. And then there
is a severe drought. Do they then become a danger or are the people even more
of a danger to them. Is the town on a migration pathway? Do the people co-exist
with the bi-yearly invasion or it is a mini war zone?
Or they know how to take advantage when the opportunity shows
itself. Here’s a photo that showed up on facebook one day. Talk about territory
and landmark together!
“After all the terrible
rain in England recently, a group of swans swim down flooded walkways in
Worcester yesterday..”
5. If so, is it open to everyone to visit or considered
forbidden?
Holy ground will need to be clearly defined for your world. In
medieval times a person could seek sanctuary in a church or monastery. However
their life was forfeit if they left the grounds, so, in a way, they chose a
form of prison.
Holy ground may or may not include cemeteries. A wildlife
reservation may be considered a type of holy ground sanctuary to preserve
nature. And what happens if valuable minerals or oil or gold is found
underneath. The movie Avatar explores
this entire theme across space, species and culture.
Share: What did you
uncover or realize could become a potential conflict in one of these
categories?
Read deep, marcy
Labels:
8 Strategies for Innovative Settings,
Build Your Story,
Creative Writing Prompt,
Danger,
Free blog workshop,
Hungry Territory,
Write with Impact
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