Writing - Building scenarios

 Sometimes building a scene for your story can be a bit of a headache, but rather than going from zero to sixty in minutes, there are stages you can adopt to help. 

The strategy involves memory and the senses. It is available to all those who have lived and breathed on this planet for a few years and there is no secret. It may come under the heading of meditating or mindfulness or whatever but in reality it is simply reflecting on past experiences and applying memories of how it felt to be in that situation. 

The idea of this has been reawakened while writing my autobiography. I began writing it to pass on my history to my children rather than for public consumption, but you never know. I was recalling actions that took place when I was very young and how I felt at the time. That simple exercise reminded me of smells, and atmosphere that were imprinted on my memory over 60 years ago. 

It is those memories that can be used and transcribed and used in the 21st century. When I was around six years old I fell and cut open my head and had 2 stitches just above my eyebrow. Although, I don't remember the accident I do remember the subsequent couple of occurrences at school. The headteacher, a grey lady of great age, to a six year old she may have been in her forties, asked to see me each day of the week until it was plain that I was okay. 

I was obviously impressed. The headteacher in the 1950's was godlike. This lady was 'grey' - she wore a grey two-piece suit, jacket and skirt, made from what looked like a heavy tweed-like material. She was an imposing lady but with a gentle voice. She would read story to us on a Friday afternoon. 'Alice in Wonderland' as I recall. 

I can remember her holding my face up in two soft, warm hands and looking at the dressing on my forehead. I recall feeling happy and cared for after the first visit to her office. The first time I went I was terrified, but she was very kind. 

If I was to use this scenario or the headteacher in this century there is an emotional store of information in my mind that can be useful in building colour around what happened. This was a very small incident but it stayed in my memory because of the emotion attached and it is that sort of richness that engages a reader in stories. I use the incident to demonstrate how relatively insignificant interactions can have value in building scenarios or even constructing characters when we are writing. 

God Bless