Use This #WritingPrompt To Help You #GetWriteOnIn To Your Story's Historical Influences
Whether you are crawling your way toward the finish line of National Novel Writing Month 2020 or just doing your best at pumping out a manuscript, let’s talk about where this story of yours takes place for a minute.
Previous prompts have had us looking at historical influences, whether fictional or factual, to help us bring our settings to life.
So, let’s go back to the piece of history we focused on at the beginning of our stories.
How has that piece of history impacted where your story takes place?
How might the general population be different if this event hadn’t happened?
Would the entire arc of your story be different, if the history of your setting had seen different days?
Worldbuilding can be fun, or it can be kind of a pain.
But the more time you spend treating your setting like you would a friend, the more active your setting will come across on the page.
So immerse yourself into the history of your world, then get write on in to your daily session.
See you tomorrow!
My Response
When I first responded to this prompt at the beginning of the month, I focused on Hardmoure, my main character’s homeland, because we never got to go there. I wanted to develop some importance there because it strengthened my character. A lot of the development I’ve done has gone to the places around where the characters are trapped as opposed to the caves where they’re stuck. The Lanniswell Hollow has plenty of history, which is partially looked upon throughout the text. But it has definitely seen its share of darker days.
The magic around the Lanniswell Hollow prevents any of the prisoners from leaving. The walls take away the memories and the sanities of the prisoners. It has definitely changed and shaped the setting, and not in a good way. It withholds all the pain from the past prisoners, and influences the despair within the caves. This would certainly change the mood down there, if it were different.
Although, that being said, the entire story would definitely be different if things were not the same. If the prisoners were allowed to think for themselves. If the idea of removing hope was not its sole purpose for existing. The caves of the Lanniswell Hollow hold many secrets, but they’re more than happy to share them. They’re just not sure if anyone else will ever truly be ready to listen.