Setting Exercise

Teacher's Write 7/19/18
Your Assignment:
Choose a setting. Make a list, using all your senses, of that place's attributes. Try to use neutral words/phrases. Then, using that list as a guide, make two more lists, one recasting those neutral descriptions in a positive light, the other, in a negative. Feel free to consult a thesaurus if it helps.

Now try writing about this place, first from the point of view (either first person or close third) of a character that has a positive association with that place. Then reverse it and write the negative. You do not need to use every item on your list, but try to include multiple senses.

Of course, negative and positive associations are among the least complex emotions you can convey. Take a look at your setting again and see if you can describe it in such a way that conveys loneliness, anxiety, contentment, pride, relief, or some other feeling--perhaps something from a character you are currently working on.
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As I wandered down the trail towards the lake, my shoes padded on the pine needled trail beneath me like spongy tofu. The sun's rays shot through the trees here and there. Dew melted along the grass and I picked a slender piece of grass and pressed it between my thumbs and blew. A low to middle pitched sound shrilled out and a squirrel darted quickly across the path. The grass lingered earthy sweet between my fingers, but more than anything I could smell the pine trees. Touching a bough as I walked past, I held on for a moment. This was much better than a $20 Yankee candle.

The air was stifling around me as I walked on the dusty trail through the trees. A horse fly kept buzzing around my head, and occasionally touched my calf. Trying to flick it away, my hair caught on a branch. The air smelled pungent of some sort of dead animal, and as I came around the corner, there was the carcass to the right. Moving a branch in the way, spider webs fell across my face, and I could feel the heat from the dry grass on the sides of the trail. The cicadas were deafening, and I wanted to break free and run until I could see some sort of meadow or a road.