Establishing mood in a story can be done in several ways. The words selected, the action portrayed, and the emotional landscape the characters travel. There are other ways to also explore revealing mood.
Colors can be used to describe objects (washed out, painfully bright). Look through books of painting to become familiar with how light, shadow, form, and color are used by artists to produce different painting styles. Note the colors since they can be handy for descriptions later.
Descriptions of the location (isolated, run down, crowded, cramped). Go to someplace that is similar to what you want to express. Write down things you see that spell out the feel you want to convey. It is all in the details sometimes. Take photos or sketch it out as a “tickler” for the future.
Attitude of the people (listless, bored, hungry, passionate, eager, anxious). What are the physical manifestations of these emotions? Try a little improvisation exercise and find a “tic” that might express someone who was anxious, or bored. I was having trouble writing a character one time. The unique elements I had first seen were sounding a bit like me now! So I looked at my character notes and shoved in an “Evanessence” CD, donned the Gothic clothes of the character and found her “voice” once more. Such may not be every one’s cup of tea, but find what works for you to keep the “flavor” of a character in place.
Music or a song can set the stage (I tell a civil war story where I preface it with a few bars of , what I hope is a slightly haunting, “When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again”). Peggy Lee had a hit song , “Is That All There Is?”, that is an expression of depression and apathy that is hard to beat.
If performing the story, utilize clothing or jewelry or props to help set the mood. I have found that that one of the best ways to tell ghost stories is not in the stereotypical “witch hat”, but in all black. Just as puppeteers use all black to “disappear” behind the puppets, the storyteller can recede allowing the story to be center stage.
What are some others ways that might work for you?
HEADWORK
Write out the action described below in three moods.
“A man comes home after a day at work.”
Mood One:
Mood Two:
Mood Three:
Colors can be used to describe objects (washed out, painfully bright). Look through books of painting to become familiar with how light, shadow, form, and color are used by artists to produce different painting styles. Note the colors since they can be handy for descriptions later.
Descriptions of the location (isolated, run down, crowded, cramped). Go to someplace that is similar to what you want to express. Write down things you see that spell out the feel you want to convey. It is all in the details sometimes. Take photos or sketch it out as a “tickler” for the future.
Attitude of the people (listless, bored, hungry, passionate, eager, anxious). What are the physical manifestations of these emotions? Try a little improvisation exercise and find a “tic” that might express someone who was anxious, or bored. I was having trouble writing a character one time. The unique elements I had first seen were sounding a bit like me now! So I looked at my character notes and shoved in an “Evanessence” CD, donned the Gothic clothes of the character and found her “voice” once more. Such may not be every one’s cup of tea, but find what works for you to keep the “flavor” of a character in place.
Music or a song can set the stage (I tell a civil war story where I preface it with a few bars of , what I hope is a slightly haunting, “When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again”). Peggy Lee had a hit song , “Is That All There Is?”, that is an expression of depression and apathy that is hard to beat.
If performing the story, utilize clothing or jewelry or props to help set the mood. I have found that that one of the best ways to tell ghost stories is not in the stereotypical “witch hat”, but in all black. Just as puppeteers use all black to “disappear” behind the puppets, the storyteller can recede allowing the story to be center stage.
What are some others ways that might work for you?
HEADWORK
Write out the action described below in three moods.
“A man comes home after a day at work.”
Mood One:
Mood Two:
Mood Three:
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