by Andre Tan
Two people sit at a table. They have a discussion. One person walks out of the room. Shards of a broken glass lie on the floor.
Did the people have a violent argument? Did someone simply drop a glass accidentally and leave to get a broom? What was said?
We’re all well trained by movies, television, literature and arguably our own perceptions of daily life to fill in the missing information and create a linear sequence of events in our minds that tells a story. But what if we force ourselves to ask a different set of questions that focuses less on the action and more on the setting and circumstances?
Who are the people and what do they feel about one another? Are they lovers? Mother and child? Was the glass a gift from a beloved relative who passed away earlier that month? That day? Was it broken before they entered the room?
The answers don’t provide us with a play-by-play recounting of what happened, but they do imbue the scene with emotion, weight and tension.
This week, write a poem that tells a narrowly focused story — a “scene” — without telling the story. Instead, convey the essence of the scene through your description of the world in which it takes place and the “characters” (who don’t have to be human or even “alive”) that inhabit it. (One clarification – The scenario above is only meant to be an example. Your scene can be about anything.)
Some elements (borrowed from the acting realm) to consider, but not necessarily to directly incorporate into your piece, are:
- Environment – Where is the scene taking place? What is the location like physically? Is there any history (emotional or otherwise) associated with the setting?
- Relationships – What is the background and history of your “characters”? If there is more than one, who or what are they to one another? What prior events have they experienced individually or together?
- Given Circumstances – What just happened? What events lead up to this moment? Did something important happen to one or more of the characters or between them? Did someone just learn something?
- Essential Conflict – What is the central conflict at the heart of the scene? What is the struggle? This “conflict” doesn’t have to be literal or overt. It’s simply what you identify as the overarching tension of the piece (e.g., “He loves her, but she hates him” or even the perennial question, “coffee or tea?”).
Feel free to share how you might approach this challenge in the comments and leave links to your work in next week’s Get Your Poem On post.
I can’t wait to see what you come up with!
Andre Tan is Read Write Poem’s technology director. Whenever the right side of his brain subdues the left side with an oversized ACME mallet, he can be found creatively frolicking with a motley assortment of poets, filmmakers, actors and other artists.
Hey, great prompt, Andre. I really like the idea of creating a scene through description.
Yay! An Andre prompt. How exciting!
Love it!
Thanks guys!
[...] http://readwritepoem.org/blog/2009/10/30/read-write-prompt-99-setting-the-scene/?utm_source=microbl... a few seconds ago from web [...]
I like this. This will be a challenge.
As a poet who is also an actor, director and writing teacher, this prompt delights me to NO end! I am always saying “Show me, don’t tell me…” and the concept of “place” has been “center stage” lately as I have taken two trips out of town lately to the same town. Fascinating, this concept of place… and the concept of putting people INTO a space.
(And, syncronicity again, I am having a conversation about set with my set designer tonight as we begin work on the next production I am directing.)
Andre, did you take up residence on my brain somehow without me knowing it?
Andre Tan replied:
October 30th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
Sorry Julie, I have. I hope you don’t mind the strewn clothes and clutter.
juliejordanscott replied:
October 30th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
Andre, strewn clothes and clutter are all just more material, are you kidding me? Considering you have taken up residency you must have noticed all that purple… and unusual music and notebooks, so many notebooks… what can one person do with so many notebooks?
YES Mr Tan….I really like this prompt…hoping all of my brainSSSS come together on this. Thanks
I think the last poem I posted on RWP, “Portia,” does set a scene with characters, environment, conflict, etc. It’s not the kind of poem I usually write, and wrestling with it took so much out of me! I may not have enough creative reservoir from which to siphon a second scene poem. But I will try!
Andre, I have a poem like this. The problem is there’s a vase instead of a glass. What do you think about it?
Konstantin.
Andre Tan replied:
November 1st, 2009 at 2:09 pm
I should clarify that the scenario I laid out was only an example. You don’t need to write to that in any shape or form.
This prompt so reminded me of “Hills Like White Elephant”
looking forward to trying this!
Setting a scene with words is my favorite techniques. Great prompt!
I’m taking that sadistic suggestion to do NaNoWrimo, and trying to mix poetry in with prose. Scene-setting on these lines is perfect work for me.
Thanks for the prompt.
rallentanda replied:
November 2nd, 2009 at 4:35 am
I was considering doing NaNoWrimo but writing a 50000 word novel in a month didn’t seem enough of a challenge!
barbara_y replied:
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:01 am
*chuckle*
I bet you could do it like a finger snap.
[...] This poem was written for Read Write Poem Prompt #99: Setting the Scene. I wrote this in the persona of a young man growing up in the late 1950’s/early 1960’s. [...]
[...] my writing (understatement), I don’t think that I’ve really gotten the whole of the rwp prompt for this week (99, 99, 99), a really juicy one, which is: a poem that tells a narrowly focused [...]
http://mommygalloway.blogspot.com/2009/11/left.html
Here’s my attempt at the prompt. I have read the others and may have missed the mark. Let me know what you think.
Andre Tan replied:
November 4th, 2009 at 1:13 am
Thanks for sharing Ginger! Just remember to also link to your piece in the comments of the Get Your Poem On post this Thursday.
Thanks Andre…I get confused still
Andre Tan replied:
November 4th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
Trust me, I do too.
[...] did it feel like to tell a story without describing what happens? Did writing to this week’s prompt come easily to you, or did it end up being a drama or comedy of errors? Let everyone know how it [...]
[...] I had a pizza restaurant fifteen years ago. A wonderful place where scenes unfolded daily. The prompt at Read Write Poem was perfect for me to give a second look at some work that has been percolating [...]
[...] [...]
This feels particularly unfinished, but here it is.
Things that have left